Marta Śniady. © Marta Śniady

‘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.

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?

Ragnhild May. © Hajime Kato

‘I need to believe it myself’

As a performer, Ragnhild May has a chameleon-like way of creating characters that makes it possible to adapt her works to different situations. James Black invites her to a yoga class in this final interview with young ‘composer/performers’.

Bára Gísladóttir. © Gabrielle Motola

So, this is where it all ends

For his second interview with young ‘composer/performers’ James Black takes Bára Gísladóttir bowling. Her music and stage presence share a captivatingly introvert, yet apocalyptic, quality that seems like more than a mere artistic approach. In Gísladóttir’s view, the apocalypse is a given.

25. Februar 2019

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.

Collection

‘Fluid Sounds’. © Sanne Krogh Groth/Signe Lupnov

Audio papers – an original research format

A few years ago Seismograf introduced its very own sound-oriented research format: the audio paper. In the years to come we will continue to develop it further in our Peer section. Here is a selection of audio papers – and a manifesto.

‘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

‘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

‘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

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

‘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

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

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

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

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

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

Alex Mørch: ‘Beta-Hex’. © Tine Surel Lange

Maybe we fight, maybe we defend

Are commercial demands starting to influence contemporary music in the Nordic countries? James Black writes from the UNM Festival in Bergen, Norway.

Af

James Black

14. september 2018

Memorials of grief: Music after 9/11

Essay by Tim Rutherford-Johnson on the musical responses to an incomprehensible historical event.

Af

Tim Rutherford-Johnson

4. september 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.

Af

Andrew Mellor

3. august 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.

Af

Holger Schulze

11. Juli 2018

© Sanne Krogh Groth

Noise in the tropical underground

The Indonesian noise and experimental music scene exists. Sanne Krogh Groth spent two weeks in Central Java, whose local culture influences the music.

Af

Sanne Krogh Groth

29. Juni 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.

Af

Andrew Mellor

12. Juni 2018

The Evangelical Church Ramla. © Maya Shenfeld

Heterotopias

Maya Shenfeld returns to Israel to investigate the local music scene amid what has been labelled a ‘culture war’.

Af

Maya Shenfeld

9. april 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