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Om Seismograf

Marta Śniady. © Marta Śniady
interview

‘I really wanted to write a pop love song’

Polish composer Marta Śniady is about to finish her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. Recently, her aesthetics have changed considerably, embracing video and pop music.

Af
James Black
3. Juni 2019

Amazing. Beautiful. Creative. Emotional. Sensual. Talented. Complex. Just some of the words Marta Śniady uses in the video part of Probably the Most Beautiful Music in the World (2018) to describe her own music.

But are they her descriptions? Are they other people’s descriptions? Are they about this piece? Are they about what we should value in art? Is Śniady bragging?  Is she telling the audience what to think? Is she lying? Perhaps selling herself? Poking fun at the structures of contemporary music? Openly engaging and toying with them? Reappropriating the unavoidably horrible networking aspect of being a composer, and building an entire piece around it? And why do I keep hearing the McDonald’s theme tune?

Læs videre
Field recording

The all-inclusive soundscape

On the sound in three resorts in Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey.

Af
Anna Lerchbaumer
Pia Prantl
Andreas Zißler
28. Juni 2019
Sound collage

Voicing up

How women artists of colour working in electronic music in Berlin practice empowerment, survival and resistance.

Af
Shanti Suki Osman
28. Juni 2019

Peer

Out of Space. © Out of Space

Out of Space

In collaboration with the international journal Paragrana, we zoom in on sounds of places as different as a resort in Egypt, the metropolis of Hong Kong and an abandoned Soviet military base outside Berlin.

Collection

Marcela Lucatelli. © Marcela Lucatelli

Meet the composers

Some of them are just getting started. Others are well-established names on the international scene. But what are their thoughts on the music they create and the world they live in? Read a selection of our most interesting pieces on composers and composing.

‘Every time we listen to music or make music, we are at the same time creating social relations or socialities’

Gender and social relations in New Music: Tackling the octopus
A conversation with Georgina Born

Focus

Simon Steen-Andersen

All about Simon Steen-Andersen

He is one of the most celebrated composers of his generation, in Denmark and abroad. With this 2014 Focus we present and reflect, through interview and analysis, on the career of Simon Steen-Andersen.

About

Seismograf

Welcome to Seismograf

Seismograf is an independent Danish web magazine focusing on the newest developments within the arts of sound. On this page you will find our most recent English-language content as well as collections on selected topics. Want to know more about Seismograf? Then go on and scroll down to the bottom of this page.

‘When faced with the attacks of September 11, music’s normal modes of commemoration and memorial fractured’

Memorials of grief: Music after 9/11
An essay by Tim Rutherford-Johnson

Collection

Trond Reinholdtsen: ‘Ø – Episode 6’. © Grzegorz Mart

Around the world with Seismograf

Seismograf may be located in Denmark, but brilliant music is performed all over the world. Which means we often cover events in places far, far away, as illustrated by this selection of articles.

Focus

Louise Alenius. © Kasper Vang

Taking the stage

Why should the musicians get all the attention? In recent years a special trend has unfolded on the scenes for contemporary music: composers getting on stage to perform their own works. We dedicate this 2017 Focus to this exciting phenomenon.

Latest articles

Marta Śniady. © Marta Śniady
interview

‘I really wanted to write a pop love song’

Polish composer Marta Śniady is set to finish her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. Recently, her works have embraced video and pop music.

Af
James Black
3. Juni 2019
Ragnhild May. © Hajime Kato
interview

‘I need to believe it myself’

Ragnhild May works in a chameleon-like way. James Black takes her to yoga class in this final interview with young ‘composer/performers’.

Af
James Black
3. april 2019
Bára Gísladóttir. © Gabrielle Motola
interview

So, this is where it all ends

In Bára Gísladóttir’s view, the apocalypse is a given. James Black goes bowling with the captivatingly introvert, yet apocalyptic, Icelandic composer/performer.

Af
James Black
25. Februar 2019
Marcela Lucatelli. © Marcela Lucatelli
interview

‘It’s almost like I can feel the whole world’

James Black goes climbing with Marcela Lucatelli in this first of three interviews with young composer/performers.

Af
James Black
9. Januar 2019
Knut Olaf Sunde: ‘Himdalen’. © Henrik Beck Kæmpe
reportage

Deep in the Norwegian forest

Norwegian composer Knut Olaf Sunde radically challenged traditional concert practices with a 13-hour immersive performance.

Af
Rose Dodd
27. december 2018
© CC0
kommentar

Not so diverse after all

The Nordic Music Days in Helsinki failed to deliver on its promise of diversity, even if seen from a strictly stylistic point of view, writes participating composer Tine Surel Lange.

Af
Tine Surel Lange
18. december 2018
Kaj Duncan David. © Anders Bigum
interview

Man among the machines

Kaj Duncan David’s music has always been intimately linked with software and machines. His next major work deals with artificial intelligence.

Af
Andrew Mellor
28. november 2018
© Malthe Folke Ivarsson
kritik

Gold fever and infernal machines

Simon Løffler’s personality shines through while Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard’s conceptual gold piece rings hollow at Gong Tomorrow.

Af
James Black
20. november 2018
Trond Reinholdtsen: ‘Ø – Episode 6’. © Grzegorz Mart
reportage

Try competing with history, then

Warsaw Autumn is on its way to becoming a victim of its own success, James Black writes in his essay from the Polish capital.

Af
James Black
16. Oktober 2018

Essays

© CC0

Memorials of grief: Music after 9/11

Essay by Tim Rutherford-Johnson on the musical responses to an incomprehensible historical event.
Tim Rutherford-Johnson4. september 2018
© Alexander Banck-Petersen

Lullabies and memory loss

Attending a concert – what’s it all about? In this essay Professor Holger Schulze takes us through his listening experience at Klang Festival in Copenhagen.
Holger Schulze11. Juli 2018
A sonic time capsule.

A sonic time capsule

'A Sonic Time Capsule – a small instruction manual explaining how to realize such a thing' by Andrea Zarza Canova.
Andrea Zarza Canova9. november 2017
Trond Reinholdtsen. © Kasper Vang

From demagogue, via narcissist, to the post-human condition

This article states that the Composer is no more a relevant element of Art.
Trond Reinholdtsen31. Maj 2017
© Kasper Vang

Just spoke: Composing with objects, performing with subjects

A private reflexion on the proces of grief and mourning in relation to composing.
Juliana Hodkinson31. Maj 2017
Niels Rønsholdt. © Kasper Vang

Method Composition

A composers method for eliminating the distance between himself and his music.
Niels Rønsholdt31. Maj 2017
Louise Alenius. © Kasper Vang

The composer in the bedroom

Reflections on a meeting with persona Louise Alenius in her performance 'Prequiem'.
Torben Sangild31. Maj 2017
Henrik Frisk. © Kasper Vang

Hell is full of musical amateurs, but so is heaven

An outline of the role the amateur musician plays in the western classical tradition.
Henrik Frisk31. Maj 2017
© Kasper Vang

Composers on stage

A broad discussion of the phenomenon followed by analyses of works by Juliana Hodkinson, Niels Rønsholdt and Simon Steen-Andersen.
Sanne Krogh Groth31. Maj 2017

Reviews

© Malthe Folke Ivarsson

Gold fever and infernal machines

Simon Løffler’s personality shines through while Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard’s conceptual gold piece rings hollow at Gong Tomorrow.
James Black20. november 2018
Mona Alenius Kaniewski. © Ólafur Steinar Gestsson/Copenhagen Opera Festival

»An opera you need to see twice«: Review of Louise Alenius’s ‘Silent Zone’

A generational cycle of sexual abuse paired with a clear and lucid score. Last year’s operatic talk of the town was back for one day.
Andrew Mellor3. august 2018
Scenatet. © Alexander Banck-Petersen

Nothing can be comfortable

Four performances of Salvatore Sciarrino’s mysterious ‘Aspern Suite’ wrapped up this year’s Klang Festival. Andrew Mellor reviews Scenatet’s solemn setting of the piece.
Andrew Mellor12. Juni 2018
© Alexander Banck-Petersen

The gradual growth of ice crystals

Thinking big suits Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Andrew Mellor on her works at Njord Biennale 2018.
Andrew Mellor31. Januar 2018
Copenhagen Piano Trio. Foto: Mette Sanggaard Dideriksen

Gong Tomorrow

Anmeldelse af Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart (3.11.17, Koncertkirken) & Copenhagen Piano Trio etcetera (8.11.17, Glyptoteket) under Gong Tomorrow Festival 2017
Andrew Mellor17. november 2017
Nicolai Worsaae: ‘Downfall’. © Søren Meisner

Downfall – A journey to the underworld and back again

Andrew Mellor anmelder operaen 'Nedstigning: underverdenen tur-retur', Takkeloftet, 26.9.17 - Musik af Nicolai Worsaae, libretto af Julie Maj Jakobsen.
Andrew Mellor6. Oktober 2017

Klang i Tivoli

Andrew Mellor reviews Athelas Sinfonietta, Aavaat Koret/Pierre-André Valade in Tivoli with works by György Ligeti, Niels Rønsholdt, James Black and Per Nørgård.
Andrew Mellor6. Juni 2017

Figura Festspiele

Andrew Mellor dropped-in on three concerts at this year’s Figura Festspiele, where almost every piece came with words attached.
Andrew Mellor6. Februar 2017

Gong Tomorrow

Andrew Mellor anmelder tre aftner under årets Gong Tomorrow festival.
Andrew Mellor17. november 2016

Interviews

Marta Śniady. © Marta Śniady

‘I really wanted to write a pop love song’

Polish composer Marta Śniady is set to finish her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. Recently, her works have embraced video and pop music.
James Black3. Juni 2019
Ragnhild May. © Hajime Kato

‘I need to believe it myself’

Ragnhild May works in a chameleon-like way. James Black takes her to yoga class in this final interview with young ‘composer/performers’.
James Black3. april 2019
Bára Gísladóttir. © Gabrielle Motola

So, this is where it all ends

In Bára Gísladóttir’s view, the apocalypse is a given. James Black goes bowling with the captivatingly introvert, yet apocalyptic, Icelandic composer/performer.
James Black25. Februar 2019
Marcela Lucatelli. © Marcela Lucatelli

‘It’s almost like I can feel the whole world’

James Black goes climbing with Marcela Lucatelli in this first of three interviews with young composer/performers.
James Black9. Januar 2019
Kaj Duncan David. © Anders Bigum

Man among the machines

Kaj Duncan David’s music has always been intimately linked with software and machines. His next major work deals with artificial intelligence.
Andrew Mellor28. november 2018
Bent Sørensen. © Lars Skaaning

New optimism in a universe of beautiful decay

Bent Sørensen’s music may be pointing in a new, less fatalistic direction, he tells Andrew Mellor a few weeks before receiving the 2018 Grawemeyer Award.
Andrew Mellor19. Marts 2018
James Black. © Niklas Ottander

Shouting, naked. James Black, the composer

His debut concert only a few weeks away – both a blessing and a ‘fucking nightmare’ – Copenhagen-based composer James Black talks to Andrew Mellor.
Andrew Mellor7. Februar 2018
© Unknown.

Gender and social relations in New Music: Tackling the octopus

Juliana Hodkinson interviews anthropologist / cultural theorist Georgina Born on gender and other social relations in contemporary music.
Juliana Hodkinson27. september 2017
© Kasper Vang

Performer/Composer Panel

A panel discussion between Kristian Hverring, Louise Alenius and Simon Steen-Andersen. Moderated by Sanne Krogh Groth.
Sanne Krogh Groth31. Maj 2017

About

Seismograf is an editorially independent web journal focusing on the newest developments within the arts of sound, their works and makers.

In 2011 Seismograf merged with Dansk Musik Tidsskrift (Danish Music Journal, 1925-2010) and Autograf, becoming the only Danish magazine completely dedicated to contemporary music, sound art and all things related to these fields.

All content is published online, free for everyone to browse through. We provide a critical and enlightening coverage of current events; additionally, we act as a platform for more timeless genres of music journalism such as essays, debates, podcasts, theme-based Focus editions, peer-reviewed articles and audio papers.

No reflection without art – no art without reflection, as we say.

The editors

Sune Anderberg (editor-in-chief, Seismograf)
Sune works as a freelance journalist with a master’s degree in Musicology from the University of Copenhagen. During his studies he was the editor-in-chief at the University Radio and the music magazine Omlyd. In the past he has worked at the record label Dacapo Records and the music publisher Edition S.

Sanne Krogh Groth (editor-in-chief, Seismograf Peer)
Sanne holds a PhD in Musicology from the University of Copenhagen (2010) and is the author of Politics and Aesthetics in Electronic Music (Kehrer 2014). Her additional fields of research include performative aspects of sound art and contemporary music. She currently works as an associate professor in Musicology at Lund University.

Jens Voigt-Lund (design and programming)
Co-founder and editor of Seismograf until September 2012.

The board

Seismograf’s board consists of: Bjarke Svedsen (director, Snyk), Morten Riis (composer and researcher, Danish Composers’ Society), Rune Søchting (composer), Eva Havshøj Ohrt (head deputy, Edition S), Ditte Laursen (head of department, The Royal Library), Torben Sangild (freelance critic), Karl Petersen (composer, NUT) and Chair Jens Voigt-Lund (composer and web developer).

Logoer af støttegivere

Seismograf er støttet af
Statens Kunstfonds Projektstøtteudvalg for Musik, Dansk Komponistforening/Koda kultur, Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond og Statens Kunstfonds Tidsskriftsstøtte.