Released on the album Light

This piece and some of its techniques were discussed in detail in my PhD dissertation, link here.

The original idea for Light appeared when I was planning a series of concerts in different lighthouses along the Norwegian coast. Evoking the image of a lighthouse, there are pulsating elements in this work that establish a sense of light and recognition − short melodic phrases sometimes suddenly appear in unison, like the beams of light. The sound of harmonics shines through a diffused and misty atmosphere, and the untraditional playing techniques found and underline the temperament of the waves and of the wind. In Light, I borrowed a little ink from a score of Salvatore Sciarrino, to paint my picture of the sea and to blend the sounds of past and present. To let the double bass make colourful harmonic alterations in the (new) mix with the violin, to let the shadings meet and create interweaved, living figures in moments of virtuosity, to let them bounce together on the strings and on the body. As in Scodanibbio’s duo for violin and double bass Jardins d’Hamilcar, where the traditional rhetorical dualism between the instruments has been obliterated and replaced with a singularity of sound and technique, I sought a homogeneous expression of sounds, which is made possible through the novel flageolet techniques. But previously “unheard” sounds can also in themselves be alienating and thus create imaginary cracks in the perception of the uniform sounds. The work is technically demanding, but with a fleeting and subdued expression.