Music Theater / Live Art Theater.
Studies of the Female Breast as a Meaning-Bearing Universe.
Contributors:
Song Circus (ensemble) / Laura Bowler (composer) / Lavinia Murray (playwright) / Kate Lane (designer/scenographer) / Valentina Ceschi (director)
Sebastian Wemmerløv has reviewed Graatarslagjet på scenekunst.no:
«On one hand, it was possible to interpret the piece as descriptive and programmatic, with sounds of the inhospitable wind over the frozen water, the cries of a human or an animal, and the coughing and wheezing of drowning people or ghostly spirits. On the other hand, it could just as easily be perceived as a disinterested nature, completely detached from a descriptive or empathetic human perspective. The sound of the Hardanger fiddle subtly wove itself into the vocal textures with delicate and gentle overtones and harmonics, sensitively played by Britt Pernille Frøholm. Long, delicate, and aching tonal landscapes were occasionally interrupted by subtle yet sometimes forceful vocal gestures.
It was also striking how the relationship between time and timelessness almost dissolved. Densifications and intensifications of textures and gestures, as if something wanted to break through, gave a sense of linear, dramaturgical development over time. At the same time, it also felt as if the piece unfolded outside of time, where the physical and the ethereal, presence and absence, event and non-event coexisted simultaneously in a long, frozen moment.»
Live art theatre.
The project is centring around western society’s unarticulated relationship with the women’s breast, through research about the female breast in literature, art, politics, history, popular culture and through transcriptions of interviews with women who have had cosmetic and medical based breast surgery.
Song Circus (ensemble) / Laura Bowler (komponist) / Lavinia Murray (dramatiker) / Kate Lane (designer / scenograf) / Valentina Ceschi (regissør)
Song Circus are developing a fascinating new project, together with Laura Bowler, Lavinia Murray and Kate Land (UK) and cultural studies researcher Birgitta Haga Gripsrud (NO).
Together we are looking at the (un)articulated breast; through literature, history, art, religion, politics, psychology, popular culture, feminism, and social antropology.
The project will have shape as a music installation / music theatre and will be premièred in autumn 2018.
We just discovered this live recording from our concert at Classical:NEXT this year. Enjoy!
And here our short film Anatomy of Sound:
The video is available in different formats and can be customized for screening. The music is originally recorded and produced in Auro 3D.
Contact for screening: Song Circus / Liv Runesdatter – liv@songcircus.no
Concept & idea: Liv Runesdatter and Maja Friis
Film director: Maja Friis
All sound performed by Song Circus (www.songcircus.no)
Music composed by: Ruben Sverre Gjertsen
Sound production: 2L / Lindberg Lyd (Morten Lindberg and Jørn Simenstad)
Producer: Liv Runesdatter
Cinematographer: Anders Nydam
Visual consultant: Lys og Trolddom / Rasmus Møbius
SONG CIRCUS
Artistic director: Liv Runesdatter
Vocalists: Stine Janvin Motland, Anita Kaasbøll, Liv Runesdatter, Eva Bjerga Haugen and Maria Norseth Garli
Conductor: Jonas Rogne Skartveit
Logo design: Werksemd / Nina Elisabeth Børke
HOORAY!
This time, it’s the Swedish publication Nutida Musik reviewing our album:
SONG CIRCUS IN NUTIDA MUSIK
Nutida Musik has written a very nice article and a great review about Song Circus and our album “Anatomy of Sound” (2L).
Five of five stars in The Scotsman!
“the three ensembles closed with a blisteringly visceral account of the budgeoning dissonances of Louis Andriessen’s notorious De Staat. It proved a fittingly powerful, provocative and confident, internationally focused conclusion to sound’s thrillingly ambitious weekend.”
http://www.scotsman.com/…/music-review-sound-festival-aberd…
Vi kom over dette konsertopptaket i dag, fra Song Circus sin konsert under Classical:NEXT i Rotterdam i mai. Vel bekomme!
Og her filmen Anatomy of Sound, som jeg laget sammen med regissør Maja Friis (DK):
The video is available in different formats and can be customized for screening.
The music is originally recorded and produced in Auro 3D.
Contact for screening: Song Circus / Liv Runesdatter – liv@songcircus.no
Concept & idea: Liv Runesdatter and Maja Friis
Film director: Maja Friis
All sound performed by Song Circus (www.songcircus.no)
Music composed by: Ruben Sverre Gjertsen
Sound production: 2L / Lindberg Lyd (Morten Lindberg and Jørn Simenstad)
Producer: Liv Runesdatter
Cinematographer: Anders Nydam
Visual consultant: Lys og Trolddom / Rasmus Møbius
SONG CIRCUS
Artistic director: Liv Runesdatter
Vocalists: Stine Janvin Motland, Anita Kaasbøll, Liv Runesdatter, Eva Bjerga Haugen and Maria Norseth Garli
Conductor: Jonas Rogne Skartveit
Logo design: Werksemd / Nina Elisabeth Børke
FREEDOM O(R) SPEECH
I Solisti del Vento, Red Note Ensemble, Song Circus
Actor: Jan Decleir and Simon Callow
Conductor: Etienne Siebens
fossite
Angela Merkel is a Wagner enthusiast, Barack Obama listens to Bob Dylan and Vladimir Putin enjoys Russian folk music. Still sounds are seldomly a point of concern for politicians. But if choirs can topple a government and symphonies can discourage an army, then music is more than purely pleasure. In ancient China the first emperor of a new dynasty determined which pitch was in harmony with the cosmos. And in his ‘Republic’ Plato regarded only Phrygian and Doric scales to be politically correct: all others threatened the ideal civilisation.
Dutch composer Louis Andriessen took Plato’s text as the initial concept for a cantata which forms a fist against rigid forms of government with energetic rhythms and recalcitrant chords. Andriessen’s ‘De Staat’ (The Republic) is both a accusation against the soulless and suffocating totalitarianism which Plato defends and a reflection on his musical convictions. Andriessen seems to say with his explosive minimalism: everything a composer puts to paper is filled with political, social or religious meaning.
Thereof Mauricio Kagel was also convinced. Everything this Argentinian German composed is a politically tinged mockery of musical history. In ‘Der Tribune’ (The Tribune) – an audio play for political orator, marching sounds and speakerphone – Kagel twists Andriessen’s rhythmical tightness to a virtuously absurdist monologue, soaked with comical rage and disdainful indignation. Demagogy, misleading the people and egotripping are merged with marching band music with oom-pah-pah coppers and tickling woods.
We place both these analyses of the political system – one razor sharp, the other viciously joyful – right next to each other. A new text by writer Dimitri Verhulst to Kagel’s music hurrays the dawn of a new political age with malicious merriment: ‘The future beckons, the sky is clearing and even the roses are turning blue. Tomorrow, tomorrow is mine and yours.’
A production of I Solisti del Vento in collaboration with Red Note Ensemble, Song Circus and Sound Festival with concerts Scotland, Belgium and The Netherlands
With the kind support of: Aberdeen City Council’s Made in Aberdeen programme, Creative Scotland National Lottery Funding, Music Norway and Arts Council Norway
Another fantastic album review! This time in the German magazine Bad Alchemy
“An extraordinary work. What impressed me immediately is the immensely detailed and microtonal spectrum. A world full of nuances and small gestures that make up one giant musical construction in twelve movements. One can dwell endlessly in this strange world. Complex, and above all utterly beautiful.”
http://www.vitalweekly.net/1059.html
«A simply unique performance by Song Circus on this album, “Anatomy of Sound”. Years of preparation is presented to us this incredible piece, and in such an exemplary manner. This piece requires an incredible amount of these five vocalists. There is alternately sung and spoken, but the human voice is also used by all other means, literally as an instrument. From whisper soft to icy raw and between all possible nuances, an unreal diverse spectrum of tone colours. A whole fairytale; poetic, terrifying and ghostly time. As a musical poem in which each note will be extremely detailed in the spotlight. Gjertsen’s music sounds remarkably transparent, and his musical language very detailed and full of nuances. This is music that begs to be listened extremely concentrated. Only then his world reveals itself fully…»
Listen to the music: http://phonofile.link/anatomy-of-sound
Hybrid SACD and Pure Audio Blu-ray: https://shop.klicktrack.com/2l/1001457
I am the curator of Sound of a Cage, a triennial is build up around the legacy of John Cage and his fellows. SOAC combines art, music, design, performance, workshops, lectures and topical discussions. This third edition of Sound of a Cage set focus on sound poetry.
Sound poetry is an artistic form bridging literary and musical composition, in which the phonetic aspects of human speech are foregrounded instead of more conventional semantic and syntactic values; “verse without words”.
– Wikipedia
Vocal excerpts from ANATOMY OF SOUND by Song Circus and 2L.
http://phonofile.link/vocal-excerpts-anatomy-of-sound
Pure Audio Blu-ray with 9.0 Auro-3D: https://shop.klicktrack.com/2l/1001457
In May, Song Circus participated in Classical:Next, the world’s most important industry gathering for classical music. It was the first time a Norwegian ensemble was selected as one of the six featured showcases. Over the course of three days, we met with around twenty institutions, agencies, production companies, journalists, and ensembles within the classical music industry. A hectic schedule of seminars and meetings, along with our showcase success at DeDoelen, gave us plenty to smile about!
Classical:NEXT om Song Circus:
Norwegian ensemble Song Circus is comprised of five vocalists, and the music they make is thrilling, demanding, and light-years removed from traditional choral music. Thick vocal textures are interwoven with washes of digital sound. A singer’s whisper morphs into a full-throated roar, then yields to near-subliminal mouth percussion. Just as unique, Song Circus’ stage setup surrounds the audience, positioning them within the ensemble so they can act as co-conspirators in the performance.
Under Classical:NEXT presenterte vi også vår splitter nye musikkfilm «Anatomy of Sound»:
Song Circus had an amazing and busy week during Rotterdam in May, attending seminars and meetings, establishing new collaborations, booking concerts and performing a successful showcase concert in deDoelen! Thank you for inviting us Classical:NEXT!
Upsweep-Whistle-Bloop at Nordischer Klang, Greifswald. Concept, visuals and music by Jasmijn Visser and Stine Janvin Motland. Performed and created with Song Circus (Liv Runesdatter, Signe Irene Stangborli Time, Anita Kaasbøll, Eva Bjerga Haugen, Stine Javel), Costumes by Altinstark(Esra Altin, Samy Celler) photos by Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky
Le groupe vocal Song Circus composé de six artistes, Stine Janvin Motland, Maria Norseth Garli, Liv Runesdatter, Anita Kaasbell, Eva Bjerga Haugen et Ronnaug Bakke, est spécialisé dans la musique contemporaine et l’improvisation. Il propose ici deux œuvres, « Landscape With Figures » de Ruben Sverre Gjertsen, sur des textes de Damian Vitanza et James Joyce, puis « Persefone » de Ole-Henrik Moe JR. Ruben Sverre Gjersten a étudié la composition à l’Académie Grieg de Bergen auprès de Morten Eide Pedersen et James Clapperton avant de suivre les Masters classes de notamment Brian Ferneyhough, Klaus Huber, Salvatore Sciarrino, Philippe Hurel. Ole-Henrik Moe JR fit ses études de violon et de composition en Norvège, en France et en Allemagne. Sa rencontre avec Iannis Xenakis, à la Sorbonne à Paris fut, pour lui, déterminante. Comme au temps de la chanteuse et muse de Luciano Berio, Cathy Berberian dans les années soixante, c’est une technique vocale nouvelle que l’on aborde ici, faisant la part belle à la virtuosité. Dans une mise en espace particulière, la musique se déploie avec rigueur et force, laissant l’auditeur à la fois spectateur et acteur d’un univers aux repères déplacés qu’il faut reconsidérer à l’aune d’un partage émotionnel totalement nouveau lui aussi. Avis aux amateurs.
Jean-Jacques Millo
Le groupe vocal Song Circus composé de six artistes, Stine Janvin Motland, Maria Norseth Garli, Liv Runesdatter, Anita Kaasbell, Eva Bjerga Haugen et Ronnaug Bakke, est spécialisé dans la musique contemporaine et l’improvisation. Il propose ici deux œuvres, « Landscape With Figures » de Ruben Sverre Gjertsen, sur des textes de Damian Vitanza et James Joyce, puis « Persefone » de Ole-Henrik Moe JR. Ruben Sverre Gjersten a étudié la composition à l’Académie Grieg de Bergen auprès de Morten Eide Pedersen et James Clapperton avant de suivre les Masters classes de notamment Brian Ferneyhough, Klaus Huber, Salvatore Sciarrino, Philippe Hurel. Ole-Henrik Moe JR fit ses études de violon et de composition en Norvège, en France et en Allemagne. Sa rencontre avec Iannis Xenakis, à la Sorbonne à Paris fut, pour lui, déterminante. Comme au temps de la chanteuse et muse de Luciano Berio, Cathy Berberian dans les années soixante, c’est une technique vocale nouvelle que l’on aborde ici, faisant la part belle à la virtuosité. Dans une mise en espace particulière, la musique se déploie avec rigueur et force, laissant l’auditeur à la fois spectateur et acteur d’un univers aux repères déplacés qu’il faut reconsidérer à l’aune d’un partage émotionnel totalement nouveau lui aussi. Avis aux amateurs.
Jean-Jacques Millo
We are very proud to share with you all that Song Circus is selected as one of six curated showcases at Classical:NEXT in May 2016!
«Norwegian ensemble Song Circus is comprised of five vocalists, and the music they make is thrilling, demanding, and light-years removed from traditional choral music. ‘Anatomy of Sound’ showcases the work of two composers, Ruben Sverre Gjertsen and Ole-Henrik Moe. Their pieces are jangled and nervous. Thick vocal textures are interwoven with washes of digital sound. A singer’s whisper morphs into a full-throated roar, then yields to near-subliminal mouth percussion. Just as unique, Song Circus’ stage setup surrounds the audience, positioning them within the ensemble so they can act as co-conspirators in the performance.»
http://www.classicalnext.com/program/showcases/live_showcases
The Song Circus album «Anatomy of Sound», with music by Ruben Sverre Gjertsen and Ole-Henrik Moe is nominated Spellemann 2015 (Norwegian Grammy). We are so proud and honored.
http://phonofile.link/anatomy-of-sound
I have been working on a new art project: «Transit», a music installation with Song Circus and a group of untrained voices by refugees and immigrants from nine different countries.
Text by Confucius and Mansur Rajih (Jemen/Norway). Guest soloist: Khaled Habeeb (oud).
In the first week of Desember we did eight performances in Rogaland, Western Norway. We have made new friends, and we have been moved by individuals´ strength and bravery. I have witnessed how people contribute to help the refugees who arrive the city, and I have met skepticism.
يبقى
ومن ليس اصيلا يتهاوى
ستجرفه الريح بعيدا
عن مجرى الثورة
والوطن المتجدد دوما في التأصيل
طريقك يا وطني
درب الحرية
هذا الدرب طويل
In collaboration with Johannes Læringssenter. Supported by Rogaland Fylkeskommune, Stavanger Kommune, Musikernes Konsertfond (MFO Rogaland) and Arts Council Norway.
«Through minutiae explorations into the very microlevels of sound anatomy, through vocal investigations into, as well as the activation of, spatial premises and through the discovery of timbral qualities of objects, Song Circus masters an unusual audial vocabulary that expands the idea of what music can be.»
We are happy and proud to present the newly released album Anatomy of Sound.
Listen here: http://phonofile.link/anatomy-of-sound
The album marks the first release from the contemporary vocal chamber ensemble and a first time collaboration with the multiple Grammy-nominee Lindberg Lyd. Delve into minutiae explorations of the very microlevels of sound anatomy, through vocal investigations that expands the idea of what music can be!
If you have access to a home cinema or audio surround system, we invite you to a fascinating three dimensional soundscape. Anatomy of Sound is available on Blu-ray and hybrid SACD, recorded, produced and released by Lindberg Lyd /2L.
«An unforgettable experience. Rich and strange. As audience I experienced being in a terrain, from a time when listening to the environment was essential for survival. To be reminded of this, not only intellectually but physically and spatially, is rare. I let myself run and seduce and enjoy a contemporary art experience, and was awakened by an ancient vigilance. Strange and exceptional»
Disc 1
Hybrid SACD
MCH 5.0 DSD
Stereo DSD
Disc 2
Pure Audio Blu-ray
DTS HD MA 192kHz/24 bit 5.0
Auro-3D 96kHz/24 bit 9.0
LPCM 192kHz/24 bit STEREO
mShuttle: stereo FLAC 96kHz + MP3
«Through minutiae explorations into the very microlevels of sound anatomy, through vocal investigations into, as well as the activation of, spatial premises and through the discovery of timbral qualities of objects, Song Circus masters an unusual audial vocabulary that expands the idea of what music can be.»
We are proud of our album!
Listen here: http://phonofile.link/anatomy-of-sound
We highly recommend purchasing the physical release. If you have a home theater with surround sound, you can immerse yourself in a fascinating three-dimensional soundscape. The album has been released in eight, four, and two sound channels, recorded, produced, and released by Lindberg Lyd / 2L, and by Northern Europe’s undisputed leader in surround sound, Morten Lindberg.
«An unforgettable experience. Rich and strange. As audience I experienced being in a terrain, from a time when listening to the environment was essential for survival. To be reminded of this, not only intellectually but physically and spatially, is rare. I let myself run and seduce and enjoy a contemporary art experience, and was awakened by an ancient vigilance. Strange and exceptional»
Anatomy of Sound er innspilt i Uranienborg Kirke, av Lindberg Lyd i 9.0 Auro-3D.
Disc 1
Hybrid SACD
MCH 5.0 DSD
Stereo DSD
Disc 2
Pure Audio Blu-ray
DTS HD MA 192kHz/24 bit 5.0
Auro-3D 96kHz/24 bit 9.0
LPCM 192kHz/24 bit STEREO
mShuttle: stereo FLAC 96kHz + MP3
Utgivelsen er støttet av Norsk Kulturråd, Fond for utøvende kunstnere og Fond for lyd og bilde.
SONG CIRCUS – ANATOMY OF SOUND
26. september kl. 15.30 / 16.45
Dome of Visions, København
http://domeofvisions.dk/dome-of-visions/
Gjennom anatomiske lydstudier og utforskning av vokallyd på mikronivå, har Song Circus tilegnet seg et uvanlig lydvokabular, som utfordrer våre forestillinger om hva musikk kan være.
Plateutgivelsen Anatomy of Sound lanseres under Nordic Music Days, en av Europas ledende samtidsmusikkfestivaler. Anatomy of Sound gis ut i surroundformat på 2L, med Grammy-veteran Morten Lindberg som produsent. Albumet presenterer ny og ukjent musikk skrevet for og dedikert til ensemblet av Ruben Sverre Gjertsen og Ole Henrik Moe.
I København vil Song Circus fremføre Landscape with figures IIa.
Mennestestemmen er en sentral del av den totale instrumentpaletten i prosjektet, og store deler av musikken er utarbeidet i et samarbeid mellom ensemblet og komponisten. Verket har delvis åpen form, musikken er særdeles detaljert og komplekst notert og forutsetter stor vokalteknisk og musikalsk virtousitet. Komposisjonen tøyer grensene for mikrotonal presisjon, og klanglig og vokal fleksibilitet. Landscape with figures IIa er komponert for framførelse i 8 eller 16 lydkanaler. Vokalistene er plassert blant publikum, og elektroakustisk lyd sendes rundt i rommet via et stort høyttaleroppsett. Sammen skaper det hele en tredimensjonelt lydterreng som både fascinerer og overrasker.
SONG CIRCUS – ANATOMY OF SOUND
September 26th 15.30 / 16.45
Dome of Visions, Copenhagen
http://domeofvisions.dk/dome-of-visions/
The album Anatomy of Sound will be released at Song Circus´ concerts during Nordic Music Days in Copenhagen, one of the leading European festivals for contemporary music. Song Circus will perform Landscape with Figures by Ruben Sverre Gjertsen.
Song Circus has collaborated with Ruben Sverre Gjertsen on the development of his project Landscape with Figures since 2011. The human voice is a central part of the instrumental palette of this project and much of the music is the result of the joint efforts of the ensemble and the composer. Landscape with Figures is partially open in its form; the music is tremendously detailed and intricately notated and requires considerable musical and vocal technique and virtuosity. The composition stretches the limits of tonal flexibility and microtonal precision. The vocalists are positioned among the audience, and electroacoustic sounds are conveyed via a large loudspeaker setup that fills the room and creates a three-dimensional terrain.
Song Circus had a particularly wonderful experience meeting the people at Funkishuset. In the first issue of Asfalt 2015, journalist Marius Harlem describes his experience of what happened that day:
STREET MAGAZINE ASFALT, Issue 1, 2015:
«A long low tone is heard from the hallway. Then another. The slow multi-voiced song sneaks into the living room, where it is met with quiet conversation. Someone grabs a waffle. Another man opens the newspaper. ‘What are you doing this weekend?’
He tries to take the room back from the music with a bit of everyday chatter in a normal tone. No one shushes him, but the responses are soft-spoken. The voices in the hallway insist on not being reduced to background music. Two new guests arrive. They navigate between the four singers in the hallway and out to the terrace to smoke. When the first part of the song ends, only Jack, Tor, and the staff remain. They clap softly.
Tor says he mostly listens to Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones.
‘And I’ve been to Roskilde, but it wasn’t mostly for the music, if you know what I mean. But this was nice.’
‘I felt completely calm from this,’ says Jack, turning to the ensemble and smiling. ‘Come and sing for me at nine every morning, and I can cut out the Valium.»
Song Circus is recording Ruben Sverre Gjertsen’s ‘Landscape with Figures’ and Ole-Henrik Moe’s ‘Persefone’ in 9.1 Auro-3D. It will be released in Pure Audio Blu-Ray by 2L.
