Photo: Lars Svankjær
Following on from their collaboration on the album and performance project ‘Fish & Fowl’ (2011), Juliana Hodkinson and Niels Rønsholdt have created a new work together for Série Rose. Where ‘Fish & Fowl’ was assembled from recordings of the two composers’ previous chamber works, X & X is composed from the ground up by the two composers writing together, sharing and swapping tempi, rhythms, gestures and inspirations, in a kind of unison compositional logic.
Despite the high level of exchange of material and ideas, the collaborative process nevertheless underlines the individuality within relations, however symbiotic they might be. This relation of being both a double and two singles is transplanted to the piece’s musicians. Their performance extends from the basic unplugged soprano-and-piano duo format, rebelling against its tradition of decorum and demure femininity in ways that bring their actions partly into resonance with one another, while also underlining the difference and distance between them.
X & X continues to sound out the question explored in ‘Fish & Fowl’ of the fine line between evoked and explicit narratives and associations: can we say for sure whether a connotation exists ‘in the music’ or whether it is mainly created by the listener?
Upcoming concerts
18 September 2017 – Warsaw Autumn Festival, Warsaw (PL)
22 September 2017 – Klangspuren Festival, Innsbruck (AUT)
26 September 2017 – Sacrum Profanum Festival, Kraków (PL)
6 November 2017 – Cafe Oto, London (UK)
22 December 2017 – Frau Musica Nova, Cologne (D)
Performers: Frauke Aulbert (voice, performance), Małgorzata Walentynowicz (piano, sampler, performance)
Curated by Monika Pasiecznik