Scroll for a Danish version below.
What is the general idea behind Trichotomy and how is it expressed in the work?
The work was commissioned by Peter Navarro-Alonso (alongside similar commissions for Anders Brødsgaard and Simon Christensen) with a very specific connection in mind. The idea is that the work should enter into a dialogue with Nørgård’s modern masterpiece, Trepartita.
In the composition of this single-movement work I have focused on creating three connected parts, each of which are quite different: The first part almost has the character of a chorale with various metamorphoses and harmonic developments contained within polyphonic contrasts. Here, for instance, I also examine clusters. Part two is relatively short, with reuse of some of the chorale material and mainly serves as a bridge to part three. Part three begins in the traditional way with a passacaglia, starting with a monotonous bass figure (completely regular rhythm). Each following variation adds a new layer of polyphony (with associated polyrhythms) on top of it until the original base disappears. The regular division of bars dissolves into alternating time signatures, gradually creating increasing unpredictability. After a short break, the development continues freely with many runs and fragments of figures and motifs.
Besides the three-part division of the work’s structure, the dialogue with Nørgård’s work appears especially in the polyphony and layers of tempi, which may bring to mind some of the techniques that Nørgård himself employs. The rhythmic freedom that gradually emerges throughout the passacaglia, paired with e.g. the use of trills, is inspired by Nørgård. Not just Trepartita, but his orchestral works in general. My work is however not intended as pastiche, but rather a dialogue with Nørgård’s work.
The organ is an interesting instrument to write for since a specific space is always attached to it. How have you worked with this in your piece?
Space is, for me, first and foremost timbre and duration. Space is important regarding timbre, because the work in its slow part unfolds the space in a deliberately hefty, almost statuesque way. The church space becomes in this way the focus of a certain kind of superhumanity, because the changes happen very slowly. In contrast, there is fast music (primarily in the third part), where small figures and motifs (many of them repetitive) are mixed acoustically due to the reverberation of the church space. This gives the music a relatively fleeting character that contrasts with the more substantial or monumental parts. Even though this is not necessarily how it will be interpreted by the listener, one could say that the slow parts are about the building itself (the stones, the unchanging), while the fast parts are about the space and content of the building (the spacious element, which is mixed and has a more, perhaps, airy character). In this way, the development of the passacaglia, in which the tempo-layers become faster and faster and more polyphonic, places focus on a gradual enlivening or depiction of the static versus the changeable. The work is therefore not just a dialogue with Nørgård or a form, but in its very conception a dialogue with the building.
The concert takes place Thursday 16 June 16:30 in Helligåndskirken, Copenhagen (DK)
Find more information about the concert here >>
........................................................................................................
Hvad er idéen bag værket Trichotomy, og hvordan kommer den til udtryk?
Værket er bestilt af Peter Navarro-Alonso (som med lignende værkbestillinger til Anders Brødsgaard og Simon Christensen) med en ganske bestemt sammenhæng i tankerne. Tanken er, at værket skal indgå i dialog med Nørgårds moderne mesterværk, Trepartita. I kompositionen af det 1-satsede værk har jeg fokuseret på at skabe 3 sammenhængende dele, som er ret forskellige: 1. del har nærmest karakter af en koral med forskellige metamorfoser og harmoniske udviklinger indeholdt i polyfone kontraster. Her udforskes f.eks. også clusters. 2. del er forholdsvis kort med genbrug af noget af koralmaterialet og fungerer mest som en bro til 3. del. 3. del begynder på traditionel manér med en passacaglia, som starter med en monoton basfigur (helt regulær rytme). Hver variation herefter får et nyt lag polyfoni (med tilhørende polyrytmer) lagt oven på sig, indtil den oprindelige basis forsvinder. Den regulære taktinddeling brydes efterhånden op til vekslende taktarter, som gradvist skaber mere uforudsigelighed. Efter en kort pause fortsætter udviklingen frit med mange løb og fragmenter af figurer og motiver.
Dialogen med Nørgårdværket foregår, udover tredelingen af værkets struktur, især i kraft af polyfonien og tempolagene, der kan have mindelser om nogle af de teknikker, Nørgård selv benytter sig af. Den rytmiske frihed, der efterhånden opstår i løbet af passacagliaen parret med f.eks. brugen af triller, er inspireret af Nørgård. Ikke bare Trepartita, men hans orkesterværker i det hele taget. Mit værk er dog ikke tænkt som en pastiche, men derimod netop en dialog med Nørgårds værk.
Orglet er et interessant instrument at skrive for, fordi et specifikt rum altid er knyttet til. Hvordan har du arbejdet med det i værket?
Rum er for mig først og fremmest lige med klang og varighed. Klangligt er rummet vigtigt, fordi værket ofte i sine langsomme del folder rummet ud på en bevidst bastant, næsten statuepræget måde. Kirkerummet kan på denne måde sige at blive fokus for en hvis form for overmenneskelighed, fordi forandringer foregår meget langsomt. Som kontrast står der den hurtige musik (primært i 3.del), hvor små figurer og motiver (mange af dem repetitive) blandes akustisk på grund af kirkerummets udklang. Dette giver musikken en forholdsvis flygtig karakter, der står i kontrast til de bastante eller monumentale dele. Selvom det ikke nødvendigvis er sådan, det bliver fortolket af lytteren, så kan man måske sige, at de langsomme dele handler om selve bygningen (stenene, det urokkelige), mens det hurtige handler om bygningens rum og indhold (det rummelige, som blandes og har en mere, måske, luftig karakter). På denne måde sætter selve udviklingen i passacagliaen, hvor tempolagene bliver hurtigere og hurtigere og mere polyfone med tiden, fokus på en gradvis levendegørelse eller skildring af det statiske over for det foranderlige. Værket er derfor ikke bare en dialog med Nørgård eller en form, men er i selve sin konception en dialog med bygningen.