Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival on Nature

Home , Become Ocean, Beyond Nature, Cecilie Ore, David Toop, Henrik Hellstenius, Ingar Zach

ultima oslo contemporary music festival om natur 10.–19. september 2015 10–19 september 2015 september 10–19

on nature oslo contemporary contemporary oslo festival music

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programme THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER Lunchtime concert Henrik Hellstenius Ørets teater III: Ultima Academy Cecilie Ore Ultima Academy Eivind Buene Georg Friedrich Haas In Vain SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER Herman Vogt Om naturen (WP) Alexander Schubert in conversation Adam & Eve—A Divine Comedy Geologist Henrik H. Svensen The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra Ensemble Ernst Ultima Remake Concordia Discors, Études (WP) Oslo Sinfonietta / Dans les Arbres with rob Young 21:00 — Kulturkirken Jakob on issues in the Age of Man 19:00 — Universitetets aula 21:00 — Riksscenen Edvin Østergaard (WP) / 10:00 — Edvard Munch Secondary 12:00 — Loftet 19:30 — The Norwegian National Opera 14:00 — Kulturhuset p. 18 19:30 — Kulturhuset New music by Eivind Buene, plus the Spellbinding piece described as ‘an optical Jan Erik Mikalsen (WP) / Maja Linderoth School Piano studies with Ian Pace, piano & Ballet, (Also 12 and 13 September) p. 31 p. 35 pieces that inspired it illusion for the ear’” The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir Interactive installation created by pupils p. 19 Concert / performance Robert Ashley Perfect Lives p. 38 p. 47 13:00 — Universitetets gamle festsal p. 13 p. 16 Ultima Academy Matmos Ultima Academy p. 53 Installation opening and concert Music Professor Rolf Inge Godøy 22:00 — Vulkan Arena Musicologist Richard Taruskin on David Toop Of Leonardo da Vinci — James Hoff / Afrikan Sciences / Ultima Academy Elin Mar Øyen Vister Røster III (WP) Installation opening on sound and gesture American electronica duo perform cele- birdsong, music and the supernatural Quills / a Black Giant / Deluge (WP) Hilde Holsen Øyvind Torvund (WP) / Jon Øivind Media theorist Wolfgang Ernst 15:00 — Deichmanske Ali Paranadian Untitled I, 14:30 — Kulturhuset brated TV opera 20:30 — Kulturhuset Elaine Mitchener / David Toop 22:00 — Blå Ness (WP) / Iannis Xenakis on online culture and hovedbibliotek A Poem for Norway (WP) p. 31 p. 27 p. 35 21:00 — Nasjonal jazzscene PAN Records label and more KORK the digital renaissance p. 20 20:00 — Majorstuen Church One-woman multimedia opera p. 48 15:00 — Universitetets aula 16:00 — Kulturhuset p. 20 James Dillon / Jon Øivind Ness Nils Petter Molvær Lucid Dream p. 39 p. 54 p. 14 Installation opening Cikada SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER From 20:30 — Ekeberg Park Terry Fox The Labyrinth Scored for Nils Petter Molvær Lucid Dream 15:00 — Parkteatret p. 12 FRIDAY 18 SEPTEMBER Annie Dorsen Yesterday Tomorrow John Persen Mot Kalde Vinder 11 Different Cats From 20:30 — Ekeberg Park Chamber works Elisabeth Vatn The Color Beneath WEDNESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 18:00 — Black Box Teater 16:00–22:00 — Outside Oslo Concert Hall 15:00 — Atelier Nord ANX p. 12 p. 23 06:00 — Ekeberg Park Jan Martens The Dog Days Are Over Lunchtime concert p. 49 Installation p. 19 (also 18:30) 21:00 — Dansens Hus Lunchtime concert Frevo Gitarduo p. 6 Cecilie Ore Helge Sten (WP) / Harry Partch / p. 14 p. 26 Microtub 12:00 — Loftet Anna Thorvaldsdottir UR_ Ultima Academy Adam & Eve — A Divine Comedy Simon Steen-Andersen 12:00 — Loftet Guitar duo premiere new works 18:30 —The Norwegian National Opera Elisabeth Vatn The Color Beneath (WP) Anders K. Krabberød’s Short History 21:00 — Kulturkirken Jakob Ensemble Musikfabrik Children’s Ultima Day (BUD) Ultima Academy Microtonal tuba trio p. 51 & Ballet 18:30 — Ekeberg Park of Biology (Also 12 September) 18:00 — Kanonhallen 11:00 — Riksscenen David Toop in conversation p. 45 p. 50 (Also 11 – 13 September) 15:00 — Kulturhuset Chamber opera about religion New work by Deathprod for Partch’s A packed day of activities for the whole with Heloisa Amaral Zwerm Sunrise and sunset concerts p. 21 and hatred of women legendary instruments family 21:30 — Kulturhuset François Bonnet Live Jukebox 18:00 — Norwegian Adacemy of Music Mia Habib A song to … in James Turrell’s installation p. 18 p. 24 p. 32 p. 35 15:00 — nyMusikk Levinsalen 19:00 — Dansens Hus p. 14 Ultima Academy Illustrated talk on the history of Groupe de w / Anders Førisdal (Also 20 and 21 September) Biologist Dag essen on evolution Double Vision + Amnesia Scanner Elisabeth Vatn The Color Beneath Små Grå & Kim Hiorthøy Kjemi Recherches Musicales (GRM) Microtonal electric guitar Dance performance Opening concert and genetics 22:00 — Parkteatret 18:30 — Ekeberg Park 13:00 — Teatersalen, MONDAY 14 SEPTEMBER p. 45 p. 52 p. 57 Olivier Messiaen 16:00 — Kulturhuset AtomTM and Robin Fox + Amnesia Scanner p. 14 Bondeungdomslaget i Oslo Turangalîla-Symphonie p. 21 p. 17 p. 22 Lunchtime concert Gérard Grisey Le Noir de l’Etoile Annie Dorsen Yesterday Tomorrow Ultima Finale Oslo Philharmonic Henrik Hellstenius Øyvind Mæland Pinquins & SISU 19:00 — Black Box Teater Arvo Pärt 19:00 — Oslo Concert Hall Matthew Shlomowitz (WP) / Ørets teater III: Om naturen Kurt Schwitters Day 12:00 — Loftet 19:00 — Kulturkirken Jakob (Also 19 September) André Bratten / Ole-Henrik Moe (WP) (Also 11 September) Alexander Schubert SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER Oslo Sinfonietta / Dans les Arbres 13:00 — Henie Onstad Arts Centre Chamber works Percussion work of astronomical Evolutionary musical Oslo Domkor & Ensemble Allegria Ecstatic modern orchestral masterpiece Plus Minus Ensemble 18:30 —The Norwegian National Celebrating the doyen of dada with Building p. 37 dimensions p. 49 20:00 — Oslo Cathedral p. 10 17:00 —The Norwegian National Koka Nikoladze Sound Stencil 0.1 (WP) Opera & Ballet Instrument (WP), et al p. 40 p. 58 Opera & Ballet 12:00 — Starts at Dansens Hus (Also 13 September) p. 33 Knut Olaf Sunde Comfort Music (WP) Anna Thorvaldsdottir UR_ Nils Petter Molvær Lucid Dream p. 15 Oslo as a drumming machine p. 16 Ensemble Aksiom INA GRM 19:30 — The Norwegian National From 20:30 — Ekeberg Park p. 30 Camille Norment (WP) 18:00 — Vulkan Arena 21:00 — Vulkan Arena Opera & Ballet (Also 1 1– 13 September) Elisabeth Vatn The Color Beneath Heine Avdal & Yukiko Shinozaki 18:00 — OCA Concert installation Musique concréte (Also 19 September) Sound and light environment in Ekeberg 18:30 — Ekeberg Park Ultima Academy Distant Voices Camille Norment Trio, David Toop, p. 36 p. 44 New opera by Icelandic composer Park (Also 12 and 13 September) Psychologist Bruno Laeng 19:00 — Black Box Teater Sofia Jernberg and Vocal Ensemble Oslo 14 set in Greenland p. 12 p. 14 on synaesthesia (Also 13 September) Pre-talk 17:00 Mathias Spahlinger (WP) / Pre-talk at 18:00 17 SEPTEMBER 12:00 — Kulturhuset Dance performance p. 34 Øyvind Torvund THURSDAY p. 50 Ultima Academy p. 31 p. 24 Ensemble asamisimasa 11 SEPTEMBER FRIDAY Film night Luc Ferrari Henrik Hellstenius Ørets teater III: 20:00 — Kulturkirken Jakob Lunchtime concert Ang 18:30 — Kulturhuset Ultima Academy Anders Tveit & Parallax Om naturen Premiere and launch Torvund’s new CD Gobi Drab 20:00 — Riksscenen Installation opening Composer Luc Ferrari, film portrait Neurobiologist Semir Zeki on aestetics Parallax View (WP) Oslo Sinfonietta / Dans les Arbres p. 37 12:00 — Loftet Harding fiddle performance Quiet Ensemble Quintetto p. 21 of Neurobiology 20:00 — Deichmanske bibliotek 18:30 — The Norwegian National Recorderplayer performs Ansgar Beste p. 49 10:00 — Teknisk museum 13:00 — Kulturhuset (Gründerløkka branch) Opera & Ballet and her own music 15 SEPTEMBER p. 19 Olivier Messiaen p. 31 Live sound installation p. 16 TUESDAY p. 48 Trond Reinholdtsen Ø (WP) Turangalîla-Symphonie p. 30 22:00 — Venue will be announced at Ultima Academy Oslo Philharmonic Små Grå and Kim Hiorthøy Elisabeth Vatn The Color Beneath Lunchtime concert SOFA Records’ 15th anniversary ultima.no Trond Reinholdtsen and Ole-Henrik 19:00 — Oslo Concert Hall Kjemi (WP) Nils Petter Molvær Lucid Dream 18:30 — Ekeberg Park Trio ClariNord 19:00 — Nasjonal jazzscene Film screening and performance Moe analyze Turangalîla p. 10 13:00 — Teatersalen, Bondeungdomslaget From 20:30 — Ekeberg Park p. 14 12:00 — Loftet Concert and launch of new CD p. 52 11:00 — Loftet i Oslo p. 12 Chamber works p. 46 p. 21 (Also 13 September) Heine Avdal og Yukiko Shinozaki p. 39 Performance / concert Jan Martens The Dog Days Are Over Distant Voices p. 22 21:00 — Dansens Hus 19:00 — Black Box Teater (Also 13 September) p. 24 Dance performance p. 26 2 3

1. ATELIER NORD ANX 16. NASJONAL JAZZSCENE

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N N S 2. BLACK BOX TEATER 17. NORWEGIAN ACADEMY OF MUSIC (NMH) ST. HANSHAUGEN Marstrandgata 8, 0566 Oslo Slemdalsveien 11, 0363 Oslo www.blackbox.no www.nmh.no T

3. BLÅ 18. NY MUSIKK Brenneriveien 9, 0182 Oslo Platousgt. 18, 0190 Oslo www.blaaoslo.no www.nymusikk.no VÅR FRELSERS GRAVLUND 4. DANSENS HUS 19. OCA Møllerveien 2, 0182 Oslo The Office for Contemporary Art Norway

www.dansenshus.com Nedre gate 7, 0551 Oslo EN E I GAT SVE UNS H IM L BR A E N DAH DH www.oca.no E OR U N I N S E M RO V T K A R N 5. A N DEICHMANSKE BIBLIOTEK P A S G K A E T R E 20. S Arne Garborgs plass 4, 0179 Oslo OSLO CATHEDRAL G E

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L A FA A www.deichman.no Karl Johansgate 11, 0154 Oslo P G E L R A B Y O O www.oslodomkirke.no R R G E H VE T 6. DEICHMANSKE BIBLIOTEK AVD GRÜNERLØKKA I EN

Schous plass 10, 0552 Oslo 21. OSLO CONCERT HALL NATIONAL THEATERET HENRIK IBSENS GATE YOUNGS www.deichman.no/filial/grunerlokka Munkedamsveien 14, 0115 Oslo T TORGET www.oslokonserthus.no TA GA T OR 7. DEN NORSKE OPERA & BALLETT STORTINGET ST Kirsten Flagstads plass 1, 0150 Oslo 22. PARKTEATRET GRØNLAND

CITY HALL T www.operaen.no Olaf Ryes plass 11, 0552 Oslo JERNBANETORGET www.parkteatret.no T 8. EDVARD MUNCH SECONDARY SCHOOL S

O L Ullevålsveien 5, 0165 Oslo 23. RIKSSCENEN S S O C HW EIG www.edvardmunch.vgs.no Trondheimsveien 2, 0560 Oslo AA T O RD G P S ER G S A A A T G T N AT E www.riksscenen.no E A A G G R IN E P N 9. IP EKEBERG PARK N K O S R Kongsveien 23, 0193 Oslo 24. TEATERSALEN, BONDEUNGDOMSLAGET I OSLO D

www.ekebergparken.com Rosenkrantzgt 8, 0159 Oslo OPERA AKERSHUS www.bul.no FORTRESS 10. HENIE ONSTAD ARTS CENTER Sonja Henies vei 31, 1311 Høvikodden 25. TEKNISK MUSEUM www.hok.no Kjelsåsveien 143, 0491 Oslo www.tekniskmuseum.no 11. KANONHALLEN Peter Møllers vei 2, 0585 Oslo 26. UNIVERSITETETS AULA www.kanonhallen.no Karl Johans gate 47, 0162 Oslo www.uio.no/om/kultur/aulaen/ EKEBERGPARKEN 12. KULTURHUSET Youngstorget 3, 0181 Oslo 27. UNIVERSITETETS GAMLE FESTSAL www.kulturhusetioslo.no Karl Johans gate 47, 0162 Oslo www.uio.no/om/finn-fram/omrader/sentrum/se02/ 13. KULTURKIRKEN JAKOB (JAKOB CHURCH OF CULTURE) Hausmanns gate 14, 0182 Oslo 28. VULKAN ARENA www.jakob.no Maridalsveien 13 b, 0178 Oslo www.vulkanarena.no 14. LOFTET Skippergata 22, 0153 Oslo www.sparebankstiftelsen.no/Sentralen Tickets Billettservice sells tickets for most For ticket prices, see details accompany- concerts which do not have free entry. ing each event. Full price is stated first, 15. MAJORSTUEN CHURCH, KAPELLET www.billettservice.no. Tel 815 33 133. followed by discounts for students OAPs and unemployed. Kirkeveien 84, 0364 Oslo Tickets purchased from Billettservice can be collected from Posten, Post i NB! Sold out! www.oslo.kirken.no/majorstuen butikk, Narvesen or 7Eleven. Tickets Arrive in good time, as events can may also be purchased on the door sell out. at each individual event. We advise collecting tickets in advance Also find links to buy tickets at and turning up early as concerts will www.ultima.no. begin on time. 4PB introduction PB5

Nature and human beings

producers, managers, volunteers, writers, Official festival magazine Ultima is supported by Ultima thanks Ultima Oslo Contemporary or our enthusiastic audiences. Each of Music Festival Atelier Nord ANX 10.–19. september 2015 Blå them make up Ultima’s backbone. These Core Production Editor-in-chief Dansens Hus people invest hours and hours of work Lars Petter Hagen Deichmanske hovedbibliotek Deichmanske bibliotek avd. to fulfil their dreams and musical ambi- Editors Grünerløkka Cathrine Nysæther og Rob Young Det Norske komponistfond tions, in most case without any monetary Dextra Musica Contributors Drivhuset return or glamour. As I’ve been thumbing Heloisa Amaral, Henrik Beck Dronebrygg (foto), Bernie Krause, Cathrine Edvard Munch videregående skole through the festival programmes from Nysæther, Brigid McCauley EGD (oversettelse), André Savik Ekebergparken AS the last twenty-five years, I have been (oversettelse), Rob Young, Far North Sebastian Wemmerløv, Ando Fond for lyd og bilde struck by an insight: More than anything Woltmann og Maren Ørstavik Fond for utøvende kunstnere Grappa else, Ultima has been a celebration of the Design Kunststiftung NRW NODE Berlin Oslo (Arts Foundation of North individual, of humanity in all its nuances. www.nodeoslo.com Rhine-Westphalia) Institusjonen Fritt Ord John Persen, the first leader of Ultima, Cover photo Kanonhallen Jonas Marguet Komponistfondet died on 12 December 2014. This is what Komponistenes vederlagsfond Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Kulturdepartementet Halvor Fjermeros writes about him Festival Kulturhuset Kulturkirken Jakob in Norsk biografisk leksikon: ‘When a Address Kulturkontakt Nord Skippergata 22, 0154 Oslo Kunstløftet journalist reminded Persen of an in- Majorstua + Post address Majorstuen kirke terview from the 1970s where he had c/o Sentralen, Pb 183 Sentrum, MFOs Vederlagsfond 0102 Oslo Morgenbladet characterized [the Marxist folk-group] Music Norway E-mail Nasjonal jazzscene Vømmøl Spellemannslag as one of the [email protected] NATT&DAG NODE Berlin Oslo most reactionary aspects of Norway, he Print Nordisk Kulturfond TS Trykk Norsk kulturfond said: “Whatever political strength music Norsk kulturråd This magazine is published with OCA, has is embedded in its ability to form a support from Fritt Ord Office for Contemporary Art Norway new consciousness, open new doors of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Oslo domkirke Haakon is the patron of Ultima Oslo kommune insight, not in singing songs or painting Oslo Konserthus Oslo kulturnatt pictures that only serve to reassure the Parkteatret Popsenteret left. Art cannot change the world. It can Riksscenen Scandic Hotels only change the people who contribute Sentralen SOFA record label to change in the world”.’ Sparebankstiftelsen DNB Teatersalen, Photo Ultima / Henrik Beck (m) Ever restless, John Persen left a pro- Bondeungdomslaget i Oslo Teknisk museum found mark in Norway’s art world. He Universitetets aula Universitetets gamle festsal Music is closely related to the natural archives and sifted through programmes music festivals, if any at all, can look back was essential to Ultima as well. Thus, we Utenriksdepartementet Vulkan Arena sciences, both in the way it’s conceived and other documentation, starting with at this kind of diversity and breadth in are pleased to present the first Norwe- Find us on-line Westerdals Oslo School of Arts, www.ultima.no Communication and perceived. Ever since the Stone the very first festival in 1991. This has musical genres and formats throughout gian performance of his work Mot Kalde Facebook— and Technology www.facebook.com/ultimaoslo Age, physics, psychology, astronomy and resulted in an anniversary book, Ultima a quarter century. Vinder (Against Cold Winds) as part of Twitter — @ultimaoslo biology have inspired humans to create 25, being published to coincide with the Thanks are due to so many people. the opening of this year’s Ultima festival. Instagram — @ultimafestivalen Program advisory board music, just as they do today. opening of the festival. Seventeen institutions constitute the After the success of the first festival in Per Boye Hansen, Anne Hilde Neset, Thomas Schäfer Whether it’s technological inventions There have been so many changes in Ultima organization, and each year they 1991, Aftenposten’s critic Idar Karevold og Mattis With that enable us to explore acoustic princi- the world over the last twenty-five years, contribute with resources and know-how wrote, ‘… to have any effect, an effort Ultima’s members BIT20 Ensemble ples, psycho-acoustic research, the over- which are naturally reflected in a festi- that provide the means for an top-tier within this field has to be constant. In Black Box Teater Den Norske Opera & Ballett whelming grandeur of space, speculations val determined to present new musical international festival. Their contributions the pursuit of art, there is no such thing Det Norske Kammerorkester Det Norske Solistkor about mankind’s place and function in trends and ideas. While many things are are invaluable. But they are not alone. In as a golden apple, a one-time prize. Only Henie Onstad kunstsenter Institutt for musikkvitenskap, UiO the cosmos, or simply a majestic elk in different in comparison with the launch the midst of Ultima’s history there is a unending perseverance will lead to results. Kringkastingsorkestret, NRK Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo the sunset: Man’s encounter with nature year of 1991, Ultima had both the intent bunch of wonderful people. Hard-work- It’s the endurance that counts.’ NICEM Norges musikkhøgskole is the starting point for reflection and and the means to change from its very ing people who know how to think out Norsk Komponistforening NOTAM wonderment – and art plays an important outset. Ultima has been opposition as well of the box, talented, sensitive and strong We look forward to the road ahead. nyMusikk Oslo Domkor part in that. as institution, avant-garde and tradition, people, knowledgeable, funny and crit- Oslo-Filharmonien Oslo Sinfonietta og Cikada This year’s Ultima Festival is the local and international, light-hearted and ical, all at once. Be it the performers twenty-fifth in a row, so we’ve searched the hard-hitting, beloved and despised. Few and composers from all over the world, 6PB thursday 10 september PB7

Mot Kalde Vinder John Persen Ultima 2015: On Nature Rob Young

Around 2000, environmental scientists began speculating that at the gravitational centre of a sonic black hole. Audience the earth had entered a new geological era, one they called and performers are literally plunged into the black during the Anthropocene. This means that human activity around Georg Friedrich Haas’s In Vain (2000), a deeply searching the planet is now influencing every aspect of the Earth as examination of hope and futility where, in the words of critic much as the forces of nature have done for billions of years. Alex Ross, ‘a new kind of beauty seems ready to come into Almost all of Earth’s ecosystems now bear the marks of human the world, but in the light of day it falters, and we end up back presence and alteration. where we started’. Is this a natural process, caused by the most intelligent, We often think of science and nature as opposed, even as creative and destructive mammal on the planet? Or is it a mutual enemies. But Renaissance education placed music movement beyond nature into conditions irreversibly unnat- alongside mathematics, geometry and astronomy, part of the ural? It’s too early to tell, but it’s certain that some things can ‘quadrivium’ of natural sciences. Study of the fundamental no longer be taken for granted about nature. laws of nature lay at the core of civilisation’s knowledge, and What does this have to do with music, and specifically a music, with its harmonic ratios and precise mathematical contemporary music festival in northern Europe? correspondences between combinations of notes, as well as Thinking about one distinct age of humanity reminds us, its existence in time and (acoustic) space. soberingly, that our tenure on the planet is a historical blip. In 2015, as we float in the backwash from a century of There have been many ages of Earth, each lasting millions atonal revolutions in contemporary music and attempt to see of year, and there will be human-free eras in the future. In where things are heading next, there are plenty of musicians the light of this knowledge, how can art represent concepts and composers concerned with similar curiosity about music that hold true for all the geological ages of Earth, not just and its relationship with natural laws. On top of that, there are our own? In this context the idea of an art form governed by developments in neuroscience, with increasing understanding natural laws, not only human emotions, begins to make sense. of how music affects the brain. Composers such as Matthew Music is precisely such an art form. Strip it back to its Shlomowitz, Mathias Spahlinger, Alexander Schubert, Robin elements, beyond the popular tune, the great symphonic Fox and others play with extreme audio-visual stimulation, development, the tribal beat hammered on a log, and it’s an synaesthesia, or devise ways for neural electricity to affect acoustical system with properties governed by the physics of the outcome of music. And as the full implications of the the universe. When any music – from Bach to Stockhausen Anthropocene become clearer, there is the environmental – aspires to the ‘cosmic’, it takes its structure and organising and ecological aspect of nature to consider. The scenario in principles from nature’s arithmetic. It can move or even awe UR_, a new opera by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, features the last us in profound ways, but it is not the same type of experience survivors of the human race clustering together at the melting as a work of romantic self-expression. Greenland ice cap. Conservation extends into the realm of machine. John Persen had a brand new enabled him to articulate the musical The music of composers such as Robert Ashley, Herman musical languages and tools, also: the extraordinary percus- John Persen Mot Kalde Vinder (installation) Roland Jupiter 6 and a tape echo device. space and distance more dynamically. Vogt, James Dillon and Mathias Spahlinger, or the choreog- sive music of American Harry Partch was made for a unique Together with a huge AKG reverb unit Mot Kalde Vinder was conceived as a raphy of Jan Martens, often employs systems or set of laws set of instruments to his own design. Without expensive and Outside Oslo Konserthus we had on loan, these were the instru- six hour concert, leaving people free to which must be followed. It could be as simple as giving two complex conservation programmes such as that one carried 4–10pm ments we used for our compositions. arrive and depart whenever they wanted. people a pattern of hand clapping they must follow, or two out by Ensemble Musikfabrik, who have built an entirely new Free John and I sat side by side for nearly two This piece has never been performed in electronic pulses that oscillate in and out of synchronisation. set of these endangered instruments, Partch’s music would years, created sounds and composed ac- Norway the way he had envisioned, but The outcomes of such systems may be either predictable or eventually become as extinct as the dodo. cording to detailed drawings and strict some attempts have been made. When unpredictable. Composers don’t ‘write’, with all the prede- Composers can still celebrate the marvels of being in nature On the occasion of Ultima 2015, Grappa rules of arithmetic. In 1984, I went to the Black Box Teater planned a performance, termination that implies, but create conditions in which sonic itself. In Lucid Dream, Nils Petter Molvær will send wanderers is releasing an album of John Persen’s United States to study composition while Persen wanted 1300 lit tealights in the results may grow and change. It’s almost more helpful to think into the sculpture park at Ekeberg through a wondrous forest electronic music. Jøran Rudi (researcher John created the work Mot Kalde Vinder venue, but the fire department put its foot of it as gardening or land cultivation than composing in the landscape transfigured by light, colour and sound. Nature at Notam and former guitar player with (Against Cold Winds, 1985). down, so John did the same. He also tried traditional sense. permeates Øyvind Torvund’s music in numerous ways – he has Kjøtt) says this about his cooperation John always composed for instruments to get to use the dig on the construction But systems can become far more complex. Gerard Grisey’s previously copied the song of birds and used antique nature with Persen: of some sort, but on this occasion they site for the new central bank building, massive percussion work Le Noir de l’etoile (1990) emulates engravings as a visual accompaniment. His new commission were electronic. The tonal foundation got in contact with the municipal harbour the repetitive signals from pulsars, the dense residues of Idyllic Scenes / Nightlife imagines ‘the ‘origins of music’, with ‘I had just bought an eight track tape he used in his electronic music makes authority and public transport company, long-dead supernovas whose pulsations are some of the most primal organic sounds rising from the depths of nature, grad- recorder, a four voice Korg MonoPoly the parallel to his orchestral works easily but to no avail. There was no place to have ancient audible patterns in the universe. The six percussion- ually cultivated as they are shaped into phrases and melodies.’ synthesizer and a Roland TR-808 drum discernible, but the electronic tools the work performed in 1985.’ ists of Pinquins will surround the audience, placing them Jon Øivind Ness, who has two pieces performed this year, often PB PB

titles his works with the strange names of remote forests and deepest canyons with the most distant stars, the earthbound lakes around Oslo such as Gimilen where he likes to hike. and the divine. Bird calls were, for the composer who lived These are echoes of the way nature – in the limited sense of to transcribe them, songs handed down from unimaginable the picturesque or frightening landscape – has always been a antiquity, a manfestation of the original divine creation. Like major inspiration for music right back to the classical era of the Wunderkammer collectors of the baroque, Messiaen held Haydn’s Seasons and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. the marvels of nature to be the creator’s gifts to humanity – The biologist Roger Payne, whose album of underwater visible proofs of a higher power – and celebrated them in a recordings, The Song of the Humpback Whale, was a sur- musical language that remains unmatched. prise new age hit when it was released in 1970, believed We all recognise the use of feedback in music and noise whales had evolved a musical syntax as intricate as the most production: capturing the instant where a signal is fed back advanced human music. The microphone and the recorder into its amplified output with effects that are difficult, but have extended the human ear into the domain of nature as not impossible, to control. Nature itself, and the complex never before. American electronic duo Matmos, who perform systems that make the planet function, are also dependent on Robert Ashley’s TV opera Perfect Lives (1978–83) in Oslo, multiple feedback loops. When these loops are upset – when included the sounds of ‘crayfish neural tissue’ in their earliest there is too much noise in the system – we see the changes to recordings. Pierre Schaeffer, pioneer of musique concrète in the climate that are currently throwing Gaia’s rhythms out the late 1940s, was the first to perceive how the sounds of of sync. As we have seen, music can be an audible filter of objects, natural sounds and speech could be used as a new nature’s structures and patterns. But nature’s own orchestra musical syntax and alphabet. Once this sound barrier had been is increasingly conducted by mankind. broken, the floodgates were open to a mass of music making in composition, sound art and various forms of popular music, utilising found sounds. The direct continuation of Schaeffer’s research, including Bernard Parmegiani’s De Natura Sonorum (1975) and Luc Ferrari’s Presque Rien ou Le lever du jour au bord de la mer (1967–1970, a piece comprising the noises of a seaside village at sunrise), are celebrated in an Ultima evening of masterworks by and inspired by the GRM (Groupe de Recherche Musicales). Projects like Koka Nikoladze’s Sound Stencil, or Jan Martens’s The Dog Days Are Over, focus on the noise potential of the human body itself. When British music writer and composer David Toop – who presents two pieces at Ultima 2015 – titled his 1995 book Ocean of Sound, the watery reference was highly appropriate. The musical landscape we now inhabit is a vast, interconnected, organic ecosystem. Toop’s vocal work, Of Leonardo da Vinci, is inspired by the inner life of the individual for whom the term ‘Renaissance man’ was intended. Leonardo’s frame of reference included the visual arts, music, and the physical and natural sciences, and in his consuming quest for total knowledge, he drew no distinction between the two. Today Leonardo has given his name to America’s leading journal of computer music, but he remains a key example of how the artistic spirit could fuse with the rational scientific mind. The shared ground between artists, listeners, scientists, religious people is, as the American poet, thinker and medical researcher Lewis Thomas (a twentieth-century Renaissance man if ever there was one) pointed out, bewilderment. We don’t know all the answers, but we continually approach them, hammering at the door of ignorance either by pushing at the limits of artistic expression, or devising new scientific methods and tools to examine the universe. Looking back at the multiple earthquakes that shook the contemporary music world during the entire 20th century, French composer Olivier Messiaen stands rock solid among hte rubble, as one of modernism’s most individual voices and towering presences. He could load a single piece of music with cosmic wonder, birdsong, sexual ecstasy and a restless harmonic and rhythmic energy. His music, and particularly the gigantic Turangalîla-Symphonie (1949), which opens Ultima 2015, truly connects the earth’s 10 thursday 10 september thursday 10 september 11

Turangalîla-Symphonie Olivier Messiaen / Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra

fascination with time and rhythm. Above God and the irrational. When those com- Olivier Messiaen Turangalîla-Symphonie all it would be an ecstatic wordless song of peting factors, were at war with himself, joy. The title itself derived from Messaien’s he said, ‘In melancholy moments, when Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra interest in ancient Sanskrit: ‘turanga has a my uselessness is brutally revealed to Conductor Vasily Petrenko sense analogous to our use of tempo’, he me, […] what else is there to do except Piano Steven Osborne said, ‘while lîla refers to the life-force, the search for the true face of Nature, for- Ondes Martenot Cynthia Millar game of creation, rhythm and movement.’ gotten somewhere in the forest, in the The symphony took two and half years fields, in the mountains, on the seashore, Oslo Konserthus to write and was premiered in December among the birds?’ 7pm 1949 in Boston, under the baton of Leonard As Ultima’s opening concert, the Tur- kr. 450 / 150,– Bernstein. The final version last around 75 angalîla-Symphonie evokes many facets minutes across ten movements, all of which of the complex totality we call Nature – Also 11 September move through an extraordinary range in this case, an unconstrained Nature of fast, slow, agitated and calm motion. created and overseen by a god that Within its giant architecture, interlocking demands nothing less than passionate, ‘The Turangalîla-Symphonie is a love themes and motifs connect and diverge, all-consuming devotion. RY song. It is also a hymn to joy. Not the especially ‘the Statue’ (seven massive brass In collaboration with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra respectable, calmly euphoric joy of some chords), ‘the Flower’ (a gentler theme in), Light design—Daniel Sørensen good man of the 17th century, but joy as and ‘Love’, which appears in many guises it may be conceived by someone who has throughout the piece. glimpsed it only in the midst of sadness, Each movement has a distinct char- that is to say, a joy that is superhuman, acter, from percussion assaults intended overflowing, blinding, unlimited.’ to terrify, to the rapturous cosmic lovers’ Late in life, French composer Olivier dance of the fifth, Joie du sang des étoiles Messiaen (1908–92) recalled the late (Joy in the blood of stars). Trilling bird- 1940s as the period when his creative song on piano – suggesting the ‘oiseaux powers were invincible: When love and exotiques’ of another Messiaen title – death, nature-worship, erotic ecstasy and glide about in the languid, pastoral inter- religious devotion found equal weight in lude Le jardin du sommeil d’amour. Three his rapidly developing oeuvre. In Messi- ‘Turangalîla’ movements are interspersed aen, described as the ‘atomic bomb of among the others, mostly slow or medium contemporary music’ by Virgil Thomson, paced, with highly complex rhythmic there is the sense of fervent Catholic faith patterns showcasing the orchestra’s im- meeting the age of the radio telescope pressive arsenal of percussion. As if that and the atomic microscope head on, and wasn’t enough, the work also features an incredible, bewildering sound world the futuristic sounds of the early elec- emerging from the clash. tronic instrument, the ondes Martenot, The Turangalîla-Symphonie, a master swooping and soaring in and around the work of twentieth century music, was composition’s vast peaks and troughs. commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky for So Turangalîla is a work standing at the the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with crossing of tradition and modernity, con- the loose instructions: ‘Choose as many necting the natural world with superhu- instruments as you desire, write a work man, dazzling and abandoned emotions, as long as you wish, and in the style you using a mix of primitive and sophisticated want’. He seized the opportunity to make musical technology. These reflected the a colossal work, one that would contain contradictions in Messiaen’s own nature, all his transcendent religious visions, his a man who loved the logic of numbers obsession with birdsong, his interest in and rigorous harmonic theory while ro- Photo Edouard Boubat (m) non-Western scales and timbres, and his mantically inclined towards love, death, 12 thursday 10 september thursday 10 september 13

Dreams in the forest Nils Petter Molvær

our ability to comprehend, leaving us to Nils Petter Molvær Lucid Dream rely on our emotions, our sense of hearing Ultima Remake and smell, and the expectations we all Ekeberg Park harbour. The forest plays a part in giving Edvard Munch High School 8:30pm–00:30 each member of the audience different 10am–3pm Free admission NB: Limited tickets available and individual understandings of the Performance every hour at Billettservice.no music and the art. Our imagination creates Free admission inner images, or, if you like, lucid dreams. From 10–13 September 2015. Lucid Dream is a Norwegian-German collaboration, and forests play a key role For the fourth year running, Ultima in the cultural history of both countries. teams up with a high school for the Lucid dreaming is a phenomenon where In fairy tales, sagas and German Roman- Ultima Remake project. Together with you are aware of the fact that you are ticism, forests have been synonymous a team of artists, students and teachers dreaming, a kind of hyperreal state which with danger and uncertainty, though also work on an installation that encom- many liken to a spiritual experience. This with great beauty and shelter. People passes the theme of this year’s festival. year Ultima invites the audience to take are often frightened but also fascinated The 2015 Remake is based on part in a physical dream experiment in by the forest at night-time. That is why it Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Sym- Ekeberg Park, in which sound and light makes an ideal venue for an installation phonie. The students at the recently will create outer and inner images – set with ambitions to make a strong impres- opened Edvard Munch videregående to the music of Nils Petter Molvær. sion on the audience. As well as affording skole (Edvard Munch High School) For the past 25 years, trumpet player, a wonderful view over Oslo, Ekeberg’s will create the installation with their composer and producer Molvær has been natural landscape has a unique history teachers and the Remake team. It will a prominent and innovative figure in Nor- to tell, and this will also play a role in be placed in the school’s foyer. The wegian and international jazz and related the installation. installation is interactive and made genres. He grew up in the beautiful coun- Lucid Dream was developed by up of sound landscapes, composition, tryside of Sula in Sunnmøre, and through Molvær in collaboration with Beate dance and visual elements inspired by his art he has always been very close to Schüler. The lighting and visual design is Messiaen’s musings on nature. nature and concerned with environmental the work of Pekka Stokke from Trondheim, With students and teachers from protection. With Lucid Dream, he leaves a lighting designer with a long list of credits, the music, dance and design / textile the stage and studio behind and takes including the rock band Motorpsycho. strands in cooperation with Heloisa dense atmospheric sounds into nature. This ambitious project also harbours Amaral, Gyrid Nordal Kaldestad, Molvær has long been fascinated by the a vision of hope. Lucid Dream wants to Koka Nikoladze and Maja Roel. crystal-clear mental conditions that arise raise the audience’s awareness about en- in states of uncertainty. Through their vironmental issues and to perhaps per- nocturnal wandering, the audience will suade them to take better care of nature experience how sound, light and images in their local communities. AW merge in an installation unlike any other. With the help of a complex sound system, the audience is led along a pathway through the forest while videos, visual effects and lighting bring forth ghosts in the trees, on the ground and in the clearings in the forest. Lucid Dream Music — Nils Petter Molvær. Artistic Directors — is an artwork where the atmosphere shifts NilPetter Molvær and Beate Schüler. Sound design — Jørgen Larsson. between pure and true beauty and the Lighting and images — Pekka Stokke / Jan Martin.Vågen. dangerous, destructive side of that same Head Technician — Hans Jürgen Müller / beauty. The audience’s perceptions of Christian Hierhammmer. In cooperation with Ekeberg Park. time and space are expanded, and their LUCID DREAM is supported by Kunststiftung NRW (Arts Foundation of North Rhine-Westphalia) Photo Susanne Diesner (m) senses sharpened. The darkness inhibits 14 thursday 10 september friday 11 september 15 Listen to the sky ultima Getting on your nerves Elisabeth Vatn academy Shlomowitz & Schubert / Plus Minus Ensemble

Wolfgang Ernst On Nature and the Un-natural: Revisiting the Wunderkammer Kulturhuset 4pm

Bringing together a unique combination of artworks, technological inventions and natural artefacts, the Baroque Wun- derkammer was a diverse cabinet of curiosities that aimed to showcase the world’s mysteries and marvels. In that sense, it predicted the chaos and data pile-up of the internet and social media. This lecture by media theorist Wol- fgang Ernst discusses the way online culture recalls the haphazard organisa- tion of the Wunderkammer, and then Photo Knut Bry (m) looks at new digital manifestations of the curiosity cabinet, which can include Ganzfeld: Double Vision and Skyspace: sonic items as well. Elisabeth Vatn The Color Beneath The Color Beneath were both created Wolfgang Ernst is Full Professor for the old water reservoir in 2013. While for Media Theories at Humboldt Uni- Ekeberg Park / James Turrell’s installation Ganzfeld explores the way colours affect versity in Berlin and author of Digital Ganzfeld our senses, Skyspace makes use of the Memory and the Archive (2013). His 6:30pm chromatic interaction between the concert research covers media archaeology as kr. 300,– space and the sky at dawn and dusk. method, theory of technical storage, Photo Benedict Johnson (m) In The Color Beneath the composer technologies of cultural transmission, Each concert has a maximum capacity and performer turn their encounter with media aesthetics, critique of history which was specially composed for the An- interfaces between gesticular movements of 15 people the installation into music, partly follow- as master discourse of cultural and Matthew Shlomowitz glo-Belgian octet, Plus Minus Ensemble. and musical sounds, where the performing the composition and partly through technological time, and sound analysis. Lecture About Bad Music (WP) The work, which was written for lecturer, ers’ physical movements and position in improvisation. Consequently, none of the Alexander Schubert Sensate Focus clarinet, electric guitar, synthesizer and the room are essential elements of the Exclusive sunrise and sunset concerts with concerts performed in this unique setting violin, has been commissioned by Ultima composition. Elisabeth Vatn in James Turrell’s light will be identical. Plus Minus Ensemble and will receive its debut performance Plus Minus Ensemble specialises in installations in Ekeberg sculpture park. Produced by nyMusikk and Ekebergparken here. Australian-born Shlomowitz draws new music and modern key works. It The Color Beneath by musician and The Norwegian National Opera & on elements from many fields and genres, is particularly known for its interest in composer Elisabeth Vatn was conceived Ballet / Prøvesalen employing musical demonstrations and avant garde, experimental and conceptu- in James Turrell’s light installations in the 5pm recreations of psychological experiments al music, such as Stockhausen’s seminal old water reservoir on Ekeberg. Between kr. 200 / 100,– to examine differences between musical work from 1963 from which the ensemble 10–13 September, Vatn (harmonium, experience and musical material. takes its name. MØ Ekeberg Park / Ganzfeld Meråker clarinet, bagpipes) performs Thursday 10 September, 6:30–8:10pm Alexander Schubert’s Sensate Focus In collaboration with the Norwegian National Opera Friday 11 September, 6:30–8:10pm & Ballet. Supported by Arts Council Norway with Anders Røine (langeleik, mouth (FREE – part of Oslo kulturnatt) Can music really be bad in itself or is ‘bad’ combines light and image, allowing Saturday 12 September, 6:30–8:10pm harp, violin). Sunday 13 September, 6–7:30am and 6:30–8:10pm really nothing other than a subjective lighting effects take on the role of fifth Contemporary artist James Turrell The Color Beneath album was recorded during opinion? performer to a quartet of musicians. autumn 2014 and is released during Ultima 2015. works with perception, colour, light and The concerts are staged in cooperation with That is the question Matthew Shlo- In the work, Schubert, who has studied nyMusikk, Ekebergparken and Grappa Musikkforlag space. The two location-specific works with contributions by Fond for Utøvende Kunstnere. mowitz asks in Lecture About Bad Music, bioinformatics, experiments with the 16 friday 11 september friday 11 september 17

Nature in person Laser fantasia Henrik Hellstenius AtomTM & Robin Fox Amnesia Scanner

Techno scene of the early 90s (where he scientific use at the Bionic Ear Institute in AtomTM & Robin Fox Double Vision was known as Atom Heart), but he relo- Melbourne; released a handful of exper- Amnesia Scanner cated to Santiago, Chile later in the decade imental electronic records both solo and where he has pumped out hundreds of partnered with Anthony Pateras; designed Parkteatret releases under many aliases, including the dance visuals and has amazed audiences 10pm electro-Latin vibes of Señor Coconut and with his immersive laser shows. kr. 200 / 100,– warped pop songs of Lassigue Bendthaus; Also featured is a rare Norwegian per- and has collaborated with Bill Laswell, fomance by the mysterious electronica Florian Schneider (Kraftwerk), Haruomi collective Amnesia Scanner, whose fu- Double Vision is a spectacular feast of Hosono, Burnt Friedman and many more. turistic visions hint at the dystopian sci-fi sound, music, colour and light. It’s a col- His recent Atom™ album Winterreise, on of Philip K. Dick and soundtrack a world laboration between Atom™ (aka Uwe the Raster-Noton label, was accompanied permanently corrupted by the excesses of Schmidt) and the Australian video artist by his own photographs of icy landscapes. genetic science, pollution and bio-hacking. Robin Fox, merging Fox’s synaesthetic laser Robin Fox has spent many years inves- RY show with Schmidt’s deconstructed take tigating the relationship between sound on pop music, to create a unique audiovis- and image, with particular attention ual work that is both playful and insightful. towards vibration, electrical voltage and Atom™’s background was in the Frankfurt light. He has created energy devices for

Photo Ultima / Henrik Beck (m)

‘Sometimes we can see nature standing art as a source of inspiration, a theme, and Henrik Hellstenius Ørets teater: there, right in front of us. We think it is a as a physical prerequisite. Through the Om naturen (WP) figure, a reflection or a person. But it is distinctive vocalists Njål Sparboe, Silje nature. In person.’ – Thure Erik Lund, On Aker Johnsen and Stine Janvin Motland, Oslo Sinfonietta & Dans les Arbres Nature: An Essay (Om naturen. Et essay) plus Oslo Sinfonietta and Dans les arbres, Conductor Andrea Pestalozza In this encounter between concert and Hellstenius blends composition, improv- drama, the old and the new, and culture isation, light, image and motion into a Norwegian National Opera & Ballet and nature, composer Henrik Hellste- transcendent multimedia experience. MØ Stage 2 nius has combined the music of Franz Produced by The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet 7:30pm Schubert, Robert Schumann and Edvard and Oslo Sinfonietta kr. 250 / 150,– Grieg with that of Salvatore Sciarrino, the Norwegian-French quartet Dans les Performances will also be given on 12 arbres, and his own compositions. and 13 September at 6:30pm Ørets teater (Theatre of the Ear) is Soloists — Njål Sparbo, Silje Aker Johnsen, a through-composed performance that Stine Janvin Motland Dramaturgy — Kai Johnsen lies somewhere between a concert and a Video Boya — Bøckman musical drama. Using light, text and video, The performance is a continuation of Henrik Hellstenius’ four-concert series performed at Hellstenius sheds light on nature’s role in the Bergen International Festival in 2011. Photo Camille Blake (m) 18 friday 11 september friday 11 september 19

La commedia feminina Installations / Lunchtime concert Cecilie Ore

Cecilie Ore Adam & Eve — A Divine Comedy Kulturkirken Jakob 9pm kr. 350 / 250,– Also 12 September

Composer Cecilie Ore and librettist Bibbi Moslet have written a burlesque, political Quintetto (m) Herman Vogt (m) Terry Fox (m) and socially critical opera about funda- mentalist religion and misogyny. ‘… in pain you shall bring forth chil- Quiet Ensemble Quintetto Lunchtime concert Terry Fox The Labyrinth Scored dren. Your desire shall be to your husband, Herman Vogt Concordia Discors, Études for 11 Different Cats and he shall rule over you.’ – Genesis 3:16 Teknisk museum (WP) Quotations such as these formed the 10am (opening) Atelier Nord ANX basis for Ore’s and Moslet’s feminist and kr. 120 / 60,– Loftet 3pm (opening) artistic exploration of how religions view 12 noon Free admission (Oslo Cultural Night) women. By drawing on extracts from the Photo Ultima / Henrik Beck (m) Ticket to Teknisk museum kr. 50,– Bible, the Koran, Jewish texts and elements from the Declaration of Human pride create opportunities for rape, sex But Moslet and Ore’s project pays little Terry Fox (1943–2008) was an Amer- Rights and Dante’s Divine Comedy, they slavery, honour killings, and economic and heed to the audience’s self-esteem or pre- ‘We are so used to seeing that sud- British pianist Ian Pace, a well known ican pioneer in conceptual and sound use the operatic format to ask the ques- social disparities between men and women. conceptions of what an opera should be. In denly we forgot how to look, so used champion of contemporary reper- art who first gained attention in the tion: Is it possible to explain suppres- Cecilie Ore highlights current political Adam & Eve, art and message inextrica- to hearing that suddenly we forgot toire, performs the world premiere 1970s for his installations and per- sion and violence against one half of the issues in her work. The opera Dead Beat bly intertwine in a powerful and genuine to listen.’ of Herman Vogt’s Concordia Discors, formances which broke with estab- world’s population for such a long time? Escapement (2008), another collaboration attempt to use art to initiate change. MØ Every movement we see in nature Études. This is a cyclic work consisting lished art forms. His starting point And why is it so hard to get rid of it? with Bibbi Moslet, is an outspoken artistic can be perceived as a visual concert, of twelve separate movements requir- was the transformation of materials, The form of the performance is based protest against the death penalty. There, like a storm of birds moving together ing enormous technical skill. often using his own body, to explore on The Divine Comedy. Soprano Tora too, the composer took familiar structures making astonishing patterns, or snow The piece takes as its starting point extreme psychological and physical Augestad plays the heroine Virgilia, who and placed them in new contexts; in this falling from the sky and touching the the concept of concordia discors experiences. Between 1972–78 Fox ex- wanders through Hell via Purgatory on case quotations from the last words of ground. Quintetto is based on the study (harmony in discord), which stems plored the metaphorical symbolism in her way to Paradise. As master of cere- 21 prisoners sentenced to death in the of casual movement of objects or living from ancient Greek philosophy, and the labyrinth on the floor of Chartres monies and guide, Virgilia treats the frag- United States. creatures used as input for the produc- refers to the idea that conflicts between Cathedral: Eleven concentric circles, ments of text and attitudes she encounters Cecilie Ore’s music cuts straight to Composition / libretto — Cecilie Ore tion of sounds. The basic concept is to the four elements (earth, air, fire and 34 turns and 552 steps. The numerical Libretto / dramaturgy — Bibbi Moslet with a sense of wonder and an inquisitive the heart of her political message, which Director — Susanne Øglænd reveal what the ‘invisible concerts’ of water) create an overall harmony in and geometric structure in the stone mind; two qualities that are necessary for is what makes her such a unique voice Conductor Cathrine Winnes everyday life. In this installation the the world. Vogt, a Norwegian compos- mosaic was the source of inspiration discerning myth from reality. among Norwegian composers. An art Singers: Tora Augestad, Eir Inderhaug, Ingebjørg scene is five aquariums with a gold- er, has been working on these Études for The Labyrinth Scored for 11 Dif- Kosmo, Marianne E Andersen, Håkon Kornstad, Seven singers have roles on stage, ac- where the political message is so integrat- Frank Havrøy, Olle Holmgren fish in each. The movement of the five for the past ten years and this will their ferent Cats, his only composition for SISU Percussion Ensemble — Bjørn Skansen, companied by a percussion trio, music, ed and explicit is a rarity – and one that is Marius Søbye, Teodor Berg fishes is captured by a video camera first complete performance. tape. This work can be experienced at Voice — Anders T Andersen voices, and sounds from loudspeakers. The not always welcomed. Modern, abstract that translates their movements in Atelier Nord during Ultima. Set Design — Carle Lange number seven is also a recurring theme forms and styles have taught audiences, Costume design — Signe Becker digital sound signals / music in real time. Produced by Atelier Nord Lightening design — Sverre Randin in the story: Purgatory, with the seven artists and critics to expect some scope for Sound design — Cato Langnes and Mats Claesson deadly sins, represent the main element interpretation – a freedom to read into Performed in English in the opera, where sins are presented as one’s own experiences and ideas and not Supported by Norsk Kulturråd, Bergesenstiftelsen, Fritt Ord, Notam, Festspillene i Bergen, Fond for different types of violence against women: to have opinions or feelings forced upon Utøvende Kunstnere, Det Norske Komponistfond, Fegerstens Stiftelse, Fond for Lyd og Bilde, SISU Wrath, lust, greed, gluttony, envy, sloth and us as members of the audience. og nyMusikk 20 friday 11 september 21 friday 11 september 21

ultimaacademy

and spatialized in collaboration with in biology at the University of Oslo. Elin Mar Øyen Vister Røster III Trond Lossius and BEK in Bergen. Ali Parandian Battle of the Analysis Giants #3: He is working on the evolution and Luc Ferrari At Deichmanske hovedbibliotek, Untitled I, A Poem for Norway Turangalîla genetics of radiolarians, or single-cel- Journal Intime (film, 60 min., 2015) Deichmanske hovedbibliotek Røster III will be experienced in the led marine organisms with an intricate 3pm (opening and concert) old music room, which has a hexagonal Majorstuen Church, The Chapel Loftet and beautiful skeleton. He also has a Kulturhuset Free (Oslo Cultural Night) space and was originally acoustically 8–10pm 11 September degree in philosophy and a special in- 6:30pm treated for the purpose of listening to the Free admission (Oslo Cultural Night) 11am terest in the history of science. He has Open until 23 October in the library’s music library. The installation is created been teaching the history of biology opening hours around a setup of eight speakers arranged Open from 19 September between as part of an introductory course After studying with Olivier Messia- in a vertical and horizontal landscape, 10pm and midnight The Analysis Giants to battle it out for MA students at the department en, French composer and filmmaker between the books in the bookshelves, for a third time. Composers Trond of Biosciences at the University of Luc Ferrari established the genre Røster III takes the listener on an aural and for most of the time the room will Reinholdtsen and Ole Henrik Moe Oslo since 2010. He also plays bass of musique anecdotique, in which journey through a series of sound tab- not be lit. Multi-channel sound installation based dissect and explain Olivier Messiaen’s in the avant-progressive rock band he looked for the poetry in field re- leaux carefully sculptured and arranged Maja S. K. Ratkje will be joining the on audio and visual recordings made Turangalîla-Symphony.Welcome to a Panzerpappa. cordings of nature and human inte- by the artist’s archive of field recordings ensemble WeDoMagic as guest performer in Oslo between 2010 and 2015. Using morning of music theory, philosophy raction. Filmed alongside the world from the Røst Archipelago in Lofoten, at the opening of the installation. documentation of man-made environ- and psychoanalysis with a twist. premiere recording of Ferrari’s bril- northern Norway between 2010–15. The ments as its starting point, and with liant, forgotten music theatre piece work places the listening body in a time- the addition of abstractions, this work Dag Hessen Nature and Nurture, Journal Intime, this exclusive portrait space continuum where nature and endeavours to create a state whereby Evolution and Culture by Testklang’s Aron Kitzig is made up culture coexist and are given equal im- the viewer can focus on what lies Anders K. Krabberød A Short History of diary excerpts, interviews with his portance, giving ear to the eternal var- beyond his or her own circumstances. of Biology Kulturhuset widow Brunhild and the original col- iation of voices and spaces; the geopho- The subdued style of the work endeav- 4pm laborators on Journal Intime – as well nies and anthrophonies of Røst. Røster ours to integrate the acoustic and ar- Kulturhuset as unpublished archive material that III is a sound work for eight channels chitectural possibilities that lie in the 3pm brings Ferrari’s own voice back to life. Clarinet — Kristine Tjøgersen or more, created and composed by Elin Cello — Inga Byrkjeland church building. Ali Parandian moved Humans are shaped by evolution, but Mix, objects and electronics — Elin Mar Øyen Vister Mar Øyen Vister, site specifically mixed Vocal — Maja S. K. Ratkje from Tehran to Norway in 1989. He to what extent can mental and cultural received his training in sound design This lecture by Anders Kristian Krab- attributes be explained by evolution, at the Norwegian Film School in Lil- berød presents a selection of the main nature or more specifically genes? lehammer. The exhibition is free and events in the history of biology, and Can cultural traits and preferences be open to everyone throughout Ultima. traces how historical events, techno- explained by genes or memes? And is logical innovations and advances in culture a unique property of humans? other scientific disciplines have shaped How outstanding are humans, really, the evolution of the study of life. from an evolutionary perspective? This The history of biology stretches presentation by biologist Dag Hessen back to ancient Egyptian medicine will discuss recent insights in evoluti- and to the works of Greek philosop- on and genes, and link this to various hers such as Anaximander and Thales aspects of human culture. of Miletus. These early attempts at Dag Hessen is professor in biology understanding nature were driven by at the University of Oslo. His inte- the belief that knowledge about plants rests range from evolutionary biology and animals could increase chances to ecology, genome size regulation, of survival. During the Renaissance, biology and philosophy, and nature at biology became a scientific discipline. large. He is a member of the Norwegi- With evolution theory and the genetic an Academy of Science and the author revolution, biologists have been able of numerous books on popular science to glimpse for the first time how life such as Genes, God & Gaia, Darwin: has evolved from single cells to the The World Has Never Been the Same enormous diversity we see today. and a book on evolution for children, Photo Alexander Rishaug (m) Anders K. Krabberød is a PhD student Where Am I From? 22 saturday 12 september saturday 12 september 23

Chemical reactions Oslo tripping Små Grå / Kim Hiorthøy James Dillon /Jon Øivind Ness Cikada

Photo Tom Sachs Små Grå (m) Photo Observatoriet (m)

Kim Hiorthøy joins forces with the vocal pervading sense of beauty. It is improvisa- Scottish composer James Dillon is one of music by Jon Øivind Ness and Liza Små Grå / Kim Hiorthøy Kjemi (WP) ensemble Små Grå. Hiorthøy, who has tion, speech and written music, movement James Dillon Oslo / Triptych of the UK’s most significant composers, Lim. Ness’s piece Gimilen (2014) takes made his mark as a musician, writer, artist, and dance, sometimes in groups, some- Jon Øivind Ness Gimilen with commissioned works from and per- its name from two lakes in the wood- Teatersalen, illustrator and, more recently, as a cho- times individually, and otherwise mixed. formances by many of the UK’s biggest lands north-east of Hakadal, Norway. He Bondeungdomslaget i Oslo reographer, works on ideas that cannot Kjemi is a performance, or a concert, Cikada orchestras and influential international en- often draws on nature for his inspiration, 1pm be limited to one particular art form or that uses the most concrete materials sembles. Oslo / Triptych was commissioned and several of his works are named after kr. 200 / 100,– artistic expression. For many years now, we have – the physical elements in and Parkteatret for Cikada in 2011 as part of a three-part lakes in the Oslo region. Gimilen had Små Grå have been producing perfor- around us – as building blocks for some 3pm project Dillon conducted with ensembles its première at the KLANGSPUREN Also 13 September mances combining music and movement of the least concrete material we have: kr. 200 / 100,– from Leuven, Oslo and New York. Dillon is Festival in September last year. without being confined by classic defini- artistic meaning. It’s not fiction; it’s just a known for his large-scale projects, such as Headed by pianist and artistic director tions of genre. slightly strange performance about reality. Nine Rivers, the symphonic cycle of monu- Kenneth Karlsson, Oslo-based Cikada is In Kjemi (Chemistry), a performance MØ mental proportions, but his smaller works one of Norway’s most distinctive contem- of musical movement, both visual and are also impressive, often composed with porary music ensembles. The ensemble audio impressions are broken down to specific musicians in mind. Oslo / Triptych collaborates closely with composers on their minutest components and meet includes Indian harmonium, an instrument creating new works. MØ each other in new constellations. It is a often used by Cikada in recent years. Produced by Cikada dramatic deconstruction, but carefully ex- The concert also marks the launch ecuted, with a sensation of wonder and a of Cikada’s new album which consists 24 saturday 12 september saturday 12 september 25

Forever changes Tuning the Cosmos Heine Avdal & Yukiko Shinozaki Ensemble Musikfabrik / Helge Sten

musical landscape of the previous and as a mastering and sound engineer he has Simon Steen-Andersen Korpus current centuries. Throughout the project, made his mark on numerous Norwegian Harry Partch And on the Seventh Day they bring Partch’s ideas into the future. records. Petals Fell in Petaluma ‘Writing new music for Harry Partch’s Ensemble Musikfabrik will also Helge Sten Sow Your Gold instruments had been an unattainable perform Partch’s And on the Seventh In The White Foliated Earth (WP) dream until it’s suddenly become real,’ Day Petals Fell in Petaluma (1963–66), a says Helge Sten. ‘I was introduced to work that consists of 23 pieces, each one Ensemble Musikfabrik Partch’s music in the early eighties, when minute long. They span from duets to he was singled out as one of the sources of septets and thoroughly explore Partch’s Kanonhallen inspiration for The Residents. His life and microtonal system. 6pm work as a composer, musician, DIY record The world renowned Danish com- kr. 350 / 250,– executive, instrument maker, philosopher, poser Simon Steen-Andersen has been hobo and outsider has chiselled out a new working on the Pitch 43 project as well, NB: Please arrive at Kanonhallen in space for composers to move in. You have and Korpus, his brand new piece for good time to think anew when you get to work with seven or eight musicians on three differ- such a wide array of microtonal acoustic ent Partch instruments is performed at instruments.’ Kanonhallen as well. When Ensemble Musikfabrik per- Partch’s microtonal collection is made This is a once in a lifetime chance to formed Harry Partch’s Delusion of The up of more than fifty different instru- experience the music Helge Sten has Fury during Ultima 2013, the concert ments, based on everything from strings composed for Ensemble Musikfabrik. received rave reviews, and made a lot and percussion, handheld bells, bellows No wonder the Guardian lists this concert Illustration Arnaud Meuleman (m) of lists of that year’s best stage perfor- and keyboards. Their innovative names – as one of the art experiences not to miss mances. This year, the Cologne-based Mazda Marimba, Chromelodeon, Bloboy, in 2015. AW installation, stage design and architectural ensemble returns to Ultima with even Crychord, and Cloud Chamber Bowls Supported by Arts Council Norway Heine Avdal / Yukiko Shinozaki element. The duo explores the tension and more Partch, plus a collaboration with – reflect their musical exoticism. When Distant Voices contrast between reality and fiction, and the Norwegian musician and producer Partch’s instruments were reconstructed between bodies and objects, in a room that Helge Sten (Deathprod, Supersilent). for the Ensemble Musikfabrik in 2012, Black Box Teater is in constant motion. Here the imagina- American composer, theoretician, it created the necessary framework to 7pm tion can pass through its memory of what visionary, bohemian and instrument perform his unique music. Being one of kr. 240 / 100,– it thinks it just saw, its perception of what maker Harry Partch (1901–74) was a the world’s leading contemporary music is actually happening, and its anticipation pioneer of the just intonation move- ensembles, the role as the foremost care- Also 13 September of what is to come. How are physical ex- ment in the United States, and his taker for Partch’s musical legacy came periences affected by the space, and what complex tuning system makes playing naturally to Ensemble Musikfabrik. happens when something breaks free of his music on conventional instruments As a member of the improv group In the past few years, the Norwegian-Japa- its spatial limitations? impossible. That’s the reason why En- Supesilent and the rock band Motorpsy- nese duo Heine Avdal and Yukiko Shino- Avdal and Shinozaki are joined by, semble Musikfabrik and instrument cho, Helge Sten has been a leading sound zaki, who have bases in Oslo and Brussels, among others, André Eiermann, creator maker Thomas Meixner have worked artist, producer and musician for several have made their mark on the international of the concept of post-spectacular theatre. hard at recreating Partch’s instrument decades. Using the moniker Deathprod, scene in the interface between dance, SW collection and learning to master its he has inhabited his own patch of the visual art, video, music and technology. Concept & Direction — Heine Avdal, Yukiko Shinozaki intrinsic qualities. music world since 1991, finding himself Visual artist — Arnaud Meuleman Their art projects have a strong perform- Dramaturge — André Eiermann In the Pitch 43 – Tuning the Cosmos on the crossroads between noise, jazz, Created & performed by — Andrey Andrianov, ative element, and they often perform in Heine Avdal, André Eiermann, Ingrid Haakstad, project, the ensemble works closely contemporary and electronic music as Arnaud Meuleman, Kayoko Minami, semi-public spaces. Eivind Seljeseth, Yukiko Shinozaki with a number of composers, ex- well as rock. His ‘audio virus universe’ Sound design — Roeland Luyten. In Distant Voices, they return to the Sound technique — Mathieu Virot changing ideas and knowledge about encompasses homemade electronics, Technical support — Protocol Room traditional theatre stage and take the Production — fieldworks vzw, Heine Avdal instruments and notation to be used old tape loop echo machines, ring mod- Co-production — STUK (Leuven), APAP Network: physical space in which they find them- BIT Teatergarasjen (Bergen), Kunstencentrum Buda for new compositions and in new ways. ulators, filters, theremins, samplers and (Kortrijk) and Pact Zollverein (Essen), selves as their theme. By using moving Kana Theatrical Centre (Szczecin), CO2 festival As these new impulses encounter the other solid state equipment. Sten was (Beirut). In collaboration with: Kaaitheater (Brussel) objects, the space is transformed into With the support of — Norsk Kulturråd, Vlaamse rich world of Partch’s musical legacy, educated at Kunsthøyskolen i Trondheim Gemeenschap, Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie. a kind of fluid sculpture that serves as Illustration — Arnaud Meuleman they open up new perspectives on the (Trondheim Academy of Fine Arts), and Photo Carsten Aniksdal (m) 26 saturday 12 september saturday 12 september 27

Hopping mad Sights for square eyes Jan Martens Matmos + Ensemble

Robert Ashley Perfect Lives Matmos + ensemble Vulkan Arena 10pm kr. 200 / 100,–

Named after the malevolent sci-fi film Barbarella from 1968, M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the duo behind the name Matmos, who became famous in the nineties for their distinctive fusion of musique concrète and rhythmic patterns often associated with electronic dance music. In Matmos’s universe, the samples of plastic surgery and rat cages are as normal as the sound of Bible pages and crackling latex. Mat- mos’s personal and inventive approach Photo Jacqueline Humbert (m) to sampling culture and modern music from almost all genres have made the Complicated? Perhaps, but Matmos also Through its everyday expressions, Perfect duo worldwide stars. Their collabora- have a deep element of fun and adventure Lives transforms familiar material into a tion as part of Icelandic vocalist Björk’s in their musical excursions. metaphor for the rebirth of the human touring group has also been a contrib- During Ultima, Schmidt and Daniel soul, and has been described as a comic uting factor. will perform the first and final parts opera about reincarnation. It is also part Both of them are currently teaching (The Park and The Backyard) from US of a trilogy (with Atalanta and Now El- Photo Studio Rios Zertuche (m) in their adopted home town of Balti- composer Robert Ashley’s (1930–2014) eanor’s Idea) that has a pulse of 72 beats more, but they met at a strip joint in San ground-breaking TV opera Perfect Lives per minute for all the parts. The story is ‘When you ask a person to jump, his at- challenges us as the audience to think Francisco where Daniel worked while (1984), which is often described as one moved forward by a hypnotic and ev- Jan Martens The Dog Days Are Over tention is mostly directed toward the act about what we want: Do we want the studying philosophy. Their first release of the definitive text-sound composi- er-present voice (the Narrator R), but of jumping and the mask falls so that the dancers to fail or succeed? Or are we like came in 1997, and more than 13 albums tions of the late 20th century. An opera Ashley also gave the actors wide scope Dansens Hus real person appears.’ This quotation by a blood-thirsty audience at a bullfight, de- have followed since. They have worked about a bank raid, cocktail bars, geriatric for artistic freedom to develop their char- 9pm photographer Philippe Halsman serves riving entertainment from the exhaustion with several prominent artists such as love (late at night in a supermarket) and acters. Ashley’s vision of a new operatic kr. 290 / 175,– as the starting point for The Dog Days of others? The performance is presented Antony, Terry Riley, The Kronos Quartet, adolescent elopement in the American style also applied to the process of making Are Over, a minimal and political work in cooperation with Aerowaves. SW David Tibet, Marina Abramovic, Willem Midwest, Perfect Lives is populated by it: ‘Well, if I say it’s opera, it’s opera!’ he Also 13 September for eight jumping performers. Produced by Dansens Hus Dafoe, Zeena Parkins, So Percussion and a range of characters, mainly two musi- once retorted to a critic. ‘Who’s running The award-winning Belgian choreog- The Princeton Laptop Orchestra. Their cians: the singer E and his friend Buddy, this show, anyway?’ rapher Jan Martens has explored jumping latest album, The Marriage of True Minds, ‘The World’s Greatest Piano Player’. Matmos performed The Park and The as artistic expression for some time. In this was released in 2013 and is based on a Together they arrive in a small town in Backyard for the first time in 2014, the year By — Jan Martens. With — Cherish Menzo, Nelle Hens, performance he lets eight dancers jump Piet Defrancq, Kimmy Ligtvoet, Steven Michel, parapsychological experiment. Using the Midwest to entertain at the Perfect Ashley died. They are joined by musicians Julien Josse, Laura Vanborm, Naomi Gibson and / or continuously for 70 minutes. Martens’s Morgane Ribbens, Ilse Ghekiere, Victor Dumont, telepathy, the duo tried to convey their Lives Lounge. They fall in love with and singers on stage, while the voice of the Connor Schumacher. Light design — Jan Fedinger. complex mathematical choreographic Dramaturgy — Renée Copraij. Technique — Michel own intentions for the album to several two of the locals and decide to commit narrator R is played by M.C. Schmidt. AW Spang. Photo — Piet Goethals, Alwin Poiana og Studio work attempts to reveal the person behind Rios Zertuche. Production — ICKamsterdam and test subjects, who in turn provided the the perfect crime: to rob a bank for a JAN. Co-production — Frascati Producties, SPRING the dancer and, under the motto ‘perfec- performing arts festival. DansBarant, La Briqueterie basis for the music in the form of the sizeable sum of money for just one day CDC du Val-de-Marne, tanzhaus nrw and TAKT tion is boring’, reveal their vulnerability Dommelhof. Supported by — workspacebrussels og wp responses about sound and images they and let the whole world know that the zimmer. Financial support — Flemish Authorities and fallibility. This unusual choreography and Performing Arts Fund NL. felt they had received. money was missing. 28 matmos matmos 29

in New York at The Stone and, astonishingly, Robert Ashley What are the main challenges with this piece? himself attended. It meant a great deal to us, as you can Massage for the brain imagine, to be able to play this music for the composer, and Perfect Lives grants a great deal of freedom to the musicians, to know that, even given the substantial differences between but places some very intense demands upon the singers/ Rob Young his performances and our realisation, we had his support and speakers: They must sound relaxed and casual while execut- encouragement. ing something that is very precise, and that mixture of loose Years later in Baltimore, our friend Britton Powell came delivery and tight focus is both a challenge to realise and a up with a string arrangement for The Park, and Britton asked pleasure to experience. On The Park in particular, the text is Drew Daniel of American duo Matmos explains the M.C. Schmidt to deliver the text in a live concert setting, with very precise about its pauses, gaps and cues, and this means Jen Kirby and Caroline Marcantoni as the additional speakers/ that the interaction between M.C. Schmidt, Jen and Caroline background to the group’s version of Robert Ashley’s singers. For a concert in New York City at Issue Project Room, has a real delicacy. The challenge is that the music has a highly Matmos played both The Backyard and a newly expanded and soothing and entrancing effect, but it requires constant aware- ‘opera for television’, Perfect Lives, at Ultima. Matmos-ified version of The Park, expanding and altering the ness and vigilance if you’re going to avoid over-playing and line-up, but keeping the string arrangement and the vocal clutter. In this sense it is both ‘minimalist’ and ‘maximalist’: trio intact. Lars Petter Hagen was at that concert, and he there is a constantly changing surface and a deep, underlying approached us about the possibility of coming to Ultima. We form, and you have to be aware of both. were very honoured and excited at the chance to transform and extend these arrangements. It’s always a test to take such Do you have any thoughts on the connections between quintessentially American music outside of its home context nature and music? and to see what happens. John Cage’s resonant phrase about making art that would Can you give us an idea what audiences will actually ‘imitate nature in its manner of operation’ has always winked see/hear/experience, and how much interpretative at me across a distance. Cage is calling for artwork to be less licence you are giving yourselves? To what extent does concerned with the emotional expressivity of the self and more What interests Matmos about Robert Ashley’s work? being ‘televised’ (faces seen in close-up, a cascade of visual Ashley’s work give room for fresh interpretation? attuned to the diversity, complexity and chaotic dimensions images that constantly changes rather than a proscenium of a non-human world. Sounds good to me! When we started making music together, one of the very set, close-miked voices rather than singing loudly), but the When we decided to do The Backyard, it forced us to think That has always been a productive attitude for our work: first works that M.C. Schmidt and I made was a song, never reverse is also true, for television is re-enchanted and estranged about what we can and cannot do with our limited skillset, A microphone opens onto the entirety of what surrounds it, released, called ‘Massage The Brain’ which simply looped by becoming ‘operatic’ (longform, ambitious, passionate, and what a ‘cover’ of Robert Ashley would involve. Stripped but it also makes a selective cut. When you choose to work with and manipulated an excerpt of Perfect Lives: ‘Short phrases through-composed content rather than short commercialised down to its core, for us The Backyard is: A voice delivering the the sound of water, or branches of dried twigs, or snails, or the repeated massage the brain’. Like so much of Ashley’s work, messages). When Ashley first deployed opera for television, text with a certain distinctive cadence and inflection, a drone skin of a rabbit, or crayfish neural tissue, you are setting up an that phrase is both instantly intelligible and yet full of sly that phrase had, I think, a democratic edge of access and that holds a tonal centre, and a rhythm that shifts emphasis encounter with materials whose sonic resources are curious, humour. Is it a critique of minimalism? Is it a mockery of the generality that squelched the high culture ‘classy’ signifier of but holds the tempo. Overall, the piece has to have the right particular, and resistant. They are not ‘instruments’ played by very thing it also exemplifies? Ashley’s music is calming and opera in an American context, but also tweaked the snobby qualities of fullness and openness or it won’t work, and striving humans to make music, and their resistance gives you some alarming at the same time; it massages but then it cracks you hostility to television that was a standard part of bohemian or to find that balance is the real challenge. friction from which to push off. In making music out of them, up and estranges you, too. When you try to describe his work avant-garde self-understanding. So it has that strange feeling When pairing The Park and The Backyard, the goal is to you are torqueing them into unforeseen (unnatural?) shapes. to people, you feel foolish because many of the adjectives that of insistence upon the everyday that much of the libretto of create a relationship between two different sections of a larger Cage uses the word ‘imitate’ and that kind of gives the game come to mind – hallucinatory, psychedelic, poetic, meditative, Perfect Lives generates too. work that make sense in sequence, that have the right mixture away: In making art, a human is involved at some level, and funny, creepy, seductive – aren’t helpful; they don’t capture What is television today? It used to be a badge of honour of propulsive forward movement and hallucinatory stasis. the slices they make out of this broad field called ‘nature’ are the curious way in which, in his work, the everydayness of for artists to say ‘I don’t even have a television’ and to uphold Thanks to Britton’s arrangement, The Park reflects the notation going to reveal their agenda, their location. So the ‘imitation’ American life and speech becomes elevated into something the culture of the small magazine, the warehouse performance of Ashley’s original, albeit in a refracted/stretched/reconfigured fails, but that’s interesting too. quite odd and revelatory. or the underground in opposition to such a mass media form. manner. Ideally the two arrangements complement each other, I think ‘opera’ was a signpost for the fact that music was Now, when computers are televisions and televisions are respectful of the originals and yet free-standing and different. What’s your next project? only a part of what he was up to. The text and video means that computers, and when the topology of popular culture and To realise Perfect Lives onstage, M.C. Schmidt collaborated his work is a conversation between a musical dimension and underground culture has been flattened and then bottlenecked with the Baltimore video artist Max Eilbacher to come up Our new album is perhaps the most fanatical record we’ve other dimensions. It works for the same reason that hiphop through the same search engines and interfaces, Ashley’s work with a new video work which would act as a non-distracting ever made. It is called Ultimate Care II and it is based entirely works: The cadence and delivery of speech already has musi- looks not so much quaint as prescient. but genuinely musical component of the ensemble. The result upon the sound of our washing machine. RY cality in it, and becomes a fascinating, capacious and beautiful is a series of animations and elements which Max cross-fades phenomenon when you can sharpen it and deliver it with the What is the background to this particular commission/ and dissolves on the fly as M.C. Schmidt progresses through right kind of intensity. It helps that Ashley is a brilliant writer performance? the libretto. Because the timing of how and when M.C. shifts with an ear for the richness of American language. from section to section alters each night, the video is not simply It began in admiration for Robert Ashley’s work: Fandom, rolling as a readymade backdrop, but becomes responsive Ashley’s piece appeared at a time when ‘television’ basically. We kept listening to the recordings, we loved them, in a direct, albeit subtle way. This unfolds slowly, in keeping took very different forms, and was consumed in very and one day M.C. Schmidt proposed that we come up with with the tempo of the piece, but the creeping shifts in content different ways, from now. How well does it work in a ‘cover version’ of The Backyard. We based our version on that result from live rendition of the video are an important 2015? the Lovely Music LP version rather than later variants, and dimension of what is happening. Ideally, it sneaks up on your in some ways we took Ashley’s willingness to adjust and consciousness in the same way that certain phrases in the ‘Opera for television’ is such a great, loaded phrase. Each transform arrangements, while keeping the text consistent, as libretto revise and alter previous information as your mind noun cross-multiplies the other: Opera is transformed by permission to do the same thing. We performed The Backyard struggles to assemble Ashley’s implied narrative. 30 saturday 12 september saturday31friday 12.12. septemberseptember saturday 12 september 31 Sound Stencil ultima Koka Nikoladze academy

less of culture, learning and upbrin- an environment where the only source Bruno Laeng Synaesthesia, ging, neuroesthetics has been deeply of light was a strobe pulsing every two or the Illusions of Perception inspired by the humanities. This talk by seconds. The animals grew up unable Semir Zeki investigates the relations- to understand movement and, when Kulturhuset hip between brain activity and aesthe- their brains were dissected, their visual 12pm tic appreciation and artistic creativity. cortexes had significant differences Further, it outlines the results of expe- from the norm. riments on how the brain responds to Alexander Schubert will be in Synaesthesia is the ability to experi- ‘beauty’ in different forms – visual, conversation with Oslo based music ence one sense through another, such musical and mathematical. writer Rob Young, former editor of as hearing the sound of a trumpet Semir Zeki was Professor of Neuro- The Wire, current editor of Jazznytt as yellow, or ‘smelling’ poetry like biology at University College London and contributor to frieze, Morgenbla- Photo Hires Anu (m) perfume. As well as being a neuro- until 2008 and is currently its Profes- det, Artforum and more. logical phenomenon, artists such as sor of Neuroesthetics. His most recent Vassily Kandinsky and Olivier Mes- research is into the neurobiology un- Anders Tveit & Parallax Parallax View siaen claimed to have had synaesthetic derlying subjective mental and aest- perception and the idea is frequently hetic experiences. He has written four Rolf Inge Godøy A Multidimensional Deichman Library / Grünerløkka branch referred to in works of art, especial- books, A Vision of the Brain (Black- Perception of Sound 8pm ly music. This talk by Bruno Laeng well Scientific, 1993); Inner Vision: An Free surveys the phenomenon of synaest- Exploration of Art and the Brain (OUP, Kulturhuset hesia and give some examples of its 1999) and Splendors and Miseries of 2:30pm Photo Ultima / Henrik Beck (m) relationships with the arts and music. the Brain (Wiley-Blackwell 2008). He In a live installation, improvisation trio Bruno Laeng is professor in cogni- has also co-authored La Quête de l’es- Koka Nikoladze is a Georgian violinist, Parallax and Anders Tveit explore the tive neuropsychology specialising in sentiel with the late French painter Although music is often heard as a Koka Nikoladze Sound Stencil 0.1 composer and sound artist based in Norway. area between composed and impro- topics such as attention, perception and Balthus (Archimbaud 1995) and La continuous stream of sound, it is also As an instrumentalist Nikoladze has per- vised music and the contrasts between memory in vision and music. He recei- bella e la bestia with Ludovica Lumer possible to pick out more distinct Starts at Dansens Hus formed as a solo violinist, chamber musi- acoustic and electronic sounds. In con- ved his BA in experimental psychology (Laterza 2011). sonic events, sometimes known as 12 noon cian, and orchestral musician on various trast to traditional multi-channel elec- from Università La Sapienza (Rome, sonic objects. Experiencing these sonic Free stages in Europe and the United States. troacoustic works, where the position Italy) and a Ph.D. in biological psycho- objects may involve other senses such Working more recently as a composer, he of the sound and sound objects in a logy from the University of Michigan as vision, motion and touch, in addition has composed acoustic and electroacous- room are predetermined, Parallax and (Ann Arbor, USA). He has previous- Sensate Focus – Alexander Schubert to hearing. Drawing on the works of Sound Stencil is a concept that can be re- tic music for various ensembles, vocal Tveit undertake a more improvised ly held positions at the University of and Rob Young in conversation the French pioneer of musique con- alised with mechanical robots or human music, including two premiered cham- exploration of the listening room itself. Bergen, University of Tromsø, Uni- crète in the second half of the 20th performers, and turns objects in any given ber operas, and also actively investigated The physical room, loudspeakers, the versity of Guelph and Harvard Uni- Kulturhuset century, Pierre Schaeffer, music re- environment into integrated musical in- the field of computer-human interaction. acoustic instruments and the electronic versity, and and he has been a Clinical 2pm searcher Rolf Inge Godøy discusses struments. The first implementation, Sound RY sounds blend into one ‘instrument’. Research Fellow at the Massachusetts aural perception and the relationship Stencil 0.1, will be premiered at Oslo Produced by Notam The audience and the performers are General Hospital, Boston. between sound and bodily motion in Ultima Contemporary Music Festival 2015, positioned in a circle surrounded by Before turning to composition, German the experience of music. and is made of human percussionists who loudspeakers. composer Alexander Schubert had ex- Rolf Inge Godøy is professor of use smartphones for synchronisation. All Produced by Notam tensive training in neurobiology and music theory at the Department of the players listen to a synchronised audio Semir Zeki computer sciences. This has influenced Musicology, University of Oslo. His score, which dictates various rhythmical The Neurobiology of Aesthetics his musical work, which focuses heavily main interest is in phenomenological patterns and gives them directions. Per- on the links between light, gesture and approaches to music theory, in other cussionists move around the city, keep at Kulturhuset sound. words, taking subjective experiences an audible distance from one another and 1pm His piece Sensate Focus, for instan- of music as a point of departure for hit various objects on their way. They move ce, in which musicians are momentarily music theory. This work has been or freeze, speed up and slow down, spread Performers lit up every time they make a sound, expanded to include research on Guitar — Are Lothe Kolbeinsen out or bunch together. The audience is Trumpet — Stian Omenås While studying how neural systems has its roots in a 1973 scientific expe- music-related body motion in per- Percussion / drums — Ulrik Ibsen Thorsrud free to follow them as long as they want. Live electronics / live spatialisation — Anders Tveit allow us to experience beauty, regard- riment in which kittens were reared in formance and listening. 32 sunday 13 september sunday 13 september 33 Penguin eggs, tree rings Collapsing new buildings and boomerangs

narrated from a sofa group in the forest ÅRRINGER (TREE RINGS) Kurt Schwitters Day Children’s Day at Ultima that gradually transforms into a sonic Trees make sounds! Come and join in battleground between various charac- making Ultima’s biggest instrument: a Henie Onstad Arts Centre Riksscenen (Norwegian Hub for Traditional ters / monsters who live in the forest. gigantic stokkofone composed of tree 1–4pm Music and Dance) stumps and branches from the forest that kr. 200 / 100,– 11am–3pm MR. PING are made to produce sounds. Everyone kr. 50,– Mr. Ping lives in the Antarctic. His home can join in and saw new tones for the giant Entry to all exhibitions at the Henie Onstad is terribly cold and has lots of snow. He orchestra. And of course we have to make Arts Centre are included in ticket price. has been given a very important task: a concert! A lot of research, cooperation CHILDREN’S DAY AT ULTIMA: to look after an egg. Although he hopes and decisions will be needed before the 13:00 (Auditorium) Karin Hellandsjø and THE SUCCESS CONTINUES! it is a penguin egg, there is no way of music is ready and the concert can begin. Oda Wildhagen Gjessing discuss the art Ultima is delighted to invite children of knowing what is actually inside. What is And there will be a few surprises along of Kurt Schwitters all ages to a whole day at Riksscenen even worse is that other animals might the way. The work will be led by three for a jam-packed programme and activ- want to get hold of it. Percussionist Knut seasoned musicians from Drivhuset music 14:00 (Studio) Building Instrument – ities designed especially with children in Lother performs this concert and uses workshop: Isak Anderssen, Per Oddvar SCHWITTERS (WP) mind. Children’s Day at Ultima offers different sounds and loops to which Mr Johansen and Jon Halvor Bjørnseth. the whole family the opportunity to see Ping can dance around. The children who 15:00 (Mini Prisma) Opening ceremony for and experience what contemporary music attend the concert are invited to help BOOMERANGEN 2.0 new Kurt Schwitters room containing over can be. The programme offers concerts, Mr Ping find a safe place where he can Boomerangen 2.0 is a room you can only thirty works on loan from Sparebankstiftelsen installations and workshops with a wide hatch the egg. enter by first passing through a kind of DNB, the National Gallery of Art, Architec- range of artists. labyrinth. Boomerangen borrows sounds ture and Design, and the Sprengel Museum In cooperation with John Vinge, a NYMUSIKK KIDS from you and sets them to music. You Hannover Photo Arne Sandvoll Building Instrument trio (m) dedicated group of children will act as What is music, what is a sound? When can give Boomerangen as many sounds hosts and will be working on a sound in- does a sound become music? What did as you like, or you can simply be in the 15:30 (Mini Prisma) Agnes Hvizdalek spaces full of jagged edges and strange Their first self-titled CD was released on stallation, marketing activities, interview Arne Nordheim mean when he said room and listen. Boomerangen contin- angles. He wrote poetry, plays and ‘sound the Hubro label in 2014, and Brunvoll has performs parts of Kurt Schwitter’s sound Ursonate points and lots more. ‘everything can sing’? ues to make new music all the time, so poem Ursonate poems’ such as (1922–32), whose picked up two nominations for Norway’s Good food and drink will also be on nyMusikk Kids is a workshop where your sounds are mixed with the sounds alien language and strident tones have Spellemannspris. sale. Here are some of the programme children aged between six and twelve can of others. Inside the room you will find become one of the defining works of sound About their approach to interpreting the highlights: experiment with electronic in an iPad that you can change the music by the way poetry. ‘We definitely find his way of using dadaist’s ideas, Brunvoll says: ‘We are ‘Music that has collage qualities, samples workshop together with professional mu- you behave. Boomerangen 2.0 does not his own voice and wonderful made-up opened up to his work, but definitely in and so on, is something we work quite a sicians. The result of the workshop will be just do what you want it to do; it also has language to perform his poems,’ com- his spirit, we will try to stay where we are MAJKA – THE GIRL FROM SPACE lot with,’ says Mari Kvien Brunvoll of Many will recall Majka – The Girl From performed in a concert. Parents are also a will of its own. ments Brunvoll. ‘They are very organic, ourselves, creating something from our Building Instrument, about her group’s Space, the popular 1970s children’s TV welcome to attend the workshop. and some of the dynamics and expression own point of view. It seems like Schwit- new commission inspired by the Merz series. Some of Norway’s leading stage in this works are directly inspiring when ters was an artist who worked in a very PETER BADEN works and philosophy of German dadaist performers, headed by Julia Skar, have Composer, drummer and producer Peter it comes to composing melodic material. intuitive way, and that he was in contact ELIN MAR ØYEN VISTER – Kurt Schwitters, who spent the last years developed an installation specially for Baden works with electronic improvised His approach to creating art out of any- with something real inside of him.’ LYTTEVERKSTED of his life in Norway. On the occasion Children’s Day inspired by the series and Elin lives on the edge of Røst in Lofoten, music, jazz / pop, film scores, stage music thing – old tickets, garbage – inspires us She adds: ‘We are fascinated by his of the opening of a new space at Henie by outer space. The installation invites the where she spends a lot of time recording and many other musical styles. He has also to find new inspiration in small bits and way of turning a home into a piece of Onstad Arts Center housing a collection public to wander through this exciting bird sounds and other sounds from nature made many different types of installations. pieces of sound and ideas and to imagine art. How was his daily life? How was of Schwitters’s art, the Norwegian exper- universe. and the sea. She then uses these sounds In collaboration with the Children’s Day that it can later be a part of something his approach to creating and expressing imental improvisers unveil a new piece to make music. She also has a workshop pilot group, he will be creating a new bigger. Building Instrument began playing himself in this world? How was it to leave of music composed as a response to the where she teaches children and young installation. their mix of acoustic pop and improvised his loved ones to stay for long periods of UT AV SKOGEN life and legacy of one of 20th century Ut av Skogen (Out of the Forest) is a work people how to listen. What should we Supported by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB contemporary music in 2008, and have time alone to create art?’ Even if they art’s most important figures. Schwitters’s inspired by the life of composer Harald listen for? How do we listen? Why should rapidly settled in the Norwegian musical can’t sit down for a chat with the man in Merzbau collages were a kind of absurdist Sæverud and by the forest and nature sur- we listen at all? landscape. The group’s members are person, this promises to be an intriguing response to the cubism of Picasso and rounding his farm, Siljustøl. Gisle Martens Mari Kvien Brunvoll (vocals, electronics, and revelatory musical dialogue with the Braque, but he developed these into full Meyer has created a performance that misc instruments), Øyvind Hegg-Lunde legacy of an artistic maverick. RY scale architectural plans and proposed mixes orchestral and electronic music (drums, percussion) og Åsmund Weltzien In collaboration with Henie Onstad Arts Centre entire houses constructed as haphazard Supported by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB with sounds from nature and the forest, (synths, electronics). 34 sunday 13 september sunday35friday 13. 12. september september sunday 13 september 35 Raptures of the deep ultima Camille Norment & David Toop academy

Henrik H. Svensen Leonardo da Vinci – David Toop and Anthropocene, or the Age of Man Richard Taruskin Scientifica and Mirabilia Heloisa Amaral in conversation Kulturhuset Kulturhuset Kulturhuset 7:30pm 8:30pm 9:30pm

The Anthropocene is the Age of Man: In his massive Turangalîla-Symphony, A new music-text-film work for Ultima the geological designation for the era which opens this year’s Ultima festival, by David Toop, performed by Elaine in which we live today. Humans and Olivier Messiaen speaks of life, death, Mitchener, is based around the sci- our activities dominate the planet and God and nature. With the composer’s entific and artistic thought patterns circumvent nature, irreparably altering love for birds and birdsong as a starting of the quintessential ‘Renaissance many aspects of the Earth’s inbuilt point, eminent musicologist Richard Man’, Leonardo da Vinci. In conver- systems: its biosphere, atmosphere, Taruskin discusses the symbolic use of sation with Ultima Academy curator oceans and land masses. birds in the language of music: prop- Heloisa Amaral, David Toop discusses Award-winning geologist Henrik hetic birds, messengers from beyond. the origins, inspirations and meanings H. Svensen, research professor at the This lecture links nature, music and behind this multilayered piece. University of Oslo and author of nu- the supernatural in a true Wunder- David Toop is a British writer, merous articles on climate change for kammer spirit. music critic, composer, improviser and Morgenbladet, GEO and others, will Richard Taruskin is an American currently holds the professor and chair talk about the cultural and scientific musicologist who has written and le- of audio culture and improvisation issues at stake in the Age of Man. ctured on topics ranging across the at the London College of Commu- whole of music – history and analy- nication. His books include Ocean of sis as well as its cultural, social and Sound, Haunted Weather and Sinister political contexts. He has also been Resonance and he has written articles a performer and a choral conductor. for The Wire, The Face, The Times and Born in New York in 1945, He received many others. He has released around his Ph.D. from Columbia University, 15 albums of his own music, solo or Photo OCA Marta Buso Camille Norment & David Toop (m) where he was on the faculty until 1986. in collaboration with Paul Burwell, At the end of 2014, he retired from Max Eastley and Jeff Noon. His opera As part of that project she held an im- sound, and contemplates on the power the University of California, Berkeley. Star-shaped Biscuit was premiered at Camille Norment Rapture provised performance within the Nordic of dissonance to create spaces for new His many books and articles include the Aldeburgh Festival in 2012. Pavilion in Venice with the composer, ways of thinking. David Toop is a British Text and Act, The Danger of Music Camille Norment Trio + David Toop, author and music critic David Toop, in composer, writer and professor of Audio and Other Anti-Utopian Essays. He is Sofia Jernberg, vocal ensemble Oslo 14 May this year. Using an array of impro- Culture and Improvisation at the London the author of the six-volume Oxford vised instruments and machines including College of Communication. His influen- History of Western Music. OCA a glass armonica, wineglasses, amplified tial books include Ocean of Sound (1995), (Office for Contemporary Art Norway) flute, bowed objects, electric motors and Exotica (1999) and Haunted Weather 6pm jars of liquid, as well as spoken word, (2004). His solo albums include Screen kr. 200 / 100,– the performance explores the legends, Ceremonies (2006), Spirit World (1997), stories and mysteries of the depth of the Hot Pants Idol (1999) and Sound Body Pre-talk at OCA 5pm oceans. This project has been performed (2007), and he has collaborated on other several times and is in a state of contin- projects with Brian Eno, Max Eastley, uous development. sci-fi writer Jeff Noon and others RY Camille Norment is an American sound Camille Norment’s practice includes In collaboration with OCA, nyMusikk and Notam and visual artist based in Oslo. In 2015 her performance, installation, drawing and large-scale installation Rapture represent- sound. She explores how the body is inter- ed Norway at the 56th Venice Biennale. connected with its environment through 36 monday 14 september monday 14 september 37

Consolation in the Valley Nocturnes and neon forests Lunchtime concert Knut Olaf Sunde Ensemble asamisimasa

At this concert, the ensemble will give Mathias Spahlinger a first performance of Spahlinger’s new Øyvind Mæland AD UNDAS no 10, nachtstück mit sonne (WP) work, no 10, nachtstück mit sonne. This – Sci-fi-Lieder fra Øyvind Torvund Neon Forest Space concert also marks the launch of Øyvind Nordsjøen! Torvund’s first portrait CD,Neon Forest Vocal Stine Janvin Motland Ensemble asamisimasa Space. Torvund has closely collaborated Piano Sanae Yoshida with asamisimasa in connection with first KOMMEN du vid meg? Kulturkirken Jakob performances and concerts of his other Cello Øystein Sonstad 8pm works. Plastic Waves (2013) for piano kr. 200 / 100,– and quartet is a different kind of work in Loftet that it mixes sounds from snare drums, 12 noon piano melodies, harmonica and bass clar- kr. 50,– Motivated by a steady focus on the new, inet with broken glass and references to on development, and with an unwavering circus sounds. faith in music and in the expressive po- Ensemble asamisimasa is an estab- Improvisor and vocalist Stine Janvin tential of musicians, Mathias Spahlinger’s lished Norwegian ensemble dedicated to Motland and pianist Sanae Yoshida music is constantly evolving. Spahlinger new music, and is known for combining team up with cellist Øystein Sonstad uses elements from a broad spectrum of classic avant-garde repertoire with new (Oslo String Quartet) to perform a se- genres and techniques, and this seven- works specially written for them, often lection of small scale yet powerful and ty-year-old modernist has managed to with elements of electronics, video and intriguing works by Norwegian com- leave his mark on the German and Euro- other media. The members are: Kristine poser Øyvind Mæland. AD UNDAS pean music scenes as composer, thinker, Tjøgersen (clarinet), Håkon Stene (per- – Sci-fi Lieder fra Nordsjøen!(2010) and teacher. Ensemble asamisimasa has cussion), Anders Førisdal (guitar), Ellen is a thirty minute song cycle that takes collaborated with Spahlinger on several Ugelvik (piano) and Tanja Orning (cello). off from Øyvind Rimbereid’s poem occasions, and is currently planning a MØ Solaris Korrigert (Solaris Corrected, Spahlinger festival in Oslo in October. 2004). Mæland has produced several collaborations with Rimbereid in the past and KOMMEN du vid meg? (2012) is a miniature performance Photo Ultima / Henrik Beck (m) piece without song or lyrics. The prin- cipal characters are a couple, The Op- Comfort Music is a performance and fellowship position at the Norwegian erator and Shiri, who are struggling to Knut Olaf Sunde Comfort Music (WP) concert installation by Knut Olaf Sunde, Academy of Music in Oslo, Sunde has communicate with each other. conceived to force the audience to expe- arranged a number of open air concerts, Ensemble Aksiom rience the connection between the music where he has attempted to integrate the and the actual place where it is being per- natural surroundings with the listening Vulkan Arena formed. The listeners meet up at Vulkan, experience, broadening the traditional 6pm situated in a small dip between St. Han- concept of music. kr. 200 / 100,– shaugen, Grünerløkka and the city centre Ensemble Aksiom is an Oslo-based which has sustained several centuries of ensemble dedicated to performing con- water-mill industry along the Aker river temporary music. It grew out of the Nor- and has only recently become a trendy, wegian Academy of Music alumni, and is gentrified part of town. Comfort Music focused on new music and improvisation. is an acted-out fiction utilising the envi- MØ ronment’s properties, history and aural Produced by Notam qualities as artistic elements. Location-specific art is a well-known phenomenon, but location-specific music Photo Studio Lumo (m) less so. Through his artistic research Photo Carolin Naujoc (m) 38 tuesday 15 september tuesday 15 september 39

Bridging past and present Dreams of genius Lunchtime concert Eivind Buene / The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra Elaine Mitchener & David Toop

The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and experience, the works bridge the classical Eivind Buene Stilleben composer Eivind Buene build bridges dichotomy between body and mind. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from our own time to the past. Eivind Buene (born 1973) is a Norwe- Piano Concerto No 17 (2nd movement) Buene’s Stilleben for 15 solo strings gian composer and writer whose music Eivind Buene Langsam und Schmachtend serves as an atmospheric prelude when has been performed by the Oslo Philhar- Richard Wagner played together with the second move- monic Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontem- Prelude from Tristan And Isolde ment of Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 17. porain and Cikada, among others. The Eivind Buene Palimpsest, Garland Using the opening tones of Wagner’s Norwegian Chamber Orchestra is one Matthew Locke Consort of Four Parts, Tristan and Isolde, Buene treats Wagner’s of Norway’s leading chamber orchestras, Suite no. 3 & Suite no. 1 building blocks in a slow, translucent med- and places emphasis on a solid classical itation. Garland is a comment on Baroque repertoire, new works, and creative out- The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra composer Matthew Locke’s string suites. reach. The concert also marks the opening Combining the works like this shows of the orchestra’s season opening. MØ Photo Kin Ho (m) Photo Jie Yang ClariNord (m) Universitetets aula how recognition and repetition are two Produced by The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra 7pm different things. Buene assumes that we obsession with the Great Flood. During kr. 395 / 120,– interpret everything we experience based David Toop Of Leonardo da Vinci – the performance, these are channelled Jon Øivind Ness Sloughs on prior experience – and that is not a bad Quills/A Black Giant/Deluge (WP) via the vocalisations of a woman (Elaine Gisle Kverndokk Offertorium thing, not even in contemporary music. By Mitchener), as she considers the nature of Jörg Widmann Nachtstück also focusing on the perceptible sound Music and libretto David Toop life and its history as it moves ever closer Voices Elaine Mitchener to the end: where inspiration comes from, Trio ClariNord how meaning is divined from the marks Nasjonal jazzscene we make, and the elusive presence of the Loftet 9pm soul. Like an oracle, witch, or shaman, she 11 noon kr. 200/100,– voices the spirit of Leonardo da Vinci, is kr. 50,– caught up within his memories, prophe- cies and visions. In her trance she speaks Of Leonardo da Vinci is a result of a col- with animals, moves inside and outside Trio ClariNord is an award winning laboration between improv legend, sound herself. She encounters angels, a black ensemble whose members are Emilio artist and author David Toop (score and giant, hides within her own mouth and Borghesan (clarinet), Paula Cuesta libretto based on Leonardo da Vinci’s belly, expels herself, observes herself as (cello) and Jie Zhang (piano). In this accounts of his dreams), acclaimed pho- a scholar or diarist might (reading her luncthime programme, the group tographer/film maker Barry Lewis, im- own life from a book). She is consumed present three recent compositions for provising vocalist Elaine Mitchener, and, by the giant whose fiery inner liquids spill clarinet trio. Sloughs, by Jon Øivind making his operatic directorial debut, out a deluge in which the voice becomes Ness, was the trio’s first commissioned award-winning choreographer Dam Van all voices. work. The title describes the skin after Huynh. Together they have created an ‘Nothingness has no centre, and its a snake’s moulting, and the work is innovative contemporary music theatre boundaries are nothingness…’ formed using motifs from previous piece that intricately melds sound art, – Leonardo da Vinci RY works for cello. image, film and movement to transform In collaboration with Nasjonal jazzscene Offertorium, by composer Gisle space, inviting audiences into a unique Kverndokk, is inspired by the 20th and intimate realm of disturbing beauty. century writings of the Jesuit priest Divided into three sections, Of Leonar- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin on prepar- do da Vinci is inspired by the Renaissance ing for the Eucharist and treating the artist’s dreams and visions, as recorded earth as a sacred offering. Along with in his famous notebooks. These includ- Nachtstück, by German composer Jörg ed his first memory of being struck by Widmann, these works demonstrate the tail of a bird of prey as a baby, apoc- three very different approaches to the alyptic visions of a black giant arising contemporary clarinet. Film Barry Lewis Photo Mona Ødegård (m) out of Libya to engulf the world, and his Choreography/director Dam Van Huynh 40 wednesday 16 september wednesday 16 september 41

Percussion and pulsars Gérard Grisey Pinquins and SISU

Gérard Grisey’s spectacular Le Noir de Nevertheless, the interaction with the per- Gérard Grisey Le Noir de l’Etoile l’Etoile has never been performed in cussionists lends a feeling of contact to the Norway before, so this is a rare oppor- audience, which is somehow lifted out of Pinquins & SISU percussion ensembles tunity to take in a truly grand work by the concert setting. Grisey wanted to chal- the French composer – a reflection of his lenge both the listeners and performers in Kulturkirken Jakob fascination with stars and outer space. their perception of time and the way sound 7pm Olivier Messiaen, Henri Dutilleux and affects it. Le Noir de l’Etoile is a musical kr. 200 / 100,– Karlheinz Stockhausen were among his examination of sound, space and time. teachers, and Grisey was an early adopter Even as the piece was being finalized of computer technology to analyse the in 1989–90, Grisey had done away with tonal qualities in music. He became a the term ‘spectral music’ or spectralism, pioneer within so-called spectral music but many of his ideas have outlived his in the 1970s. One of the main tasks he death in 1998. The concept behind Le Noir set himself was to explore the subtleties de l’Etoile is also associated closely with between harmonic overtones and noise. this year’s nature-themed Ultima Festival, He is famously quoted as saying, ‘We are stretching from the most minute physical musicians and our model is sound not sound to the vastness of space. literature, sound not mathematics, sound The work is performed by two Nor- not theatre, visual arts, quantum physics, wegian percussion ensembles, Pinquins geology, astrology or acupuncture.’ Sound and SISU. Despite their young age, the as a material, a tangible element, a living members of Pinquins, Sigrun Rogstad phenomenon. By meticulous examina- Gomnæs, Johanne Byhring and Ane tions of the overtones in just one single Marthe Sørlien Holen, have already met timbre, spectral composers were able to with international acclaim. Veterans of stretch the most minute sound phenom- 22 year, SISU consists of the trio Tomas ena and cast them in new shapes. Nilsson, Bjørn Skansen og Marius Søbye. Le Noir de l’Etoile has its origins in an During this time, it has become one of encounter with the astronomer Joe Silk Scandinavia’s leading contemporary at Berkeley in 1985. It’s based on radio music ensembles. They both share an signals from rotating neutron stars called open and inquisitive attitude towards all pulsars. The Vela Pulsar, which Silk had musical challenges. This outlook serves discovered, is the debris of a star that has well for Le Noir de l’Etoile, a work as long since died, but whose emissions can fabled as it is demanding. AW still be discerned using a radio receiver. Thus, the sounds emanate from outer space and are reproduced by means of four loudspeakers which in their turn interact with the sound of six percussionists on platforms in different places at the concert venue. Surprisingly, the sounds blend in very smoothly, since the signal from the Vela Pulsar is so orderly and percussive that it originally led to some speculation about a possible attempt by space beings to communicate. Grisey himself described the Vela Pulsar sound as ‘a meeting with the eternal timekeepers’, and this work is a celebration of these remote and strange sounds. 42 a riff a riff 43

is an attempt to evoke the unimaginable distances of space strobe light flashes in direct synchronisation with the sounds and the gravitational suction of black holes using nothing of instruments, confusing the brain’s natural tendency to On natural rhythms: A riff but beaten objects. Its method is to make the concert space hear a flowing continuity between musical elements. Double a kind of universe, or galaxy in itself, placing the players in Vision, the audio-visual duo of Robin Fox and Atom™, employ Rob Young orbit around the audience. In Grisey’s epic work, drums ring another synaesthetic approach as they subvert digital dance out and solid bodies scrape against the blackness of silence, rhythms with multicoloured precision-engineered laser beams. and we are forced to contemplate the existence of infinite And Georg Friedrich Haas’s In Vain (2000–02) takes the entire rhythmic time cycles too large or complex for human per- concert hall on a literal journey to a dark night of the soul, as ception to apprehend. the lights are slowly dimmed and both audience and orchestra German composer Mathias Spahlinger has also written are immersed in total blackness. Haas as a composer has used many works featuring percussion, including Éphémère (1977), the ‘beats’ vibrating between closely matched frequencies as notorious for its lengthy passage where nothing else happens musical material, and has also spoken of constructing scales other than slowly repeated strikes on a snare drum, and aus- in the form of a continously ascending and descending spiral, nahmlos ausnahmen (2014), for solo drum kit. His new works so his work is riddled with naturally occurring rhythms and premiered at Ultima by asamisimasa – 10 – Nachstück mit pulses at all levels. sonne and another as yet untitled new work – continue his pre- The French inventor of musique concrète, Pierre Schaeffer, occupation with breaking down ordered systems, channelled whose work is celebrated in Ultima’s tribute to the GRM or- via discrete moments of chaos and structured pulse. Language – ganisation, once speculated that the classical orchestra could the one phenomenon that sets humans be reduced to the status of ‘a primitive The Earth was the first clock. As soon as civilisation’s most array of invented instruments, with the intricacy of a gamelan apart from the rest of the natural world drum in the age of atomic theory’. The ancient astronomers – or stargazers – realised that the heavens or ritual south east Asian court music. He stated that he used – was turned upside down in the dada new sounds he uncovered and manipu- moved in regular patterns, and connected the movements of the the piece to explore ‘untried rhythms and polyrhythms’, and poetry of Kurt Schwitters. His Urso- lated via physical means and electrical sun and moon with the regulated shift of years, seasons, months, at the same time, the various repeated rhythmic motifs in nate (1923–32) atomised speech into ‘The relationship devices revealed entire new conceptions days, hours, minutes, the human calendar was locked in to the some personal way reflected small observations of daily life a sequence of abstract sounds without of time, space and rhythm. ‘Science ac- gigantic mechanism of the universe. ‘Circadian rhythm’ is the and nature around the town of Petaluma, California, where reference to recognisable language between musical customs minds to think the unthinka- name for measures based on the cycles of planetary motions, Partch had recently settled. So, for instance, at the work’s – a pre-linguistic barrage of sounds ble,’ he went on. ‘It familiarises them the rhythmic patterns soundtracking nature’s inescapable beat. premiere in 1966, he mentioned how ‘it seems easier and more made with the mouth. Schwitters is process and nature not only with dimensions inaccessible The harmonic theory that emerged from that ancient world natural to observe small things, such as a fly getting dejuiced celebrated by the group Building In- to our senses, but even with the fact that spoke of the music of the spheres, but western music of the in a spiderweb in the corner…. This is a commentary on the strument at Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter the rhythm of the world, physical time, classical and romantic period downplayed the other important instability of life in traps – for men and nations…’ The structure during Ultima, but similar connections must include is not the rhythm of the metronome or aspect: the rhythms of the cosmos. Flow, development, struc- of And On The Seventh Day… is divided into twenty-three between the body, sound and rhythm the biceps. Perhaps it would be a good ture dictated by feeling, intuition or programmatic portrait ‘verses’, each for a different combination of percussive or patterning are further explored in other the idea of cyclical thing if music, if it still aims to speak took precedence over non-human dynamics. In the classical resonant devices such as the Zymo-Xyl, Blue Rainbow and projects throughout the festival. Kola the somewhat mysterious language orchestra, percussion is either non-existent, or used as accent, Cloud-Chamber Bowls. While it’s not a programmatic work, Nikoladze’s Sound Stencil creates a of the gods, turned its mind to more texture or intensification, it’s rarely an end in itself and even a sample of the titles Partch slapped onto these verses show kind of human drum machine from rhythm’ arduous, and above all more objective, more seldom is it in the foreground of the sound field. (How that he was an eccentric observer of nature and biology: ‘4. An percussionists who use smartphones for constructions?’ many concertos for percussion exist ?) ant slept here, a spider died there’; ‘12. Pity ! Pity ! The white synchronisation. The phones deliver a It took jazz, rock, funk and all the variants of electronic leghorn cockerel !’; ‘16. With crickets in the hedges’; ‘21. The synchronised audio score, which dictates various rhythmical music – as well as the phonographic rediscovery of many egg is wondrous! 22. It desires only to get fertilised. 23. Stay patterns and gives them directions. The percussionists move forms of global and traditional musics, from African drumming tuned for biology’. around the streets, striking various objects and landmarks to Balinese gamelan – to reinstate the idea of music whose Harry Partch’s outlook was forged during his hobo travels as they go, encouraging members of the public to interrupt driving force was rhythm, repetition and the sensation of in the heat and dust of Depression-era America. His sound their routine and follow the noise. These impromptu actions space that falls between beats. The main reason for this was world was always connected more with the ground, physical create a strange distruption in the familiar rhythms of the city. that drums and percussion instruments played a far more nature and the mystical elements of earth, air, fire and water, The rhythms of the human body – or more accurately, active role than before. than with the cosmic reaches of outer space. In the hands using rhythm to persuade the human body to achieve its Any consideration of the relationship between musical of different composers, percussive noises are by definition limits – is a key factor in The Dog Days Are Over, a dance process and nature must include the idea of cyclical rhythm. isolated sounds, which are appropriate for evoking the stars, piece by Belgian choreographer Jan Martens. By restricting So it’s no surprise to find many examples in Ultima’s pro- points of light and galactic clouds visible in the night sky. A the dancers to doing nothing except jump up and down in gramme where percussion and rhythm are in focus. From the key work here is Xenakis’s Pléïades (1979), in which the com- complex, repetitive patterns, he pushes the human body to 1950s onwards, percussion began to take on a more important poser discovered the concept of repeated beats as rhythmic its limits in terms of both physical exhaustion and mental position in the work of academically respected composers like atoms, and subjected them to increasing degrees of variation. concentration. Holding the proscribed rhythm requires not Messiaen, Varèse, Boulez, Cage, Xenakis and Stockhausen. ‘Still greater variations of an even greater complexity’, wrote switching off but engaging all faculties to maintain the highest Messiaen’s opening piece, Turangalîla-Symphonie, features Xenakis, ‘lead to total arhythm, to a massy awareness of the levels of exertion. The sharpness of rhythm is intensified when a massive, often brutal percussion section that is occasionally event, to notions of clouds, nebulas, galaxies of the fragmented it engages more senses than just hearing. Several works pre- allowed to sound out by itself as the rest of the orchestra falls dust of beats organised by the rhythm.’ In the comet-tail of sented at Ultima this year combine sound and light in striking silent. Harry Partch’s And On the Seventh Day Petals Fell on works like this and the equally massive ST / 48, comes the combinations: Alexander Schubert’s Sensate Focus (2014) is Petaluma (1964) was partly a study for his heavily rhythmic piece played by Pinquins and SISU at Ultima 2015, Gerard concerned with the interplay between sound and image, and opera / performance piece Delusion of the Fury (which ap- Grisey’s Le Noir de L’Etoile (1989–90). Enormous in scope, adds light as a fifth performer to a quartet of musicians. In peared at Ultima in 2013). It is a showcase for his extraordinary and composed using radio signals from rotating pulsars, it a setting resembling a controlled psychiatric experiment, a 44 wednesday 16 september wednesday 16 september 45

Concrète mixture Lunchtime concert INA GRM

Since its establishment in Paris in 1958, the living,’ which turns the human ear into GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) what he called a ‘sound lung’. ‘It is music Microtub has driven developments in musique con- that makes the organic breathe, lifts it crète and electroacoustic music, expand- up and stretches it… Liquid music, but Robin Hayward, Peder Simonsen, ing outwards from the radical vinyl and like energy.’ Martin Taxt tape manipulations of its founder Pierre Nowadays we are used to hearing ac- Schaeffer. The GRM has become an in- tuality in field recordings and the sounds Loftet ternational magnet for composers seeking of nature in all genres of music. But in the 12 noon new expressiveness in electronic music and late 1960s, before ‘ambient’ music had kr. 50,– transformed sound. In tribute to GRM’s been invented, this was a still a radical achievements, Ultima presents an evening and untried idea. Luc Ferrari (1929–2005) mixing French musique concrète classics changed all that with his Presque Rien Microtub began as possibly the only with new work by a younger generation (Almost Nothing) series for magnetic trio of improvising microtonal tuba of sonic explorers. tape, beginning in 1970 with Presque Rien players in existence. With the depar- Pierre Schaeffer (1910–92) began his no 1: Le lever du jour au bord de la mer – ture of Kristoffer Lo, the Berlin based experiments recording and manipulating a polyphonic composition arising out of British blower Robin Hayward and noises and found sounds in Paris in 1948. the everyday noises of nature and country Norway’s Martin Taxt have recent- The Cinq Études de Bruits were the first life. No 2: Ainsi continue la nuit dans ma ly been joined by Peder Simonsen, official ‘opus’ of musique concrète, first tête multiple (Thus the night continues in a Norwegian also based in Berlin. In performed for a radio broadcast. It con- my multiple head, 1977) includes Ferrari this daytime concert they will perform sists of five short ‘noise studies’ created himself and his wife in the sonic picture as selections from their recent acclaimed from the sounds of percussion, an old they rove around a nocturnal landscape, album Star System (SOFA Records piano, organ pipes rescued from a bombed commenting on the process of recording 2014), which was described by one cathedral, and most famously, the Étude as they pick up sounds of crickets, night English writer as sounding ‘like the aux Chemins de Fer, assembled from the birds, a church bell, a barking dog and a doors of the underworld slamming’. sounds of steam engines. symphony of insects. Eventually a storm If you thought you knew what a tuba Bernard Parmegiani (1927–2013) was gathers and the recordist begins moving could do, think again: this is a sound one of Schaeffer’s younger students and deeper inside his own psyche. of flux, layers, drones and subliminal De Natura Sonorum (1975) is his electron- Régis Renouard Larivière and Kassel frequencies. Photo Lazlo Ruska (m) ic masterpiece, marking a new phase in Jaeger come from a young generation his work where he tried to combine and of French artists currently working with contrast sounds to observe their nature. It GRM to extend the electroacoustic music François Bonnet Live Jukebox Pierre Schaeffer Cinq Études de Bruits exists in a state of continuous metamor- tradition, and at Ultima they each perform Bernard Parmegiani De Natura Sonorum phosis, generating the artificial from the one representatibve work from their rep- nyMusikk Luc Ferrari Presque Rien no 2: natural. ‘Does listening to this constant ertoire. In addition, Espen Sommer Eide, 3pm Ainsi continue la nuit dans ma tête multiple transition from one state to another tell of Norwegian electronic act Phonophani, Free Régis Renouard Larivière Contrée us anything about the nature of sound?’ presents a piece based on investigations Kassel Jaeger Campo Del Cielo asked the composer. The piece is divided into the sensory biology of the animal Espen Sommer Eide The remarkable into twelve sections. Number three, ‘A Ge- world, in particular the flight tones of mos- François Bonnet’s illustrated talk on features of mosquito hearing (WP) ological Sonority’, resembles flying over a quitoes and the navigational infrasounds the history and pioneering impact of landscape, as electronic and instrumental of salmon in the Sør-Varanger Peninsula. Groupe de Recherches Musicales. INA GRM sounds become confused, as if viewed RY Since 1958, the GRM has driven from a great height. Number five is an developments in musique concrète and Vulkan Arena elastic study, featuring the vibrations of electroacoustic music, and has become 9pm skins and strings. The second half is more an international magnet for composers kr. 200/100,– electronic, with sounds broken down to seeking new expressiveness in elec- individual molecules. The result, accord- tronic music and transformed sound. ing to the French critic Bernard Noël, In collaboration with nyMusikk is ‘Music that awakens the liveliness in 46 thursday 17 september thursday 17 september 47

SOFA so good The struggle continues 15 year anniversary/album release Georg Friedrich Haas / Ensemble Ernst

Mural (m) Photo Substantia Jones (m)

The musician-run record label SOFA cel- MIMEO. Tilbury is also one of the world’s Georg Friedrich Haas’s In Vain (2000) this perspective, the work as well as the Mural ebrates its 15th anniversary with a double foremost interpreters of the piano music Georg Friedrich Haas In Vain is one of the most renowned and ambi- title allude to despair caused by the pos- Keith Rowe & John Tilbury album release during Ultima. Since 2000, of American composer Morton Feldman. tious works in our time. A performance sibility that Europe may once again be Martin Taxt, Kim Myhr, Ingar Zach and Tabletop guitarist Rowe is often described Ensemble Ernst involves 24 musicians and a concert hall moving towards a form of fascism thought Nasjonal jazzscene Ivar Grydeland have clocked up around as the godfather of EAI (electroacoustic Conductor Thomas Rimul that’s periodically plunged into darkness. to belong to the past, in a cycle of inev- 7pm 50 releases in a broad range of experi- improvisation). enough still not know is a It shifts between translucent shimmer- itability. The great idea about the sub- kr. 200 / 100,– mental music, and they show no signs of four-CD set of improvised music, though it Riksscenen ing and merciless power on the verge limely beautiful may turn out to be just slowing down. At Ultima, albums will be bears the mark of long-time collaboration 9pm of noise, yet it always retains a sense of another futile utopia. Ensemble Ernst is launched by British improvisers Keith between these two musicians. kr. 200/100,– incomprehensible beauty. The composer at the forefront of Nordic contemporary Rowe & John Tilbury, and improv group Mural consists of SOFA’s own Ingar makes the tempered tones slowly yield to music ensembles. The ensemble actively Mural. Both ensembles collaborate with Zach and Kim Myhr, in a trio with Aus- microtonality and overtone techniques promotes new music and modern classics. painter Kjell Bjørgeengen for their visual tralian wind player Jim Denley. The band based on spectral music. The emotional MØ style. Keith Rowe (gituar, electronics) and has been going since 2007, and their triple triggers strewn throughout the 70 minute John Tilbury (piano) are legendary figures CD Tempo is a recording of a four-hour work never let the dramatic curve slacken. in improvised music, and are particular- concert given in the Rothko Chapel in The title alludes to the musical devel- ly known for their work in Cornelius Houston, Texas. AW opment in the work, but also the growth Cardew’s Scratch Orchestra, free music Produced by Nasjonal jazzscene of the far right movement Haas observed group AMM, and the electroacoustic outfit during the 1999 elections in Austria. From 48 thursday 17 september friday 18 september 49

James Hoff, Afrikan Sciences / PAN Lunchtime Fiddles in your Evolutionary musical Hilde Holsen concert face Annie Dorsen Sigurd Johan Heide

electronic effects. New York-based artist Based on evolutionary processes such James Hoff / Afrikan Sciences / Hilde James Hoff works across multiple plat- Sigurd Johan Heide Ang Annie Dorsen Yesterday Tomorrow as mutation and natural selection, the al- Holsen forms, as a painter, editor and publisher gorithms determine the most appropriate of Primary Information (a press devoted Riksscenen Black Box Teater route from the first song to the next, or Blå to publishing artists’ books and reprint- 8pm 7pm from what has passed to what is to come. 10pm ing out-of-print editions), writer, lecturer kr. 200 / 150,– kr. 240 / 100,– As a result, the performance stands as an kr. 200 / 100,– and musical composer. He didn’t have a expression of the unpredictable nature of lot of musical experience when he made Also 19 September, 6pm the present, as a contrast to a familiar past his 2011 debut with How Wheeling Feels Ang is a concert and choreographed and the notion of a happy future. The music Ultima presents a triple bill hosted by When the Ground Walks Away, based on performance initiated and directed by is performed by three singers who con- the Berlin-based PAN label. Run by US field recordings from several insurgencies Tromsø based artist Sigurd Johan Heide. Annie Dorsen’s Yesterday Tomorrow is a tinually receive information about which musician Bill Kouligas (Hiss Golden in Europe and South America. His latest Photo Thomas Klausner (m) In a dynamic interaction between six musical that breaks most of the rules for rhythm, pitch and lyrics to sing. The result Messenger), PAN has become one of the album, Blaster (2014), explores an interest traditional Harding fiddle players and this genre. Unlike traditional musicals, the is an intelligent, humorous yet disturbing most challenging and critically acclaimed in computer viruses. By infecting sound the interior space of the Riksscenen, music for this show is created during the encounter between man and machine. labels within electronic and experimental files with the so-called Blaster virus, he laid Gobi Drab the performers adapt their movements course of the performance with the help Annie Dorsen has previously work music. Afrikan Sciences from Brooklyn the groundwork for his own interpretation and actions around their real time in- of computer-generated algorithms, which in film, dance and theatre, and in recent and James Hoff are responsible for some of the term dance music. Loftet teractions with the audience. With the means that the final result is different years has been particularly interested in of the imprint’s best known records. The Norwegian musician Hilde Holsen 12 noon lights dimmed, and chairs scattered every time. The only points of reference artificial intelligence and digital perfor- Afrikan Sciences (Eric Douglas Porter) will be first to perform. She recently played kr. 50,– around the space, the players test the are two well-known popular songs: ‘Yes- mance. The Yesterday Tomorrow project has a broad musical background and is best her transmuted trumpet to a packed limits of how intimate they can get with terday’ by The Beatles and ‘Tomorrow’ was developed in cooperation with Pierre known for his polyrhytmic and complex church in Oslo as part of the Only Connect individual members of the public, while from the musical Annie. Godard and Greg Bellar from IRCAM. melodies in a crossover between afro-fu- festival. Improvising and processing her Gobi Drab is a recorder 1performer playing a combination of traditional SW turism, science fiction, hip hop, jazz and horn in real time, she shapes sonic land- who connects free improvisation with Scandinavian folk music interspersed house. His most recent album Circuitous scapes that are glowing, harmonious and the rhetorics of early music and the with moments of silence. The Hardan- (2014) once again proves that he is an artist melancholic. RY intricate structures of contemporary ger fiddle players are Jan Beitohaugen who transcends club music and dares enter In collaboration with nyMusikk music in her music. She is a co-founder Granli, Nina Fjeldet, Bjørn Kåre Odde, the unknown. His live performances typi- of ‘snim – spontaneous network for Hans Kjorstad, Guro Kvifte Nesheim cally combine double bass, turntables and improvised music’ and member of and Torkjel Bruland Lavoll. PLENUM, a Paetzold recorder en- Produsert av Riksscenen semble. In her composition glass eye I–II–III, written in 2015, she explores the acoustic textures, possibilities and impossibilities of her instruments. She will also perform Swedish composer Ansgar Beste’s Dialogues Sauvages (2013–14) for (hyper-)pre- pared Paetzold square bass recorder, a virtuoso solo work that produces ‘sounds you’ve never heard on a wind instrument’.

Photo Roland Rauschmeier (m)

Composer — Øystein Figenschou (Ang) Concept, direction — Annie Dorsen. Black Box Teater, Performance Space 122, La Vil- and Nina Fjeldet (mazurka) Music director — Joanna Bailie. Algorithm lette – Résidences d’Artistes 2015, L’Hippodrome, Host and concept — Sigurd Johan Heide design — Pierre Godard. Sound design — Greg Beller. scène nationale de Douai, Théâtre de Gennevilliers Supported by Arts Council Norway, Video systems design — Ryan Holsopple. Lighting with Festival d’automne à Paris, Le Maillon-Wacken DanseFestival Barents, Folkemusikk Nord design and technical direction — Bruno Pocheron, – Scene européenne – Strasbourg, théâtre Garonne – and Riksscenen (Norwegian Hub for Ruth Waldeyer. Producer — Alexandra Rosenberg. Scène européenne – Toulouse. Traditional Music and Dance). Performers — Allison Chinn, Jeffrey Gavett & Natalie Supported by — Mount Tremper Arts, Abrons Arts Photo Celeste Sloman (m) Raybould. Co-production — Holland Festival, Center, New York State Council on the Arts. 50 friday 18 september friday 18 september 51

Ancestral voices Lunchtime Anna Thorvaldsdottir concert

between very general, global challenges Anna Tryggvadóttir UR_ and quite specific human emotions. Frevo Gitarduo The title UR_ has several connotations, The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet – as it may mean ‘original’ as in a first cause, Loftet Scene 2 a force of nature that was present before 12 noon 7:30pm everything became what it is now. But in kr. 50,– kr. 350 / 250,– the old Norse languages, ur also meant rock, and was a common suffix as well. Pre-talk at the Flagstad room 6pm It’s still in use in Icelandic. ‘How do you get two guitar players to Thorvaldsdottir has made her mark play in perfect unison?’ A: ‘Shoot one!’ Also performed September 19, 6:30pm as an important voice in contemporary Frevo Gitarduo consists of the two music, and as she often works with sizea- Norwegian guitarists Pål Granum and ble orchestral music, long intonations and Andreas Karlsen, who began playing In a world about to meet its end, the last a diverse set of instruments, she is able together in 1995During their time as humans live in uncertainty without any to conjure up a dynamic landscape with a duo, they have accumulated a broad will to take risks, fed up with life. All ample room for interpretation. The young repertoire of works for two guitars. they’re looking for is the next level of Icelandic composer was the 2012 recipi- They have also premiered several comfort and safety. Just then a primal ent of the prestigious Music Award from works by Nordic composers. scream, a prehistoric sound emerges from the Nordic Council, and her most recent Armed only with various guitars the blue-green glaciers on Greenland – album Aerial (Deutsche Grammophon) and electronics, Frevo will deliver a man’s most profound origin is calling out was met with rave reviews (it featured high-tech guitar duel performance to the decadent core of humanity. among the New Yorker’s ‘Best Music of when they take the stage at Ultima. Iceland’s Anna Thorvaldsdottir has 2014’). She often works with sonic struc- They will be performing new works by become something of a star within con- tures on a grand scale that stirs associa- Peter Jakober, Evan Gardner, Herman temporary music. Her collaboration with tions with landscape and nature. Vogt and Therese Birkelund Ulvo. director Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson and UR_ is a result of the artistic network artist Anna Tryggvadottir has resulted in Far North, and was developed in a two year a performance where the human place in timespan during gatherings on Greenland, the world and time are set in perspective. Iceland, in Norway and Germany. While the slow meltdown of the glaciers UR_ is also the title of a book, in which highlights urgent global challenges, Thor- Mette Karlsvik expands on the libretto valdsdottir’s colorful musical language she wrote together with Thorvaldsdottir. transforms into something more abstract: Karlsvik is an award-winning author, and ‘Touching and movement are essen- her poem UR is a story about origins. MØ tial. The musical touch relates the way In collaboration with The Norwegian Opera & Ballett a central force is being transferred from one performer to the next,’ she says about the music. UR_ is a work for three voices, an actor, a grand piano and an ensemble of twelve performers. Thorvaldsdottir also Composer — Anna Thorvaldsdottir Director — Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson uses her music to shine a light on current Visual artist — Anna Rún Tryggvadóttir Text — Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Mette Karlsvik political issues. Most people agree that Conductor — Bjarni Frimann Bjarnason Musical supervision Baldur Brönnimann and climate change is man-made, but there is Bjarni Frimann Bjarnason Performers — Sofia Jernberg, Mike Philip Fencker change going the other way as well – the Thomsen, Melis Jaatinen, Joa Helgesson, climate and natural evolution exerts an Tinna Thorsteinsdottir, BIT20 Ensemble Partners — Theater Trier, Germany, Dark Music Days influence on human beings. The interac- Reykjavík, The National Theatre of Greenland, Sound of Stockholm and The International tion is complex, but Thorvaldsdottir’s am- Vadstena Academy. Photo Far North (m) bitious music illustrates the relationship Supported by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation 52 friday 18 september saturday 19 september 53

The microtonal Norwegian opra Darwin’s lamentation guitar Trond Reinholdtsen The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir Zwerm

Matthew Shlomowitz The Major Sevenths Medley Thomas Bensdorp Jongens Mauro Pawlowski Als Mens Vermomd Bjørn Fongaard Sinfonia Microtonalis #1 and #2 + Aforismer op. 63 Zwerm / Anders Førisdal Norges musikkhøgskole / Levinsalen 6pm kr. 200 / 100,–

Anders Førisdal joins forces with Dutch-Belgian guitar quartet Zwerm. At Ultima their programme will consist of early Norwegian experimental music by Bjørn Fongaard (1919–80). Sinfonia Microtonalis and Aforismer are key works in Fongaard’s exten- Photo Trond Reinholdtsen (m) sive catalogue, in which his microtonal guitar plays a vital role. was also the dictatorial opera director, Since 2007, Zwerm has been attract- Trond Reinholdtsen Ø (WP) the composer of all works, as well as the ing increasing attention for its projects, librettist, director, Heldentenor, scenogra- such as performing as a street parade Venue will be announced at ultima.no pher, propaganda minister, web designer, band or playing brutal noise rock. With 10pm ticket master, cleaning assistant, conceptu- a generous dose of central European kr. 100,– al consultant, head of the Worker’s Union, humour, the group has a long list of restaurant chief, etc. Photo Bjørn Bertheussen Det Norske Solistkor (m) releases to its credit, among them The Reinholdtsen’s opras have returned World’s Longest Melody. A film premiere with a difference. At his to grand narratives and ur-mythologies Sonette for Choir by Jan Erik Mikalsen the Norwegian University of Life Sciences They will also perform The Major current hideout in Värmland, Sweden, (Orpheus, The Apocalypse, Utopias, Nar- Jan Erik Mikalsen Sonette for Choir (WP) was completed earlier this year and will and has for years been interested in the Sevenths Medley, a greatest-hits ode where for the past two years he has been cissus) as a response to a perceived gen- Edvin Østergaard now have its first performance at Ultima. interface between art and science. In Maja to Matthew Shlomowitz’s imaginary developing an alternative ‘Norwegian trification and fussiness in contemporary Darwin’s Lamentation (WP) The work is inspired by Rainer Maria Linderoth’s Sonatform denaturerad prosa, band. Jongens is the title of one of Opra House’, Trond Reinholdtsen has music. The participation of non-profes- Edvin Østergaard Unpredictable Moments Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus from 1922, based on Swedish poet Gunnar Eklöf’s Zwerm’s early albums, and 25 years on, made a series of ‘opra films’ entitled sionals ensure a constant sensation of tee- Maja Linderoth based on the myth of Orpheus and Eury- text of the same title, language’s limits Dutch composer Thomas Bensdorp has Ø, four of which will be premiered at a tering on the brink of disaster and chaos. Sonatform denaturerad prosa dice. Mikalsen has received numerous and components are explored. Linderoth written his own composition of those special screening event at Ultima. This film premiere will be an opportunity awards and was named INTR compos- is studying composition at the Norwegian recordings. Als mens vermomd means Trond Reinholdtsen founded his own to sample what he and his guerrilla group Norwegian Soloists’ Choir er for 2014–16. What is the connection Academy of Music in Oslo. Following its ‘disguised as a human’, and deals with opera house, the Norwegian Opra, in 2009, have been cooking up in their Swedish between the eureka-experience of the premiere at the Academy in March 2015, a stray alien, written by dEUS member with the motto ‘the birth of opera amid hideaway: A mixture of dystopian science Universitetets gamle festsal scientist, the one that leads to the radical the work has also been performed in Gro- Mauro Pawlowski. AW the crisis of contemporary music’. It was fiction, verismo, communist propaganda, 1pm breakthrough, and the creative process ningen by the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir. In collaboration with Gaudeamus Muziekweek a small-scale Bayreuth scaled down to the outdated existentialism and juicy autobi- kr. 200 / 100,– of the artist? And how can and the same All three works will be performed by size of Reinholdsen’s living room. In fact, ography. ‘In other words,’ teases Reinhold- idea be expressed differently in art and the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir under the it was his living room: A dingy apartment sen, ‘a little like Der Ring des Nibelungen.’ in science? This is the question Edvin direction of conductor Grete Pedersen, in a run-down quarter of Oslo. The Nor- RY Østergaard explores in the choral work and will be introduced by scientist and wegian Opra was a means of seizing the Unpredictable Moments. Besides being industrial entrepreneur Alf Bjørseth. SW means of production, in which its founder a composer, Østergaard is a professor at Produced by The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir 54 saturday 19 september øivind torvund 55

Digital pastoralia Kringkastingorkestret Idyll speculations Øyvind Torvund interview by Rob Young

Jon Øivind Ness Mørkgånga (WP) Øyvind Torvund Idyllic Scenes (WP) Iannis Xenakis ST / 48 KORK (Norwegian Radio Orchestra) Conductor Thomas Rimul Great Hall, University of Oslo 3pm kr. 200 / 100,–

Photo Blunderbuss NRK (m)

Øyvind Torvund and Jon Øivind Ness (2008), depicts a more abstract musical jazz classics with Come Shine, and folk use nature as the starting point both for landscape. References to late romantic songs with Bjørn Eidsvåg. It will also be their work and for their open and associ- and impressionist ideals are highlighted the main orchestra during the Nobel Peace ative titles. During Ultima, the Norwegian by atonal electronic and other stylistically Prize concert and will be recording the Radio Orchestra will give first perfor- contrasting elements. Combined, these soundtrack for Pinchcliffe Grand Prix 2. mances of new orchestral works by these fragments say something about the evo- MØ composers, in which they explore musical lution of music from natural sounds to art. Produced by KORK Photo Vegar Valde (m) landscapes as theme and method: Jon Iannis Xenakis’s ST / 48 (1962) is Supported by Arts Council Norway Øivind Ness’s Mørkgånga is named after a named after the number of perform- Thinking about this year’s Ultima theme, ‘On Nature’, line one after the other. This concept of the idyll, and how to ravine in Krokskogen, a woodland situat- ers of the work (48) and the software what does the idea of Nature mean to you? evoke it, interests me. ed in the northwestern part of Oslomarka, program which Xenakis developed on an The picturesque idea is essential to our culture, the yearn- the forest surrounding Oslo, while Øyvind IBM 7090 between 1956–62. Like much If I’m asked to consider nature as such, I think of something ing for a heavenly existence, salvation, the absence of pain… Torvund’s Idyllic Scenes depicts the com- of Xenakis’s works, the music in the ST primal, something we both fear and admire. We may fear nature The diverse ways composers like Mahler, Debussy, Ravel and poser’s own impressionist landscape using series is stochastic, meaning that it is based in the sense that the natural forces within ourselves can be Richard Strauss have depicted the idyllic have become musical orchestral and electronic music. on complex calculations of probability frightening. The very opposite of civilized existence… So for clichés, not the least through film scores. I wanted to grasp Mørkgånga is the latest in a series of where the big picture is predictable but me, the concept of nature encompasses the idea of something all of this and use it as an overflowing collection of idylls, but works by Ness that originate in his own where the details are more random. This that cannot be controlled, something wild, as well. with an explosive, unpolished layer. personal experiences of nature. It contains provides a structure that is more logical programmatic references to a native of to the listener than pure serialism, at the Your new commission, Idyllic Scenes, comments on Your previous works include Neon Forest Space and Trøndelag county (the composer himself same time as it allows the composer scope the rhapsodic image of nature as portrayed in late Forest Construction – why is this a recurring motif in comes from North Trøndelag) in somewhat to make personal choices. Romantic orchestral music… your work? unpleasant encounters with hawks, vipers The Norwegian Radio Orchestra is and wasps, presented in the format of a the Norwegian Broadcasting Corpora- I’ve been somewhat preoccupied with the way the picturesque The concept of music that emanates from the forest is defi- romantic, lightly humorous composition. tion’s house orchestra. During the coming has been presented in earlier symphonic tone poems and im- nitely a recurring motif. This kind of proto-folk music has Idyllic Scenes, a title also used by season this versatile unit will perform pressionist works, so for this piece I’ve assembled a number been an idea that has struck me several times. There’s also Torvund in his vocal work Wild Spaces works by Mozart, Schubert and Chopin, of ‘archetypal’ scenes or tableaus, and I’ve arranged them in an element of a proto-modernism that’s hidden in the woods 56 øivind torvund saturday 19 september 57 Dynamic uprisings somewhere… Just as the concept of archaic melodies is on my When nature and music is discussed, landscape is often mind, I’m interested in the idea that there may be something the first thing people think of. But natural processes Mia Habib like an ‘archaic modernism’, a tradition in abstract expression. involve cycles, rhythms, adaptations and catastrophes. In any case, I find the thought of an archaic version of what As a composer, are you interested in making a music we call modernism fascinating. that would reflect that? I try to discover abstract structures in folk art and music, and maybe that’s a somewhat contrived or quaint approach. Absolutely. Nature shows no pity, and it is too grand for these But the notion that the abstract may be a symbol for the divine, concepts to be presented on stage without a visible form an unfathomable or intangible aspect of life, has been present of reduction. I believe there are many artists who envy the for a long time. So has the wishful thinking that our culture forces of nature. Nature is awe-inspiring, and in some sense nurtures a certain respect for what we don’t understand… incomprehensible. In such a perspective the grandiosity in This thought experiment about an ur-modernism of the nature is something you would like to experience in art, or woods is something I have made use of in a number of works, even achieve in your own art. On the other hand, you’re happy where an ensemble on stage imitates abstract phrases from to spend your evening snugly in your own house instead of field recordings made in a forest. This is the same idea that drowning in glowing lava! becomes apparent in Idyllic Scenes. What you’ll hear is abstract ensemble music in a forest, and the orchestra makes a live From an artistic point of view, is nature most imitation. It may well be that the work approaches questions interesting as a thing in itself, or as a cultural such as ‘where does the language we use come from?’. When construction? you find yourself rooted in a modernist composition heritage, the feeling of estrangement comes easily. You long for roots Both are interesting. If you think of nature as a landscape that stretch further back in time… untouched by human hands, it may affect you in a way where The usual definition of what place contemporary music is you lose yourself, where the magnificence of nature takes over. at right now, tends to draws a line from Palestrina to Stock- I’m interested in the way we confront concepts like ‘the hausen by way of Beethoven… so the need to explore the wilderness’ and ‘the unspoiled’. They’re elements many of us modernism of the woods arises... look for in nature, yet they can be hard to face if they’re found within ourselves, or within our society. What is ‘the wild’? Are you more interested in using natural processes It’s hard to grasp, but it’s certainly an attraction towards in your composition, or investigating / interrogating these properties in literature and art, but usually they’re found previous artistic evocations of nature and ‘the natural’? in controlled forms, as if seen from a distance.

I try to approach these ideas from several different directions, and a part of this is an interest in what has previously been done and considered by other people. I guess this becomes especially apparent in these idyll collections.

You have previously used field / actuality recordings of caged birds and animals in your compositions, ‘transcribing’ them just as Messiaen used to do with birds. What’s your motivation for doing that? Photo Jon Filip Fahlstrøm (m)

Well, the foremost motivation is probably that animal vocaliza- crawl across the stage manifesting the Choreography — Mia Habib Produced by — Mia Habib Productions tions are the oldest music or sounds that we know of, together Mia Habib A song to… full register of human emotions and ex- Dramaturgy — Jassem Hindi Light design — Ingeborg Olerud with the sounds of nature, such as wind, rain, thunder and so on. pressions. In doing so, the dancers create Sound / sound mix — Jassem Hindi Choreography assistant — Jon Filip Fahlstrøm But I can get interested in the idea of an imperfect imita- Dansens Hus an image of all of mankind. Habib also Dancers — Cecilie Lindemann Steen, Ingunn Rimestad, tion as well. Human beings are proficient when it comes to 7pm explores the choreographic potential in Terje Tjøme Mossige, Jon Filip Fahlstrøm Loan Than Ha, Hanna Mjåvatn, Ida Gudbrandsen, seeing and understanding things within their personal cultural kr. 290 / 170,– mass protests and political protest move- Kira Senkpiel, Keyon Gaskin, Sandy Williams, Tarek Halaby, Fie Dam Mygind, Linn Christine Ragnarsson, context. When a musician imitates something, what you hear is ments, where people gather around a Asaf Ahronson, Przybyslaw Paz, Povilas Bastys Producer — Eva Grainger something else as well, his or her language and culture-bound common goal, and how this contrasts with Pre-production — Morten Kippe International producer / Sales & Marketing — understanding. The interpretation gives it away. And regarding Inspired by the works of Emanuel and the individual’s perception of himself as Karene Lyngholm Insipient — Karen Høybakk Mikalsen Olivier Messiaen: his bird notation pieces first and foremost Gustav Vigeland, Oslo-based choreogra- something vulnerable and monumental. Video installation — Kaia Hugin Photo — Jon Filip Fahlstrøm sound like Messiaen. While the bird signatures obviously are pher Mia Habib explores how the monu- Habib received her training as a Co-produced by Dansens Hus, Theatre Freiburg, discernible, the composer Messiaen and his musical expres- mental in art can manifest itself through choreographer from the Oslo National BIT Teatergarasjen, Bærum Kulturhus – regional sion takes centre stage, as if nature were a mirror in which to dance and moving bodies. In the dance Academy of the Arts and holds a master’s arena for samtidsdans, Carte Blanche In cooperation with Dansarena Nord, SITE Sweden, perceive his language of music. performance A song to…, the stage is degree in conflict resolution and negoti- Dans i Nord-Trøndelag, RAS Sandnes, Dansehallerne, Bora Bora, Festiviteten Haugesund, Fjelldansen, filled with a swarm of naked bodies that ation from Tel Aviv University. She also Vigelandsmuseet and Emanuel Vigeland Museum move around the space in all kinds of runs Mia Habib Productions, which is Supported by Norsk Kulturråd, ways. Inspired by the discipline Parkour, involved in stage art, curating, lectures, Fond for Lyd og Bilde, Nordisk Kulturfond. Habib’s 18 dancers jump, climb, run, and teaching and mentoring. SW 58 saturday 19 september 59

Finale André Bratten / Ole-Henrik Moe Biophony: Finding the Arvo Pärt True Sound of Nature Bernie Krause

Arvo Pärt Te Deum André Bratten / Ole-Henrik Moe New work (WP) Oslo Domkor & Ensemble Allegria Oslo Cathedral 8pm As a soundscape ecologist, I rarely use the word ‘nature’ in acoustic expressions of life emanating from those biomes and kr. 350 / 250,– my work. The term itself separates us as humans from the our human effects on them. From the beginning, I suspected living world we’re trying to express. Most indigenous lan- that the messages inherent within natural soundscapes were guage groups with a living connection to the natural world profoundly important – not only informing us about our musical have no word for what we in the West refer to as ‘nature’. I origins, but many other disciplines as well. In a world otherwise grew up in a world that usually assessed everything from a illuminated by what we see, soundscapes began to expose even visual perspective: Forests measured tree by tree and bird by more surprises. For me, the link between wild soundscapes and bird. But I’ve learned that a much fuller understanding can music has, so far, yielded the most significant returns. be gained from what we hear, and by taking into account the To city folk such as my own parents, the wild was at best dialect of entire ecosystems: biophonies, the signature voices a vague, incomprehensible abstraction; at worst, dangerous. of the natural world. Then, quite by accident, at the age of thirty I found myself ‘Like much else in the human repertoire,’ wrote Paul recording soundscapes in a park north of San Francisco, for a Shepard in The Others: How Animals Made Us Human (1996), collaboration with the Moog synthesizer pioneer Paul Beaver. Photo Stephen-Butkus (m) ‘music may have been already there when we arrived and its In A Wild Sanctuary (Warner Brothers, 1970) was the first performance was everywhere audible and visible.’ Shepard, album of its kind to feature an ecological theme and included Ultima’s closing concert this year features Bratten. The sustained, simple and med- a fine naturalist and professor of ecology, was not a musician. entire natural soundscapes as components of orchestration. a mystical, minimalist masterpiece from itative qualities of Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum But he instinctively knew that creature vocalizations in wild The stereo sound of the redwood forest habitat transmitted Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, and a new (1984) mark Pärt’s distinctiveness as a habitats not only validate the presence of life, but their acoustic through my headphones not only brought details of the biome large scale work by Norwegian electronic composer. The work is written for choir, output was an ingredient essential to evolving human cultures. more sharply into focus, but was greatly consoling at the same dance musician André Bratten in col- strings, piano and wind harp, which will In the late 1990s, an academic acquaintance visited Wild time. The combination of acoustic space interleaved with the laboration with composer and violinist be positioned surrounding the seated Sanctuary, our home in northern California’s Valley of the burble of a nearby stream, the calls and pulsing wing-beats of Ole-Henrik Moe. audience. Te Deum, also known as the Moon. During his visit he suggested that Olivier Messiaen’s a pair of ravens as they soared over the canopy above me, and André Bratten has attracted consider- Ambrosian Hymn, is one of Christianity’s Chronochromie – a composition featuring transformations the hushed ambience of ocean breezes wafting through the able attention both in Norway and abroad oldest and best-known hymns, and Pärt’s of the birdsong of several species he and his wife, Yvonne, upper layers of treetops left me with the sense that I had finally for his elegant music, which lies somewhere setting recalls the simplicity of Gregorian had notated while hiking the forests of France – was a fine unearthed a tranquil corner in an otherwise tumultuous world. between space disco and micro house. His chant, with an effect of intense meditation. example of the human connection between music and ‘nature’. As with most professional musicians, I had been taught to debut album from 2013 received critical RY Shepard’s argument had already motivated me to recon- hear, but not to really listen to the more subtle audio textures acclaim for its pure, well-rounded sounds In collaboration with Oslo Domkor sider the associations between natural soundscapes and music that lay beyond our limited urban and cultural worlds. To learn and melodic synth lines. Bratten has a and to dig a bit deeper – beyond what the well-established about that piece of the acoustic puzzle I had to venture far passion for contemporary music, and cites Western, academically-trained (mostly) male scholars and afield, deep into the heart of the natural world, many miles from Giacinto Scelsi as his prime source of in- composers had been proposing as the origins of music for human habitation and distractions. The wild, as Bill McKibben spiration. Now, in collaboration with com- the past few centuries. So when our visitor suggested that reminds us, is a place where one can walk for a week in any poser Ole-Henrik Moe, he has taken on Messiaen’s work somehow related to ‘nature’, I blurted out, direction without encountering a road or a fence, where there the task of writing the music for Ultima’s ‘But surely you must know that Messiaen’s work, however is no signage, where there are no rangers eager to impart their closing concert. Abandoning his usual extraordinary, has nothing to do with the natural world!’ knowledge of the life cycles of a bear or raptor, and, best of synths and drum machines for classical Momentarily taken aback, the visitor responded, ‘Well, all, where there is nothing to buy. It was while encamped in instruments, field recordings and heavily if you think that’s true, why don’t you write about it?’ The those habitats that I began to understand that the collective processed sound landscapes, the slowly challenge was so intriguing that I have spent the better part sounds produced by non-human vocal organisms were formi- evolving, mictrotonal piece is divided of the past two decades doing just that. dable chronicles transmitting great quantities of useful data. into three ‘movements’ and is ‘based on In my work, I record and study the sounds of organisms from In order to properly identify the general sources of sound and a quiet feeling of absence’, according to microscopic to megafauna within their habitats. I evaluate the because there are so few words in our language to describe 60

the nuances, about a dozen years ago I embraced R. Murray trumpet of an elephant in his compositions, he had no real Schafer’s idea of the soundscape and fleshed it out, adding the answer. But I have come to believe that the kinds of abstrac- terms geophony, biophony and anthropophony. Geophony is tion most Western composers have exercised in the name of comprised of the non-biological signals that occur naturally, ‘nature’, only serve to underscore our detachment from a fun- like the effect of wind in the trees, water in a stream, waves at damentally distorted concept to begin with. To me, the single the ocean shore, and movements of the earth (the first acous- animal or species model is a bit like trying to understand the tic signals ever generated on Earth). Biophony is comprised magnificence of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony by abstracting of the collective signatures produced by all organisms in a the voice of a single violin player out of the context of the given habitat at a particular time of day or night. And finally, orchestra and listening only to that one part. Indeed, of the anthropophony is made up of all the sounds we humans make. approximately ten thousand identified bird species, only one Some of them are controlled, like music, theatre or language, hundred or so have ever been included in musical composi- while a large proportion are made up of chaotic or incoherent tions of the West – less than .01 per cent (and most of those signals generated by our electro-mechanical world – often were used by Messiaen). referred to as noise. The idea of the wild is not well-served by the paradigms of But what is the connection between biophonies and music? fragmentation and abstraction we humans have imposed on Biophonies not only clearly express melody, harmony, rhythm the living world, either in science or through the prism of the and timbre, but also well-partitioned structures – precise sound arts. Biophonies are much more coherent and complex, arrangements that any academic music department would even though we may not yet be able to recognize the intricate recognize as compositions. As I recorded more frequently patterns that connect everything. So when the question arises in rainforests close to the equator, where the density and as to what Messiaen’s music has to do with ‘nature’, or more diversity of vocal species are highest, I found that when the succinctly, the living world in which we are but one organism, biophonies were transformed into graphic illustrations, called the answer is, ‘not much’. Nor, by the way, does the work of spectrograms, they closely resembled contemporary musical Mozart, or Beethoven, Sibelius, George Crumb, Alan Hovha- scores, where the highest-sounding organisms were represent- ness, Paul Winter, Grofé, Rautavaara, Vivaldi, Ralph Vaughan ed at the top of the page and the lowest-sounding creatures at Williams or Debussy – unless, of course, it is made to fit the the bottom. In each biome, insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds same narrow, abstract, obsolete concept branded as ‘nature’. and mammals partition their voices, establishing distinctive Like many others in our field, they failed to grasp the idea, acoustic niches – based on time or frequency – in which to later expressed by John Cage, that in order to understand the vocalize. While the organizational models differ from place living world we have to experience it in her own manner of to place, the paradigm generally holds, even in temperate, operation. Moreover, even though their compositions may sub-arctic and arctic regions of the planet. For signal-producing have been created with great skill and empathy, and may be organisms, the evolution of acoustic and temporal niches is a celebrated as great music, their subtexts convey a profound solution that helps prevent one creature’s voice from being disconnection from natural world phenomena. masked by others. Because the arrangement into frequency Apart from the indigenous music of the Ba’Aka, Kaluli, and temporal niches closely resembles the manner in which the Jivaro, the Yoik singers, and the Pitjanjatjara, there are instruments in an orchestra are scored, subsequent deduction a few Western composers who are striving to address these revealed that it is precisely from these phenomena that we issues in what is becoming a worldwide movement. Among humans learned to structure sound; we created music by them is David Monacchi, a composer and naturalist whose mimicking what we heard in the African forests and plains postmodern ecoacoustic compositions speak directly to this where we initially settled. This intersection leads us to define kind of inclusive thinking. Murray Schafer, who pioneered natural world soundscapes as proto-music. the compositional idea 30 years ago with his Patria Series, is From the 18th century, when Linnaeus began to deconstruct another. John Luther Adams, the American composer from the natural world into its component parts, his methodology Alaska, who has written Become Ocean and Inuksuit, has was so encompassing that it seeped into many layers of sci- incorporated impressions of entire soundscapes of the far entific and cultural expression. Museums began to collect and north into his music. separate creatures completely out of context, studying and As we are only now beginning to understand, if we want displaying them individually because it was easy and practi- to express aspects of the wild, we, as composers, will have to cal. Huge, well-known archives of individual bird, mammal, understand and reflect more profoundly on our roles and place and frog recordings were established in both the US and the within a much more comprehensive ecosystem. UK where natural world marvels were viewed piecemeal and expressed through an illusion of control, distortion, and schism. This reductionist and fragmented vision was adopted by composers working within the same occidental paradigms. Their manifestations of ‘nature’ were generally symbolized Bernie Krause is a soundscape ecologist, nearly 50 CDs featuring soundscapes by the inclusion of the few signature bird, whale and / or wolf composer and founder of Wild from around the planet. His The Great Sanctuary (wildsanctuary.com). Animal Orchestra: Symphony for vocalizations, which continue to be expressed in the repertoire He is the author of The Great Animal Orchestra and Wild Soundscapes was Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music released on Nimbus in 2014, and his of many composers. in the World’s Wild Places new book, Voices Of The Wild: Animal (Little Brown /Hachette, 2012). Songs, Human Din, And The Call To When I asked my Messiaen acquaintance why the compos- His Beaver & Krause duo (with Paul Save Natural Soundscapes, is published Beaver) released The Nonesuch Guide this year by Yale University Press. er dismissed the majority of birds that lived in those French to Electronic Music (1967), In A Wild Sanctuary (1970), Gandharva forests, or why he never utilized the sound of a hippo or the (1971) and more, while he has released