The stigma is still going strong: classical music has its head up its own ass. There’s the pretension, the stodgy harmonic rules (if perfect fifths move in parallel motion you are done for), the… old people. Rattling jewelry n’ shit. Of course, young modern composers are doing everything in their power to change this perception.
Case in point: this new track from up-and-coming Danish composer Simon Steen-Andersen. It’s an experiment with ultra-close microphone recording techniques. From the liner notes:
In Her Frown for two musicians continues with the use of close microphones. Most of all, the piece consists of a whole multitude of voice and mouth sounds, some of which can be perceived as words. But we do not know precisely which. Paradoxically, the words seem to be a declamation of the two entries ‘communicate’ and ‘perceive’ from the Internet dictionary dictionary.com. In other words it is about saying something clearly and understanding it correspondingly; but it is said in a way that makes these very things impossible; for example with a closed mouth or while a football horn brutally drowns it out.
Coincidentally, the piece shares some resemblance to our recent Eureka! pick from Chris Cogburn, Bonnie Jones, and Bhob Rainey. Best if played loud.
• Simon Steen-Andersen: http://www.simonsteenandersen.dk/
• DACAPO: http://www.dacapo-records.dk/en/recording-simon-steen-andersen—pretty-s…
