simonchristensen

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/ about the sound by Henrik Friis

If Simon Christensen's music is to be 'about' anything it could be pulse - and beauty. Several of his newer pieces, like 'The Elastic Track' for orchestra, have a touch of 70s-minimalism-hidden-slow-beat-transformation-pulse, where the music sets of in steady motion and from there move to new conditions of pulse in small, ongoing variations. Metaphorically, it's as sitting in a car moving forward in varying speeds, while the (sound) landscapes outside slowly changes in character".

His music will probably seem rather straightforward to most people. Perhaps, if someone was to investigate his scores and electronic data it would be different, but the sound experience of works like 'The Elastic Track', the electronic piece 'ReSized', or the chamber piece 'Grace-Remix' is one of simplicity. You get the idea of a composer with sufficient patience allowing himself to open up his sounds in both space and time.

The simplicity of the music is connected to the second major theme in Simon Christensen's music: beauty. Simple old-fashioned beauty generated by fascinating sounds, clearly laid out next to each other in easy-to-grasp-structures. But with the pitch often slightly out of focus, the harmony somewhat blurry or the time patterns shaky, it is beauty distorted.

A few examples can serve as an illustration. In 'Grace-Remix', a naked clarinet interacts with an exposed piano. The clarinet has some clear, trembling tones changing in a pace so slow that the melody almost stops, whereas the piano's role is simply to add a few slowly changing chords. Both instruments, however, are distorted, the piano due to some manipulations, and the clarinet due to its refusal to be in tune. Together, it's calm and shivering, simple and beautiful, and - yes - highly distorted.

Another example is 'ReSized'. The music sets of with a simple dusty sound, sounding a bit like an old clock. Then another more synth-like sound is added, and then another reminding of a car horn, then one more sounding like a spray-can, and so on. 14 minutes. All the sounds - even the initial 'clock' - are challenging every second of the music with the strangest rhythms, which in combination make even more uncountable passages. The magnificent thing, however, is that you can easily follow the construction of the music all the way. It appears that in this beautiful, strange universe you can - oddly enough - still feel safe.




___ / about the sound by Henrik Friis If Simon Christensen's music is to be 'about' anything it could be pulse - and beauty. Several of his newer pieces, like 'The Elastic Track' for orchestra, have a touch of 70s-minimalism-hidden-slow-beat-transformation-pulse, where the music sets of in steady motion and from there move to new conditions of pulse in small, ongoing variations. Metaphorically, it's as sitting in a car moving forward in varying speeds, while the (sound) landscapes outside slowly changes in character". His music will probably seem rather straightforward to most people. Perhaps, if someone was to investigate his scores and electronic data it would be different, but the sound experience of works like 'The Elastic Track', the electronic piece 'ReSized', or the chamber piece 'Grace-Remix' is one of simplicity. You get the idea of a composer with sufficient patience allowing himself to open up his sounds in both space and time. The simplicity of the music is connected to the second major theme in Simon Christensen's music: beauty. Simple old-fashioned beauty generated by fascinating sounds, clearly laid out next to each other in easy-to-grasp-structures. But with the pitch often slightly out of focus, the harmony somewhat blurry or the time patterns shaky, it is beauty distorted. A few examples can serve as an illustration. In 'Grace-Remix', a naked clarinet interacts with an exposed piano. The clarinet has some clear, trembling tones changing in a pace so slow that the melody almost stops, whereas the piano's role is simply to add a few slowly changing chords. Both instruments, however, are distorted, the piano due to some manipulations, and the clarinet due to its refusal to be in tune. Together, it's calm and shivering, simple and beautiful, and - yes - highly distorted. Another example is 'ReSized'. The music sets of with a simple dusty sound, sounding a bit like an old clock. Then another more synth-like sound is added, and then another reminding of a car horn, then one more sounding like a spray-can, and so on. 14 minutes. All the sounds - even the initial 'clock' - are challenging every second of the music with the strangest rhythms, which in combination make even more uncountable passages. The magnificent thing, however, is that you can easily follow the construction of the music all the way. It appears that in this beautiful, strange universe you can - oddly enough - still feel safe. <