Textures & Mosaics II

Textures & Mosaics, volume II for string quartet and live electronics (MaxMSP), 2013-2018, duration: 34′
Link to streaming platforms: https://orcd.co/texturesandmosaics2

Release: August 27, 2021, featuring American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME)
Commissioned by and dedicated to ACME
The music is composed with support from the Danish Arts Foundation
Painting at cover by Nes Lerpa
Recorded in Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, May 2019
Production, mix, and master by Ejnar Kanding
See the online score: https://edition-s.dk/music/ejnar-kanding/textures-mosaics-vol-2

Textures & Mosaics II is a work series of independent pieces of varying formation which when performed together constitute a coherent entity. The first, third, and fifth movements are composed for four strings titled Obscure Transparence 1-3 (aka String Quartet No. 5), while the second movement is a trio for violin, viola, and cello, and the fourth movement is a duo for viola (or violin) and cello titled Sensitive Shades 1-2.

Mosaico 2 – Obscure Transparence 1 (2013) – string quartet & MaxMSP, duration: 11′
Commissioned by and dedicated to JACK quartet
Supported by the Danish Arts Foundation
World premiere by JACK quartet at The Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen, November 7, 2013

Texture 2 – Sensitive Shades 1 (2016) – string trio & MaxMSP, duration: 7′
Commissioned by SIGGI quartet and dedicated to ACME quartet
Supported by the Danish Arts Foundation
World premiere at Le Poisson Rouge, NYC, October 6, 2016, by ACME quartet

Texture 3 – Obscure Transparence 2 (2017) – string quartet & MaxMSP, duration: 8′
Commissioned by SONAR Quartett (DE) and dedicated to ACME quartet
Supported by the Danish Arts Foundation
World premiere at Le Poisson Rouge, NYC, May 7, 2019, by ACME quartet

Mosaico 3 – Sensitive Shades 2 (2018) – string duo & MaxMSP, duration: 5′
two versions: for viola and cello, or for violin and cello
World premiere at Admiral Gjeddes Gaard, Holbergsalen, November 17, 2018, by Helianne Blais, violin, and Ida Nørholm, cello

Texture 5 – Obscure Transparence 3 (2016) – string quartet & MaxMSP, duration: 3′
Commissioned by SIGGI quartet (ISL) and dedicated to ACME quartet
Supported by the Danish Arts Foundation
World premiere at Le Poisson Rouge, NYC, October 6, 2016, by ACME quartet

The pieces express a Nordic atmosphere which is underlined in the subtitles Obscure Transparence and Sensitive Shades.

Obscure Transparence refers to the morning fog covering a marsh during sunrise as the sun slowly penetrates and the light is separated into a plentitude of dancing drops. Sensitive Shades can picture the richness of the colours in the sky of a melancholic sunset. The music is progressive uniting electronic and acoustic sound in complex textures, bodily energy, and delicate simplicity. It pushes the boundaries of the beautiful and insists on being static in a way that leans toward the dark ambient music genre. The ambient and the static are explored through complex or multifaceted textures. Every movement focuses on either texture or mosaic in its essence. The texture pieces are characterized by a conjunctive line in a multi-layered structure while the mosaic movements (Mosaico) focus on isolated fragments, appearing in diverse surroundings or merely existing as a purpose on their own.

The structure and idea of Textures and Mosaics, volumes 1 and 2 are similar apart from the instrumentation. As a whole, they constitute a work cycle on ten movements: Texture 1-5 and Mosaico 1-5. The instrumentation has the same structure in both volumes: Volume 1 is for a chamber ensemble: clarinet (Bb, bass), percussion, piano, violin, cello, and live electronics. The first, third, and fifth movement is for a full ensemble, while the second is for a duo, and the fourth a trio. This also applies to the durations, which are 11, 7, 8, 5, and 3 minutes, counting 34 minutes in total for each volume. Any combination of the movements works well for performance. Furthermore Obscure Transparence 1-3 constitute Kanding’s String Quartet No. 5.