The organ point is a kind of exceptional state in polyphonic church music: a passage in which the bass voice comes to a standstill on a sustained note, slowing down the melodic flow. In other genres, such bass notes are more the norm, and are often referred to as a bourdon or drone. Tony Blomdahl’s Der Wohltemperierte Orgelpunkt is a kind of synthesis of these two diametrically opposed ideas of movement and stillness. Written for hurdy-gurdy, bagpipe and electronics, the work brings the minimalist aesthetics of the drone into contact with ideas from J.S. Bach’s maximalist Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, which is built on the principle that all twelve keys should be represented on equal terms.
Slow-moving sonic processes are also central to the music of Éliane Radigue. Radigue became known as a pioneer of electronic music in the 1960s and ’70s, when she worked with both feedback and analogue synthesizers. During the final two decades of her long life, however, she wrote primarily for acoustic instruments, and when she died in early 2026, she left behind an exceptionally rich catalogue of works. This tribute concert features solo and duo works for viola and percussion, performed by Julia Eckhardt and Enrico Malatesta.
Optræden af Tony Blomdahl, Julia Eckhardt, Enrico Malatesta