Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.06.2019, Page 31

Music 31The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 10— 2019
Album
Listen on Bedroom Community's
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Icelandic composer Valgeir Sig-
urðsson picked up an award at the
International Composer’s Confer-
ence in Argentina earlier this year
for “Dust”—a striking three-part
work written for violinist Daniel
Pioro, and part of Daniel’s 2018
Bedroom Community album of the
same name. “We set out to make
an EP of Daniel’s existing reper-
toire, but quickly formed a musical
and personal connection that
demanded a deeper collaboration,”
says Valgeir. “‘Dust’—in its three
continuous movements—was born
from this place; from data collect-
ing dust on my hard drive, into
Daniel’s musical fluidity that flows
off his fingers like an avalanche, or
a stream that has carved its path
over centuries.” Here’s what Daniel
has to say of the album.

Dust
This work that began life as a bed
of electronic sound and layers of
improvised violin playing, pulled
around, re-shaped, and impro-
vised over once again. Starting
off sparsely, the violin sound and
electronics thicken, following
each other through moments of
violence, struggle and deep peace.
The score makes the most of the
raw, unpolished, immediate sound
of the strings, and of the air, and
impurities created by the bow—
sounds that are very important to
both Valgeir and me.

Elsewhere
A piece for violin and reverb, com-
posed for me by Edmund Finnis.
Cyclical patterns of sound move in
and out of focus, as if approaching
from a distance before receding
into haze. The tone of the violin
is transformed from white noise
into glistening harmonics and
back again, forming arcs. Lightly
amplified reverb is used to extend
the sounding space that the music
inhabits. Our perspective on the
music is altered. What we hear is
simultaneously in the room and
seemingly elsewhere.

Biber’s Passacaglia
One of the first surviving pieces
for unaccompanied violin, this
piece is built over a repeating bass
theme of four descending notes,
whose constant presence symbol-
ises the unending watchfulness
of the Guardian Angel. There is a
great fragility in this work—mo-
ments of sparse textures, glee,
intensity, wandering—yet always
underpinned by those four notes.
For me, this piece calls to mind a
life cycle. No matter what hap-
pens—the tempestuous details,
the miserable moments and those
of absolute joy—life flows on.
Dark Sky Community
A piece for violin, voices and elec-
tronics written for me by Oliver
Coates. Connected to a larger work
‘Shorelines’ for quartet and tape,
Dark Sky Community invokes the
purity of light on the island of
Sark. The violin part is one of still-
ness and simplicity, interspersed
with shimmering electronic tex-
tures and a choral line that brings
to mind far older times. This piece
is another place, far away, yet visi-
ble and clear.

The Lark Ascending
Written by Vaughan Williams, this
piece is approached anew in this
recording. The original piano part,
arranged for organ, cello and viola
da gamba, merges seamlessly with
the violin line, drawing particu-
lar attention to the fragility and
ancient world sound of the origi-
nal score. There is an alchemy in
this combination of instruments.
The way that the cello and viola
da gamba entwine and clash is a
particular beauty to me, and the
organ keeps everything rooted,
present, in a way that allows the
violin to soar, glide and sing, like
the lark in George Meredith’s orig-
inal poem of the same name.

TRACK BY TRACK
Daniel Pioro's
'Dust'
This ambitious, striking, award-winning album
features compositions by Valgeir Sigurðsson
Words: Daniel Pioro, Valgeir Sigurðsson and John Rogers Photo: Blair Alexander
gpv.is/music
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AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
2019