Um viðburðinn

Efnisskráin

• the Cartography of Time (2015) for bowed cymbal and live electronics, ‘20

• the Cartography of Time (2014) for contrabass clarinet and live electronics, ‘15

• the Cartography of Time (2017) for bass drum and live electronics, ‘15

Um tónskáldin

Davíð Brynjar Franzson er sjálfstætt starfandi tónskáld búsettur í Los Angeles. Á meðal nýlegri verkefna Davíðs er an Urban Archive as an English Garden - sem þróað var í samstarfi við Höllu Steinunni Stefánsdóttur, Russell Greenberg (Yarn/Wire), Matt Barbier (Gnarwhallaby) og nú síðast Júlíu Mogensen, sellóleikara, í ameiginlegu listrannsóknaverkefni við stofnanirnar IRCAM í París og Zenter fur Kunst und Medientechnology í Þýskalandi. Verkið var til sýnis á vegum Hljóðanar í Hafnarborg haustið 2020. Á meðal annarra verka Davíðs má nefna sellókonsertinn on Matter and Materiality, pantað af BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra og tónskáldasjóði RÚV og var lýst af gagnrýnanda The Guardian sem „strickingly static“. Einleiksverkaröðin the Cartography of Time er tileinkuð skynrænni upplifun tímanns og hafa verkin verið unnin í samstarfi við fjölda alþjóðlegra flytjenda á borð við Gnarwhallaby, Vicky Chow (Bang on a Can), Mariel Roberts, Matt Barbier og Weston Olencki (RAGE thromboses), Matthias Engler og Ingólf Vilhjálmsson (Ensemble Adapter). Platan the Negotiation of Context með verkum skrifuðum fyrir tónlistarhópinn Yarn / Wire, hlaut lofsamlegar móttökur, m.a. Í NY Times sem sagði verkið „engagingly tactile“, Gramophone kallaði það „sonic art that is clearly going places” og The Wire sagði verkið „compelling“ ásamt því sem platan rataði inná topp 10 lista yfir samtímatónlistarútgáfu ársins 2014 að mati The Wire. Haustið 2019 kom út diskurinn longitude hjá Bedroom Community og rataði platan inn á fjölda árslista yfir bestu útgáfum ársins. Gagnrýnandi 5:4 lýsti tónlistinni sem "gorgeous and somewhat terrifying in equal measure". Nýjasta plata Davíðs er unnin í samstarfi við Stephanie Aston og wasteLAnd og inniheldur verkið "voice fragments" sem gagnrýnendur hafa kallað 'töfrandi' og eitthvað sem ekki má missa af. Davíð rekur tilrauna- og samtímatónlistar plötuútgáfuna Carrier Records ásamt Sam Pluta og Jeff Snyder. Heimasíða: http://franzson.com

the Cartography of Time is a cycle of solo works by Icelandic composer Davíð Bryjnar Franzson, an ongoing exploration of the experience of time. The works were developed in collaboration with Gnarwhallaby, Vicky Chow (Bang on a Can), Mariel Roberts, Matt Barbier and Weston Olencki (RAGE thrombones), Rusell Greenberg (Yarn|Wire), Matthias Engler, and Ingolfur Vilhjalmsson (Ensemble Adapter). Dark Music Days is dedicating a whole concert to a selection from the cycle, inviting the audience into an immersive experience of Franzson’s minimal and slowly unfolding sound world.

The programme

• the Cartography of Time (2015) for bowed cymbal and live electronics, ‘20

• the Cartography of Time (2014) for contrabass clarinet and live electronics, ‘15

• the Cartography of Time (2017) for bass drum and live electronics, ‘15

About the performers

Matthias Engler is a percussionist and experimental music producer based in Reykjavik and Berlin. Together with harpist Gunnhildur Einarsdóttir he founded Ensemble Adapter, a contemporary chamber music group, in 2004. He has worked for the group as percussionist, artistic director and manager ever since. Following his studies in Amsterdam he has also appeared as guest player with new music ensembles such as Ensemble Modern, MusikFabrik and many others. Performances at renowned festivals for contemporary music included collaborations with important composers of our time: Pierre Boulez, Helmut Lachenmann, Maurizio Kagel, Steve Reich a.o. Matthias regularly appears in experimental theatre productions and remains a member of the Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble, an acoustic techno project from Berlin.

John McCowen is a composer/clarinetist focused on extending the possibilities of the contrabass clarinet and other instruments. John’s multiphonic approach embraces drones, difference tones, and beating harmonics as a means to extrude the compositional potential within a single, acoustic sound source. His work has been described by The New Yorker as “the sonic equivalent of microscopic life viewed on a slide”. Documents of this practice have been released by International Anthem, Edition Wandelweiser, Astral Spirits/Monofonus Press, Cairn Desk, Superpang, and others. John was an artist-in-residence in 2017/19 at Lijiang Studio in Yunnan, China as well as in 2020 at ISSUE Project Room in Brooklyn, NY.

About the composer

Davíð Brynjar Franzson is a freelancing composer based in Los Angeles. Projects include an Urban Archive as an English Garden, developed in collaboration with Halla Steinunn Stefansdottir (Nordic Affect), Russell Greenberg (Yarn/Wire), Julia Mogensen, and Matt Barbier (wasteLAnd); the Negotiation of Context, developed in collaboration with Yarn/Wire--described as "engagingly tactile" by the NY Times, "compelling" by the Wire which selected the release as one of their top 10 modern composition releases of 2014, and as "sonic art that is clearly going places" by Gramophone; the cello concerto on Matter and Materiality, commissioned by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic National Radio's commissioning fund--described as "strikingly static" by the Guardian; and the Cartography of Time, an ongoing exploration of the experience of time, developed in collaboration with Gnarwhallaby, Vicky Chow (Bang on a Can), Mariel Roberts, Matt Barbier and Weston Olencki (RAGE thrombones), Rusell Greenberg (Yarn|Wire), Matthias Engler, and Ingolfur Vilhjalmsson (Ensemble Adapter). A new recording of the monodrama longitude was released on Bedroom Community in Fall 2019. It made multiple year-end lists, and was described as "gorgeous and somewhat terrifying in equal measure." by 5:4. His most recent release–in collaboration with Stephanie Aston and wasteLAnd––voice fragments ,was released on Carrier Records in January. It has received critical praise with one reviewer exclaiming it as 'stunning' during the online premiere. Davíð co-runs Carrier Records--a label for new and experimental music--with Sam Pluta, Katie Young, and Jeff Snyder.