Chorale was written particularly for SCENATET by one of the ensemble’s recurring collaborators, the Danish composer Christian Winther Christensen – a boundary pushing composer for whom the history of Western classical music is not simply an artifact of the past to be admired from a distance, but rather an ever-evolving tradition that needs to be constantly reckoned with. Chorale, which was premiered at SPOR Festival in 2017, is an example this: In a surreal piece that blurs the lines between real sound and synthetic reproduction and forces the old into conversation with the new, ghostly quotes from Bach are placed in the midst of jagged soundscapes created by percussively played acoustic- and electric guitars.

“There is an element of theatre in the piece, but the experience is a deeply musical one. Amid all the quiet, there is a sudden ecstasy of fumbling, pedaling, and tapping just before the work’s conclusion after which Ensemble Scenatet’s pianist was allowed to suggest the embedded chorale more keenly than before, which he did with a flourish.”

“SCENATET’s dedication to every aspect of performance is what makes them a superlative new music ensemble. Both the interpretation of the music and the overall visual aesthetic of the performance made for an engaging evening that challenged expectations of the everyday and allowed the audience to extrapolate the extraordinary from the ordinary.”

Performers: My Hellgren (vlc), Vicky Wright (cl), Rowland Sutherland (fl), Matias Seibæk (perc), Fei Nie (pno), Kasia Ziminska (vio), Clara Stensgaard (voc)
Composer: Christian Winther Christensen
Staging and direction: Anna Berit Asp Christensen
Video: Christian Winther Christensen and Anna Berit Asp Christensen
Light design: Maria Pi Houmann
Technical Manager: Mette Hornbek Hansen
Performance images: Marc Fluri

The Creative Europe programme of the European Union, Sounds Now, The Danish Arts Foundation, Augustinus Fonden, KODA Cultur and William Demant Fonden.