Through this project, I look into alternative ways of phrasing that give the composer/musician a physical experience of adding resistance to the breath or body, and I use this mainly in order to create an intensified sense of presence. I work with accoustic music often with a type of intencity that, even when the music is low-key, comes with precise and sharp edges/contours. While I define flow as an even aural continuum, the obruction is a hindrance, whether dramatic or subtle. Phrasing relates to breath, and I find the term relevant as I myself use my voice actively while composing: Even when complexity in fact makes the task impossible, I sing, or at least do a "hum-breathing" through the music. Flow-obstructed phrasing is then what occurs when the breath/body is met with obstacles such as filters/friction, certain types of irregularity, breaks/stops, etc. This may involve how a sound/resonance is damped/stopped (from sound to silence), and how one instrument/voice must work to efficiently get from one sound to a markedly different one – in one breath, stroke or movement (legato), f.ex. while keeping the same pitch. It may also include phrases with sudden changes in dynamics/spatialization, certain types of rhythms etc.
Experience and challenges with similar musical approaches convinced me that more was to be explored, and I furthermore believe that the compositional ideas of flow-obstructed phrasing may be transferred to other more visually corporeal art fields: The focus on breath/body necessarily made it natural to include movement and theatricality, in which I do in 2–3 of the 5 project compositions. Obstruction might represent a play with expectations, even a way of creating material, and I am fascinated by flow-obstruction balancing between something seemingly mechanical/non-human, and the corporeal-human. More importantly, I experience that the bodily element sharpens the senses, and one hypothesis is that flow-obstructed phrasing can lead to a powerful intimacy, potentially also a togetherness in listening.
Øyvind Mæland: The Norwegian composer Øyvind Mæland (NO) studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music with Olav Anton Thommessen, Ivar Frounberg and Henrik Hellstenius, and has also participated in several masterclasses with composers such as Aperghis, Furrer, Billone, Ferneyhough, K. Lang and Czernowin.
He often writes for voice and for ensembles, and he has worked with musicians and ensembles such as Håkon Austbø, Marco Fusi, Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen, Jennifer Torrence, Stine Motland, Sanae Yoshida, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Pinquins, Alpaca Trio, Oslo String Quartet, Kairos Quartett, Uusinta, Aksiom, Bit20, Telemark Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Ernst, Bodø Sinfonietta, Oslo Sinfonietta and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. His music has been performed several times at festivals such as Ultima, Borealis, Only Connect, Oslo International Chamber Music Festival, Time of Music Festival Vitassari and Silence Festival (Finland), Darmstadt Ferienkurse, Sommer im Stuttgart, Musikthetatertage Wien, etc.
He has written several music theatre works, including the full-scale opera Ad undas – Solaris Korrigert (based on Øyvind Rimbereids poem Solaris Korrigert", which was staged at the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet in 2013. A number of Mæland's works have been recorded on the labels of Lawo, Fabra and Geiger."
Apart from giving an introduction to my project, I will reflect on in what ways the project has developed during the fellowship period. Despite the project having entered the final stage, at least formally, I also wish to discuss where the project could further develop for an even more fruitful outcome, whether it would be within the fellowship period, or possibly for other future projects.