Link to streaming platforms: https://orcd.co/nordicbroken
Release: April 8, 2022, featuring Messiaen Quartet Copenhagen:
– Viktor Wennesz, clarinet
– Malin William-Olsson, violin
– Carl-Oscar Østerlind, cello
– Kristoffer Hyldig, klaver
Commissioned by and dedicated to Messiaen Quartet Copenhagen
The music is composed with support from the Danish Arts Foundation
The release is supported by Koda Culture
World premiere: April 12, 2020, by Messiaen Quartet Copenhagen, at MillFactory Studios, Copenhagen NV, Denmark
Available in two versions: one with live electronics (MaxMSP), another is acoustic
See the online score (MaxMSP version): https://edition-s.dk/music/ejnar-kanding/nordic-broken
Nordic Broken for clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and live electronics (MaxMSP) is in three movements. Broken as nature can break ground, rock, and tree. Broken as the unavoidable decay, a prerequisite for new life. Broken as the mind can be burdened with grief. To be broken, that is, to be humble, for example, towards the beauty of nature.
Nordic Broken (2020, 19 min.) is conceived in a larger work cycle, The Nordic Series, including Nordic Fragments (2021, 23.30 min.) and Nordic Extraction (2021, 29 min.). They have in common the use of the piano and live electronics and are inspired by life in Scandinavia. The work series itself is characterized by music with Nordic moods. It is the dawning morning that looms hopefully in the east. And the melancholy dusk when the sun colors the northern sky in red-orange colors. Spring and Autumn with morning and evening shadows reminiscent of the elasticity of life. The ecstatic bright summer nights, and the pensive long winter evenings. Morning mist over the field bug, the calm glitter of the water in the moonlight. The powerful greenery of spring, the explosion of Autumn in diverse colors, the bright light of winter, and the long warm evenings of Summer.
Nordic Broken is dedicated to and commissioned by Messiaen Quartet Copenhagen. Written with support from the Danish Arts Foundation.