Description
Duration: 40-50 min
Sympathy (working title) is a new composition by Bendik Giske (NO) in collaboration with instrument builder Úlfur Hansson (IS) commissioned for the 2025 Venice Music Biennale.
Elaborating on a research project and subsequent performance commissioned by Sequences International Art Festival in Reykjavik october 2023, this composition makes use of an array of electromagnetically activated sympathetic strings suspended across the room.
Currently in early development, the compositions elaborates on the saxophone and voice (as performed by Giske) in a physical sound installation with spatial qualities, allowing for resonances to travel throughout the performance space, creating a bespoke sonic environment for both listeners and performer to explore.
Previous research has highlighted both the capabilities and limitations of the sonic extension of the instrument, providing a unique sonic environment to create within - the installation becomes the instrumentation which informes the compositional work.
Pending a more thorough conceptual treatment, this composition is intended as a contemplative space of sympathetic resonance as an appeal for empathic connections in a time of substantial cultural and ideological divisions. Powered by breath, and elaborated upon by an eco-system of sympathetic strings and resonating bodies.