"I wanted to make a situation where an ensemble was actually playing the same instrument"

As the second and final weekend of this year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival approaches, we talk to Simon Steen-Andersen about On&Off on Saturday 26 November, in which Oslo ensemble asamisimasa perform a programme devoted entirely to his works. Part of the strong contingent of Danish composers and musicians at hcmf// 2011, Steen-Andersen’s music makes use of amplification, gear such as whammy pedals and joysticks and a strong visual element to explore aspects of composition, interaction and performance.

hcmf//: How do you approach beginning a new piece?

Simon Steen-Andersen: I used to begin with playing techniques, sounds and textures but now I am working more and more with the overall concept or setting before engaging in the actual composition. I do this partly to give each piece a strong identity and partly to make the conceptual level stronger in order to balance it with the rest of the musical experience.

hcmf//: What concepts or ideas do the pieces performed in On&Off have in common, and in what ways do they differ?

SSA: The pieces on the program are very different and cover a span of eight years, the oldest being from 2003 and the newest from 2011. I would claim there are some core elements and a general attitude that connect all the pieces. And in different ways they are all quite concerned with the physicality of musical performance. But to create a sense of unity in the program I have tried to think of each piece as an element in one big 60-minute piece that appears as a whole, for example by using pieces belonging to the same series as ritornellos between the other pieces.

hcmf//: Tell us a little about one of the pieces, rerendered, which features a pianist assisted by two performers manipulating the strings inside the piano, and video of their actions...

SSA: rerendered is the oldest piece on the program. The idea was, among others, to take chamber music to the next level: Instead of having the ‘chamber’ as the common denominator, where you claim to play together because the sounds eventually meet in the air and in our ears, I wanted to make a situation where an ensemble was actually playing the same instrument, often in concrete cooperation about the production of single sounds. This creates a very intense and intimate performance situation, made even stronger by the extreme amplification of the generally very soft dynamic level. The amplification works as a kind of microscope. The video works as a kind of visual amplification. You could say the goal is to imitate for a large audience the intimate experience you would get standing around and above the piano together with the players.
 

hcmf//: What demands do your pieces make of the performers?

SSA: They demand a lot! Because of the physicality and the alternative playing techniques the musicians really have to get the music into their bodies – they need to make it their own.

hcmf//: When and how did you become interested in incorporating these extended techniques and multimedia aspects into your work?

SSA: I have always been interested in the part of the experience of live music coming from not closing the eyes. The way I use video is mostly as an extension of my work with the physicality and choreographic approach to instrumental playing. But to be honest, my very first impulse to actually work with video myself was a general irritation over all the more or less random visuals that at some point started to accompany concerts. I thought it had to be possible to make integrated and balanced visuals – not as an extra layer but as a musical parameter. And since then it has in some ways almost been taking over my work...

Click here to buy tickets for On&Off on Saturday 26 November.

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