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        for piano four hands
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        for prepared piano and electronics
  • Home
  • About
  • Concerts
  • Repertoire
  • Gallery
  • Press
  • Selection of works
    • Solo with electronics
      • Susurrant metal, singing rocks
        for violin, objects and electronics
      • Rop, böljande
        for horn and tape
      • While the heart’s heartbeat beats its old song
        for amplified saxophone and tape
      • While she was dreaming
        for amplified violin and electronics
      • Ytor, böljande
        for percussion and loudspeaker
      • Reed, chanting
        for oboe and electronics
    • Duo
      • Sweet Thursday
        for guitar duo
      • Ting and Twine
        for harp and percussion
      • Bells and Tides
        for cello and percussion
      • Gesång
        for mezzo soprano, percussion and electronics
      • Wavering wood, whirling metal
        for harp, percussion and music boxes
    • Ensemble
      • Whispering c(h)ords, quietly falling
        for ensemble
      • Stimme aus der Ferne
        for ensemble
      • Swirls and Shades
        for eight saxophones
      • Trio
        for traditional Korean percussion, piano and violin
      • A swarm came in from the dark
        for violin and ensemble
      • Tinkles, clinks and heavenly metal
        for violin, Paetzold, objects and electronics
      • Paths of Wood and Pearl
        for ensemble
      • Reed, undulating
        for ensemble
      • Backdrifting
        for ensemble
    • Orchestra
      • Whirli(gigue)
        for large symphony orchestra
      • Krusning Skiktning
        for piano and orchestra
    • Music for young musicians
      • Thawing, undulating
        for saxophone, trombone and any six instruments
      • Musik för strängar
        for piano four hands
      • For Ashley
        for prepared piano and electronics

Whispering c(h)ords, quietly falling

for bass clarinet/Bb clarinet, trombone, tuba, percussion, grand piano, violin, viola and cello

The starting point when composing Whispering c(h)ords, quietly falling (2021) was the image of the cord on the spring drum resonating with its body. Inharmonic chords in the wind instruments take shape as the material grows and expands upwards. Finally the music releases; a whirling dance in the upper range of the strings, piano and percussion, until falling back to the low register – quietly.

The commission from UK based Riot Ensemble with financial support from PRS Foundation was the result from winning the ensembles “Call for score 2020”.

Whispering c(h)ords, quietly falling was premiered by Riot Ensemble and conductor Aaron Holloway-Nahum at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in November 2021 and broadcasted by BBC Radio 3.

Durata: ≈ 12′

Score available at Svensk Musik

Excerpt, recording by BBC Radio 3:

http://jennyhettne.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Whispering-chords-excerpt.mp3

Program note (English)

Whispering c(h)ords,
quietly falling (2021)

For bass/Bb clarinet, trombone, tuba, percussion, grand piano, violin, viola and cello.
Commissioned by Riot Ensemble from their 2020 Call for Scores, with financial support from the PRS Foundation.
The starting point when composing Whispering c(h)ords, quietly falling was the image of the cord on the spring drum resonating with its body; an image I find evocative both visually and audibly. In the spring drum, accompanied by the tuba and the extended playing of the piano, the music proceeds with timbral variations around one single note (G). Inharmonic chords take shape, their pitch material deriving from electronic modulations of a clarinet multiphonic. As the material grows and expands upwards, strings are added, almost only playing natural harmonics. The detuned strings create a modified harmonic spectrum. The music whirls around in the upper range of the strings, piano and percussion, until falling back to the low register – quietly.

Press quote

5 against 4, November 29 2021

“…articulated as a tactile, textural drone, gentle but arresting, in a state of continual defocusing and refocusing. Having opened out into a more overtly lyrical language, it subsided back to faint scratches and something akin to a far-off foghorn. Ten minutes of such wonderfully controlled waxing and waning was nowhere near enough.”

– Simon Cummings on Whispering c(h)ords, quietly falling

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