Cikada Live at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival by Cikada Ensemble

Jon Øivind Ness, Liza Lim

Cikada Ensemble

Cikada Live at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival

Format: CD
Label: Lawo Classics
UPC: 7090020180984
Catnr: LWC 1086
Release date: 25 September 2015
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Label
Lawo Classics

UPC
7090020180984

Catalogue number
LWC 1086

Release date
25 September 2015

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

The concert on this CD recording took place in St Paul's Church, Huddersfield on 23 November 2014 as part of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.

The composers say of their works:
"The Heart’s Ear (1997) is a meditation on a fragment of a Sufi melody. Sufism could be thought of as an expression of the ecstatic dimension of Islam, perhaps quite close to Gnostic traditions in Christianity which emphasise the element of mystery or mysticism and the ideal of an ecstatic communion with the divine.

Written for the performers, "Winding Bodies: 3 Knots (2014) looks at the old Nordic tale of sailors going to sorcerors to ‘buy the wind’ tied in three knots – untying the first knot would release a breeze, the second a strong wind and the third contained a hurricane which should never be untied…"

"Some time around 2005, my interest in a musical expression that was hectic, swift and often humorous shifted to one that was slower, more introvert. This coincided with a move away from complexity towards simplicity. There was also an element of pragmatism in this transition. I began using quarter tones, and became convinced that if you gave an 'ordinary' classical musician difficult challenges in all areas simultaneously, you won't necessarily get the best result. I gradually became increasingly interested in Bruckner, who until then I'd always placed somewhere in the background. Mahler was the man for me, but once you begin to contemplate and write long pieces, it's difficult to ignore Bruckner. Gimilen first evolved as the trio Drop for flute, clarinet and piano, and was written for the Cikado Trio. The expression of the material played by the rest of the ensemble often differs from that of the trio, resulting in two quite distinct pieces."

Das Cikada Ensemble interpretiert Werke von Liza Lim und Jon Øivind Ness beim Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.

Artist(s)

Cikada Ensemble

Since its formation in Oslo in 1989, the Cikada Ensemble has developed a refined and highly acclaimed profile on the international contemporary music scene. From the very beginning, Cikada has consisted of flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, string quintet and conductor Christian Eggen. All ten are equal, permanent members, and the ensemble has become synonymous with the Oslo Sound of fresh, vibrant, warm and virtuosic interpretations of consciously selected, contemporary repertoire. In concerts at major international festivals and on numerous albums, Cikada’s distinct ensemble profile manifests itself in strong programming. Integral to this work is a wish to develop long-term collaborations with composers and to build composer portraits with commissioned works over time. The nine musicians also form various formations within the group:...

Since its formation in Oslo in 1989, the Cikada Ensemble has developed a refined and highly acclaimed profile on the international contemporary music scene. From the very beginning, Cikada has consisted of flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, string quintet and conductor Christian Eggen. All ten are equal, permanent members, and the ensemble has become synonymous with the Oslo Sound of fresh, vibrant, warm and virtuosic interpretations of consciously selected, contemporary repertoire.
In concerts at major international festivals and on numerous albums, Cikada’s distinct ensemble profile manifests itself in strong programming. Integral to this work is a wish to develop long-term collaborations with composers and to build composer portraits with commissioned works over time.
The nine musicians also form various formations within the group: Cikada String Quartet and Cikada Trio (flute, clarinet, piano) work as independent Cikada units, adding to the ensemble’s international identity.
Cikada was awarded the prestigious Nordic Music Prize in 2005.

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Composer(s)

Liza Lim

Jon Øivind Ness

Jon Øivind Ness (b. 1968) studied guitar (1987—89) and composition (1989—1995) at the Norwegian Academy of Music with Olav Anton Thommessen, Lasse Thoresen and Ragnar Søderlind as his mentors. Ness won the Norwegian Society of Composers ‘Work of the Year’ award in 1993 for his orchestral work Schatten. He was nominated for the Edvard Prize in 1997, 2000 (2 nominations) and 2002, winning in ‘97 and ‘00 for Cascading Ordure and Dangerous Kitten, respectively.
Ness was composer of the year for Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (2002—03), Oslo Philharmonic (2012—13) and Bodø Sinfonietta (2012). Ness’s music has been nominated three times for “Spellemannprisen” (Norwegian Grammy Awards), and he won in 2010 with the CD Low Jive, together with the Oslo Philharmonic. Ness’s tonal language is based on the use of bi- and polytonality developed structurally (or sometimes only coloured) with quarter tones. He tries to approach microtonality from different angles — spectral, untuned, melodic (especially from Arabic traditional music). In recent years he has devoted himself more to arranging music in other genres. His project in 2012 together with Diamanda Gálás and KORK was singled out by Wire editor Rob Young as the third most important international musical event of 2012. Since then he has tried to create artistically challenging arrangements in which classical instruments replace rock instruments using various contemporary music techniques, something which culminated in the Bowie project that he undertook together with Bård Bratlie, Peter Estdahl, Thomas Rimul and KORK in January 2020. He has also arranged/adapted music of Sibelius, Grieg, Sæverud, Clash, Burt Bacharach, Javid Afsari Rad and Harpreet Bansal.

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