Ensemble Phœnix Basel

The work “UR” for five instruments and live electronics by Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg is the chamber music counterpart to the powerful orchestral work “Kraft” and combines the dense energy of Lindberg’s early work – inspired by punk rock and spectralism – with precisely controlled electronic sound manipulation. Rhythms, chord sequences, and harmonic processes were generated using mathematical calculations and the programming language “LeLisp.” The title “UR” refers both to the ancient Sumerian city of Ur and to the prefix commonly used in German and Swedish to denote something extreme, primordial, or primitive. Furthermore, the word “ur” means “clock” or “storm” in Swedish.

Drawing on Peter Maxwell Davies’ “Eight Songs for a Mad King” as an inspirational model for its compositional form, “over the threshold; right foot” by the Norwegian composer Tze Yeung Ho draws upon ancient Chinese poems about court ladies from various dynasties. Each text focuses on the relationship between a parrot and the person speaking to it, as owning a parrot is a symbol of courtly loneliness – since the bird would parrot back the thoughts directed at it.

The music of “Enigma” by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir is inspired by the concept of “in-between” and juxtaposes flow and fragmentation. Pulsating stasis – the “whole,” an expanding and contracting foundation – contrasts with fragmented elements – shadows of things that exist as part of the whole. Harmonies emerge and fade away or disintegrate in various ways, leaving traces of elements that project themselves through different textures and nuances and gradually take on a form of their own. Some return to the core, others remain separate. Throughout the piece, the perspective constantly shifts between the two – the foundation and the fragmented shadows – yet the focus always remains on their relationship – the “in-between.”

A program that seeks to break through the boundaries of “absolute new music” through musical-theatrical and electronic means.

Program