Double Sided Trinket
Program Note
It is music of blurry clarity and stilted, ragged rhythm. The solo parts are constructed by mental labor; thinked up, particularly in the meaning of creating a double sided object of varying quality. The strokes and gestures are presented in pairs, which Thorsson likens to seeing two versions in different colors of a painting with the same subject. Similarly, it’s a work consisting of two instruments never actually connected, but intended to be listened to as a complementary pair close together — when taken together, they are eventually illuminating each other and hopefully comprising a distinct piece from the individual parts.
As the title vaguely suggests, the piece contains of two parts. The first part is based on a simple-layered process moving from small decorative perforated lines to more coherent lines in a polyphonic weave in cheap colors. The second part utilises the proportional relationships for the division of rhythmic motifs that generate the larger lines of the first part in a more local way. Additionally, the first part has a simple but clear formal direction while the second wanders around, gets stuck, tries to gain new momentum but fails. In this state, the piece at last finally stops!
trinket
noun [ C ]
UK /ˈtrɪŋ.kɪt/ US /ˈtrɪŋ.kɪt/
a small decorative object, or a piece of jewellery that is cheap or of low quality
Short Bio Attached
Stefan Thorsson (b. 1968) is a contemporary Swedish composer of classical music, increasingly regarded as one of the composers of his generation. Thorsson is perhaps best known for his avant-garde musical style; some, if not most, of his works could be considered neoclassical and modernist. Using traditional tonal and modal techniques, Thorsson creates an ordinary tapestry of dramatic and emotional textures, qualities which Thorsson suggests are sometimes sacrificed in contemporary music. ”I do not write original music. My music is a version of what already exists,” Thorsson has said.