Vóren / Fleurs
by TERJUNGENSEMBLE AND Pierre Xhonneux
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumComes in digifile cover.
Includes unlimited streaming of Vóren / Fleurs via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 2 days100 NOK or more
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about
VÓREN is a name for the figure we become when we dream, the one that takes action in our dreams while our body is lying down, sleeping. Right from the
start I imagined this not as a concerto, but rather as a kind of dramatic scene where the clarinet plays a nearly operatic main character, while the role of the
strings evolves from simply providing a background into imparting a more active bustle and gleam, and then becoming anactual actor in the drama.
The piece is part of a project in which I try to interpret the art nouveau style in musical form, but transposed into our own time and superimposed
with my own style, which features a strong element of quarter tones. I find it fascinating that the visual aspect of the art nouveau style was developed further
in certain kinds of science fiction, for example by the Alien designer H.R. Giger or the French sci-fi cartoon series artist Pierre Druillet. In this piece it is
the clarinet voice, in particular, that is conceived as a variant of the organic/floral/ornamental shapes that can be perceived visually in the art nouveau style.
I have envisaged that the piece begins in the dark, in a cave, and as one becomes accustomed to the dark, as it were, the walls of the cave assume
new forms. Is there life there, are there subterranean creatures, insects? The piece tries to escape this darkness, but otherwise is not programmatic.
In addition, the piece was inspired by several types of folk music including Norwegian and, especially, Arabic. It seems appro–priate to seek out folk
music models when one is composing organic microtonal melodies, as the overtone series, with its quarter-tone intervals, has inspired folk music all
over the world for hundreds of years.
— Jon Øivind Ness
***
FLEURS was commissioned by Lars-Erik ter Jung and the TERJUNGENSEMBLE, and had its world premiere with Pierre Xhonneux and the TERJUNGENSEMBLE on 30 October 2022 at Sandefjord kunst og kulturkirke. The commission received financial support from the Composers’ Remuneration Fund. The work comprises three movements, each of which is named after two flowers that grow on the island of Jeløya in Moss. It is
a further development of several other works I have composed featuring themes from the forest and the sky, including Dendrophilia, for two harps, Les
Etoiles, for string quartet, and Bois, for solo oboe and orchestra. I lived on Jeløya for three years and spent considerable time exploring the island’s forests. All
the flowers named in the piece are on the official list of endangered species, and my aim has been to draw attention to nature and its vulnerability.
While the work is not actually a clarinet concerto, focus is placed on the clarinet, which is supported by 11 string instruments. The first movement
is named for the flowers Fargemyske and Strandrisp (dyer’s woodruff and sea lavender). The movement begins with high-pitched clarinet and strings
suffused with a somewhat mystical and serene quality, and ends with recurring and escalating string glissandos. The second movement bears the names of
the flowers Solrose and Bakkeknapp (rock-rose and small scabious), and has a sense of tranquillity that is occasionally interrupted by rapid clarinet and string runs (ghost tones). The third movement is named for the flowers Hvitmure and Oslosildre (rock cinquefoil and Oslo saxifrage), and is centred mainly on the note D and the quarter tones around it. This is interrupted by a dance with pizzicato in the strings.
— Jan Erik Mikalsen
start I imagined this not as a concerto, but rather as a kind of dramatic scene where the clarinet plays a nearly operatic main character, while the role of the
strings evolves from simply providing a background into imparting a more active bustle and gleam, and then becoming anactual actor in the drama.
The piece is part of a project in which I try to interpret the art nouveau style in musical form, but transposed into our own time and superimposed
with my own style, which features a strong element of quarter tones. I find it fascinating that the visual aspect of the art nouveau style was developed further
in certain kinds of science fiction, for example by the Alien designer H.R. Giger or the French sci-fi cartoon series artist Pierre Druillet. In this piece it is
the clarinet voice, in particular, that is conceived as a variant of the organic/floral/ornamental shapes that can be perceived visually in the art nouveau style.
I have envisaged that the piece begins in the dark, in a cave, and as one becomes accustomed to the dark, as it were, the walls of the cave assume
new forms. Is there life there, are there subterranean creatures, insects? The piece tries to escape this darkness, but otherwise is not programmatic.
In addition, the piece was inspired by several types of folk music including Norwegian and, especially, Arabic. It seems appro–priate to seek out folk
music models when one is composing organic microtonal melodies, as the overtone series, with its quarter-tone intervals, has inspired folk music all
over the world for hundreds of years.
— Jon Øivind Ness
***
FLEURS was commissioned by Lars-Erik ter Jung and the TERJUNGENSEMBLE, and had its world premiere with Pierre Xhonneux and the TERJUNGENSEMBLE on 30 October 2022 at Sandefjord kunst og kulturkirke. The commission received financial support from the Composers’ Remuneration Fund. The work comprises three movements, each of which is named after two flowers that grow on the island of Jeløya in Moss. It is
a further development of several other works I have composed featuring themes from the forest and the sky, including Dendrophilia, for two harps, Les
Etoiles, for string quartet, and Bois, for solo oboe and orchestra. I lived on Jeløya for three years and spent considerable time exploring the island’s forests. All
the flowers named in the piece are on the official list of endangered species, and my aim has been to draw attention to nature and its vulnerability.
While the work is not actually a clarinet concerto, focus is placed on the clarinet, which is supported by 11 string instruments. The first movement
is named for the flowers Fargemyske and Strandrisp (dyer’s woodruff and sea lavender). The movement begins with high-pitched clarinet and strings
suffused with a somewhat mystical and serene quality, and ends with recurring and escalating string glissandos. The second movement bears the names of
the flowers Solrose and Bakkeknapp (rock-rose and small scabious), and has a sense of tranquillity that is occasionally interrupted by rapid clarinet and string runs (ghost tones). The third movement is named for the flowers Hvitmure and Oslosildre (rock cinquefoil and Oslo saxifrage), and is centred mainly on the note D and the quarter tones around it. This is interrupted by a dance with pizzicato in the strings.
— Jan Erik Mikalsen
credits
released June 5, 2023
Recorded, produced and edited by Geir Inge Lotsberg.
English translation by Shari Nilsen.
Photography and design by Erik(sen).
This release has been supported by Arts Council Norway with funding from the Norwegian Culture
Fund and the Fund for Performing Artists.
Recorded, produced and edited by Geir Inge Lotsberg.
English translation by Shari Nilsen.
Photography and design by Erik(sen).
This release has been supported by Arts Council Norway with funding from the Norwegian Culture
Fund and the Fund for Performing Artists.
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Fabra Oslo, Norway
Fabra label of Norway was founded in 1993 and has presently released 29 albums and 4 ep's. Run by Geir Inge Lotsberg. All artwork by Erik Johan Worsøe Eriksen.
discography
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Oct 2023 -
Jun 2023 -
Oct 2022 -
Jan 2022
contact / help
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