Concert:

Song Circus and Kari Rønnekleiv,
EPITAFIUM

Song Circus and violinist Kari Rønnekleiv present a re-creation of two works by composer Ole-Henrik Moe. The concert opens with excerpts from the new concert work Epitafium, a memorial piece dedicated to the folk musicians Jon Jelmert, Heidi Løvlund, and several other artists who have passed away in recent years. In the work, Ole-Henrik has also incorporated the figure of the orienteering runner — a kind of tracker and alter ego of himself. He has drawn inspiration from various landscapes, both inner landscapes (such as the transition between sleep and wakefulness) and natural landscapes (for example, marshland). The work is in constant transformation, and the material has evolved through research and close collaboration between the composer and the performers. It is based on hidden, older tonalities and explores various mutations of so-called “ornamental scales with natural scale elements.” The concert then flows into the work Persefone — an acoustic piece written for five female voices and wine glasses. It is a textural study of vocal timbre, dynamics, and microtonality. Moe drew inspiration from Morton Feldman when composing Persefone, and in the first part he stretches silence and slowness so far that any sense of a horizontal timeline dissolves into a music of state.

Performance in collaboration with Only Connect Stavanger.

• Song Circus, vocal ensemble (founded 2007, Norway)
• Kari Rønnekleiv, violinist and multi-instrumentalist (b. 1974, Norway)