Skræl og kød (Peel and flesh) uses texts from “Frugt og grønne sager” by Shëkufe Tadayoni Heiberg - a collection of 25 poems about pieces of fruit and vegetables. Each poem also has a drawing and the Latin name of the fruit or vegetable. In the choral work, Mette Nielsen uses 10 of the poems and their Latin names.
Mette Nielsen tells about the work, and the inspiration from the collection of poems: "These are poems about fruits and vegetables that come across as both associative and concrete. In the music, I try to highlight the connections between the texts and to emphasize both the tangible and the peculiar aspects of them.
The concrete is expressed, among other things, in the many repetitions of words in the poems. For instance, the word egg recurs many times. I emphasize the repetition by always setting the word to the same pitch and the same duration. The poem acquires a particular rhythm, which arises because the word is continually repeated in new contexts.
I underline the connections I perceive between the poems by letting the musical material reappear, always in adapted versions.
At times, I allow the different moods of the poems to emerge by placing them in different tempo layers, where the singers sing freely, each in their own tempo.
The concept of the poetry collection is strikingly simple, and at the same time the poems are full of associations and surprising imagery. My aim is to let the listener experience both of these qualities through my music."
Skræl og kød is commissioned by Ars Nova Copenhagen who will premiere the piece on 25 september in Billund with additional performances in Aalborg, Helsingør and Copenhagen.