Allan Gravgaard Madsen
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Pirrende stilstand
Allan Gravgaard Madsen: »Concerto Grosso«
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I arbejdet med Concerto Grosso (2018-2022), som Allan Gravgaard Madsen har skrevet i tæt samarbejde med den amerikanske Jack Quartet, har komponisten opstillet et par benspænd omkring Concerto Grosso-formatet: Strygekvartetten skulle spille op mod Aarhus Symfoniorkester i »et finmasket net af talsystemer, musikhistoriske hilsner og personlige fortællinger«. Med den for AGM typiske begrænsning til det traditionelle symfoniorkesters instrumenter – om end de bliver brugt i deres yderste potens – lykkes det at fastholde en behageligt pirrende æstetik, der efterlader mig fremadlænet gennem hele værket.
Benspændene virker ikke begrænsende, men er mere rammer indenfor hvilke, han arbejder frit og legende og med en klanglig finfølelse. Som substitut for harmonisk progression og teleologi fokuserer AGM i stedet på timbre og klang. Dragende er det. Selv har jeg ikke fundet den forvrængede reference til Irving Berlin, som AGM skriver, værket rummer, men til gengæld er der klanglige ligheder med blandt andre Arvo Pärt og Bent Sørensen. Sidstesatsen, »Notturno II«, afslører en komponist, der ikke har travlt med at være udfordrende kompleks; han hviler i det minimale – dropper symfoniorkesterets instrumenter og lader musikerne summe »con bocca chiusa« og gnide sig i hænderne (bogstaveligt talt) som drømmende ambience til JACK Quartets afrunding af concertoen.
Concerto Grosso er moderne minimalisme (findes online i en lækker videoproduktion), og det er rimeligt at kalde det Allan Gravgaard Madsens æstetiske magnum opus.
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»For us, music is... magic? Aside from the fact that we are huge fans of silence, the closing line of one of our upcoming singles perfectly captures our relationship with music:
'Music feels like magic to me / A superior art form in a marketplace / Trying to find an empty space'.
That is what it can feel like as a songwriter and performing musician. We try to hold onto an almost childlike infatuation with music, yet the art form we work in – alternative-leaning pop-rock – was created and has evolved 'in a marketplace' driven by powerful economic forces. As a romantic, that can sometimes be a bit disheartening...«
Late Runner consists of Asger Tarpgaard and Tanja Forsberg Simonsen, both formerly of the bands Superheroes and Private.
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It was officially confirmed only recently that Icelandic avant-garde star Björk is visiting Bielsko-Biała today. After keeping it under wraps until the last moment, the organizers of the Wędrujący Festiwal (Wandering Festival) have revealed that Björk is the artist closing out the festival's grand finale.
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»Recently, I discovered that when a couple of thousand people clap their thick gloves in minus 30 degrees, it sounds like the softest techno – a freezing space where the cold air turns into a wave of warmth, and we, in a moment of collective devotion, become one with the rhythm, one with the invisible bond that connects us in the warmth of silence. Music is not just sounds, but a vain attempt to capture the infinite, which has always been and always will be.«
Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek has been the editor-in-chief of Seismograf since 2021. He is also a music critic and cultural journalist at Kristeligt Dagblad and Århus Stiftstidende/Avisen Danmark and has over the years written to publications such as Kunsten.nu, Glissando (Poland), Neural (Italy), Raw Vision (UK), Nutida Musik (Sweden), Kunstkritikk (DK/Sweden), Iscene.dk, B.T., and Jazz Special. He is the author (together with Lars Muhl) of the book HVA' SAA! En guidet rutsjebanetur gennem Aarhus – før, nu og i fremtiden (2024) and has also contributed to the anthology on music criticism Man skal høre meget (ed. Thomas Michelsen and Claus Røllum-Larsen, 2024). He is a founder and partner in the Polish-Danish cultural organization Kultur(a), and wherever there is a piano, he will be there, eager to coax a melody from it.
© Aria Leth Schütze
»For me, music is an opportunity for transformation.«
Aria Leth Schütze is based in Copenhagen and is the creative force behind the music projects Alto Aria and Samler På Dig. They are a co-founder of the record label Rhizome and a co-editor of the music magazine Passive/Aggressive. Their practice brings together electronic and acoustic music in an exploration of transformation.
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»For me, music is the art form that – if measured in hours and minutes – occupies by far the greatest part of my life. I cannot sing, nor can I play an instrument, but I can listen – as a happy amateur – while cycling, on the dance floor, and, above all, at the office. I almost always work – that is, write – to music.«
Mikkel Krause Frantzen (b. 1983) is an associate professor at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, a literary critic for Politiken, and the author of several books in English and Danish, such as En fremtid uden Fremtid (2018), Klodens Fald (2021), and Slutspil (2024).