commissioned by and written for the 60th anniversary of Ars Nova ensemble (Poitiers)

“Clessidra” (“sandglass” in Italian) contains two opposite processes happening simultaneously, which are overlapping and create a musical metaphor of a sandglass with one part being filled and the other emptied. One layer of the texture (vibraphone, accordion and synthesiser with an organ timbre) are constantly descending down from their highest overtones meanwhile the rest of the ensemble (strings, bowed harp and winds) is gradually expanding its space and dynamics until their paths cross and merge into one spectrum.

1st performance: 23 November 2023, Auditorium de Potiers (FR), Ars Nova ensemble, cond. Gregory Vajda

"Clessidra" for ensemble (2023)

From TROIS ÉTUDES POST-MODERNES 
(POUR DEUX MARIMBAS)
III- La marcha de la humanidad en la tierra y hacia el cosmos
(after a painting by David Alfaro Siqueiros)
played by Digraph Duo ( Miguel Ángel Real, Andreu Queralt)

La Marcha De La Humanidad En La Tierra y Hacia El Cosmos

Performed by:
Hanna Fheodoroff, voice
Audrey G. Perreault, flutes,
Maria Mogas Gensana, accordion
Hannes Schöggl, percussion

Audio Recording: Benedikt Alphart

Performed at the Neue Galerie Graz, BRUSEUM, 14.04.2024, as part of the exhibition "searching myself" by artist Johann Rausch
as part of the concert "losing myself", organized by Zeitschleife - https://zeitschleife-verlag.com/Verein/ 

between feathers Ensemble - http://www.betweenfeathers.com 
Neue Galerie Graz - https://www.museum-joanneum.at/

mea lux (2024) - for voice, flute, percussion and accordion

Today, I'm excited to share with you a new piece by the Icelandic composer Snorri Hallgrímsson, whom I've been closely following since his debut, Orbit, released by Moderna in 2018. Even back then, I could somewhat predict the trajectory of this young artist, who, as I said, has been drinking from the same pool of Icelandic inspiration which has quenched the thirst of some of the world's renowned composers, like Ólafur Arnalds and of course, the dearly missed Jóhann Jóhannsson. Hallgrímsson's sophomore release, I Am Weary, Don’t Let Me Rest, which I am playing right now as I prepare this writeup, was a particular favourite of mine, even as I recognised some of the subtle influence of the above master of the modern classical genre. In this specific case, that should be acknowledged as an enormous compliment - if Jóhann continues to be here through the music of others, I feel slightly better and not so forlorn. This spring, Hallgrímsson returns to Moderna with an original soundtrack for Guy Davidi's documentary called Innocence. "The film is a harrowing insight into what it's like to grow up in a heavily militarized state where military service isn't only compulsory but is seen as a moral and cultural obligation as well." I think the cover of a little girl handling a machine gun tells it all. And yet, it's Hallgrímsson's gorgeous music that takes it to a whole new level.

Innocence (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The Girl in the Dark

TRACK PREMIERE : Snorri Hallgrímsson - The Girl In The Dark

Individuality is an illusion. It's strange to be alive. We're all made of universe.
Music and lyrics: Lewis Christian Furber
Copyright © 2024 Lewis Christian Furber

No Horse

What are you getting so worked up about? Move on. None of this matters.
Music and lyrics: Lewis Christian Furber
Copyright © 2024 Lewis Christian Furber

Flowers

ASHABÁ (2006-2016)
I - ELEGGUA 1
II - SHANGÓ
III - YEMAYÁ
IV - OSHÚN
V - ELEGGUA 2
Live recording at the Museo de Navarra, on April 28th, 2023.
Bass clarinet & Pedal board effects: Carlos Gálvez

Ashabá (2006 - 2016)

Pural Concert

Santa BUŠS : 'Calligraphie abstraite' (Hommage à Georges Mathieu) 
for ensemble (2012) : 
Performed by Convergence New Music Ensemble, 
conductor Thomas Herzog

The inspiration for this work has been brought from the French artist Georges Mathieu (1921-2012), one of the representatives of the lyrical abstractionism, and more precisely his large format works from the 1950s and 1960s. Studying the work of Mathieu, reading his reflections, watching videos of his working methods, I was captured by the spontaneity and speed at which he worked, as well as the way he created his associative action painting. In his brightest paintings of that period one can see the same artistic handwriting, and this composition is also made both directly and associatively referring to that. 
The works of Mathieu are both saturated and laconic at the same time, and though they are made spontaneously, they give the impression of a well organised and balanced composition. The united colour palette and common gestures leave lines and points on the canvas, that resemble accomplished and spontaneous, yet abstract calligraphy. Whereas the work method includes periods of intense activity and abrupt distancing from the large canvas in order to see the “bigger picture” and decide on the following steps… 
The work process as well as the body language of the artist and painting motives are aspects which I have tried to interpret in the piece 'Calligraphie abstraite (Hommage à Georges Mathieu)'.

Santa Bušs 'Calligraphie abstraite'

santa.buss@gmail.com

Santa BUŠS is a Latvian composer especially interested in detailed pre-compositional process and working with extra-musical ideas (found in other art forms, physiology, history, mythology, nature, architecture, medicine, sports, philosophy, etc.). 

Though her main focus and form of expression has been linked with instrumental music, lately she has discovered a deep interest in the voice and its possibilities, as well as being keen to expand her approach towards sound, composition and exploring different forms of collaboration. 
This also includes exploring territories between conventional and unconventional notation and performance techniques, as well as experimenting between the boundaries of music, theatre and opera, often focusing on the physical manipulation of instruments and the presence of musicians as a source of drama. 

She has studied both composition and musicology at the Latvian Academy of Music and Hamburg University of Music and Theatre. 

Her works have been performed throughout Europe, in North America and Asia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgBltNTuhvU

Santa Bušs 'Calligraphie abstraite'

Santa Buss

Recent comments

localfaggots

Ineta Svärd

Related tracks