Piet Mondrian was enthralled by modernity and, across the span of his life, encountered it in some of the great cities of the world: Amsterdam, Paris, London and New York. The musical cultures of jazz and dance held particular resonance for him and so, as part of the National Gallery of Ireland's celebration of Mondrian’s work, we invited Emilie Conway, a contemporary jazz artist, to engage with this important aspect of his life and career.

Emilie’s research over the course of this project has resulted in a series of fascinating podcasts in which she discusses the development of Mondrian’s work in the context of the musical soundscapes of his age. The episodes are interspersed with musical vignettes, and include contributions from her musical collaborators, Johnny Taylor (piano) and Barry Donohue (bass).

This podcast was produced to celebrate the Mondrian exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland. You can find out more here: https://www.nationalgallery.ie/art-and-artists/exhibitions/mondrian/special-project-music

A full transcript of this podcast is available here: https://www.nationalgallery.ie/sites/default/files/2021-04/music-for-mondrian-part-1-transcript.pdf

Image: Piet Mondrian (1872–1944), Composition with grid 8: checkerboard composition with dark colors, 1919. Courtesy of Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands

Music for Mondrian: Part One

PIANO BLUES (REDS, YELLOWS, MAGENTAS & TURQUOISES) 
composed by Sandra Mogensen for 
“the Sound of One Heart Dancing” project 
PRE-LOCKDOWN: 
• Several of the “light images” were chosen as templates for the potential sections of 
the composition. 
• As I have always had a degree of synæsthesia, each of the colours in the images 
presented as a chord or combination of notes to me. These chords were to be the 
building blocks for the musical composition, the musical language I would use. 
• My vision for the piece involved experimenting with sounds produced directly on the 
strings inside a grand piano. 
• Several musical sketches & outlines were created based on the chosen images. 
LOCKDOWN: 
• As my housing situation changed quite drastically with the beginning of the 
pandemic, I found myself with (at first) very limited access to a grand piano. 
Eventually, as the lockdown conditions persisted, I no longer had any use of any 
grand piano. My only instrument was an inferior upright piano which was unable to 
be properly tuned. This meant it was impossible to implement the extended 
techniques that were intrinsic to the sounds I was trying to create. So, I waited. 
• And waited. 
• And waited. 
• And waited. 
• It became clear that I would not be able to wait any longer to complete this project, 
so the entire vision needed to be drastically modified. 
• With the acquisition of a new upright acoustic-digital hybrid piano, I scrapped all of 
my original sketches for the piece I had conceived for grand piano. I retained only the 
musical language of the piece, the chords that were sonic representations of the 
colours. 
• As I started working again to create this music anew in the lockdown conditions, I 
was drawn to a different “light image” than originally. Some weeks after starting over, 
it became clear to me that this one image was to be my inspiration, and that all the 
other “movements” no longer felt to me that they had relevance. 
• The colour-chords now became amalgamated into a new type of scale, which 
became the language for expressing the vibrant and active swirls & spirals of the 
image. A repeated harmonic pattern then emerged from this scale, and became the 
‘ostinato’ over which the colours dance. This ostinato is to me akin to the steps of 
the dancer. 
• As lockdown conditions persist here, finding optimal recording conditions prove to be 
challenging. Consequently, birdsong is heard as an accompaniment. 
• Thank you for listening.

Piano Blues (Reds, Yellows, Magentas & Turquoises)

SANDRA MOGENSEN COMPOSER/PERFORMER, Piano Blues (Reds, Yellows, Magentas & Turquoises)

I love the idea of using gestures to "dance" the piano. My little white Hyundai (yes, they made pianos) had many a conversation with my forearms, fists, palms, knuckles and fingernails, as well as my fingers and thumbs. More than 100 recordings later, I discovered so many textures and effects that I felt like a kid in a candy shop or an artist in an art supplies store. The upper voices in the two pieces I wrote are loose and free, echoing the long lines of light created by Helen's sweeping gestures. A handful of short video clips can be watched on vimeo.com/tiavellani.

TIA VELLANI COMPOSER/PERFORMER, Electroacoustic Gesture

Tia Vellani

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