The day has finally arrived! We will be performing an exciting program on the first night of the String Theories festival presented by the String Orchestra of Brooklyn (SOB)! It is TONIGHT at Roulette @ 8 PM. We will be playing with the SOB on Cage's '23' and then doing our own set with music by Robert Honstein, Nicholas DeMaison, Peter Kramer, Fjóla Evans, and today's highlighted composer, Kristofer Svensson! Kristofer wrote us a beautiful piece that we will be premiering tonight called Den intimitet sons finns i smultron. He told us not to explain the title, so if you are interested in the Swedish translation pop on over to the handy-dandy Google translate. Now get to know Kristofer a bit, and then come hear his piece (and many others) tonight!
What is something you would like the audience to know about your piece?
Den intimitet som finns i smultron is part of a series of pieces that all somehow have summer as their subjects, at least as far as the titles go (other pieces have names such as Im Sommerluft and I denna ljuva sommartid). "Smultron" in the title is Swedish for Fragaria vesca, which of course is a typical summer seasonal marker. For me, these pieces have a kind of subdued monochrome quality that I associate with summer.
What was your inspiration/mind set when writing your piece?
I started the piece very influenced by the experiences of working on the piece Ett hav av rör which had just been performed at the time. It introduced me to some new, purely musical concerns that I wanted to continue to think about with Den intimitet som finns i smultron.
Do you have any non-music related traditions that you do to get your creativity flowing?
Sweden has a strong tradition of "fika" that I appreciate in this regard. I have been described as a "fika-first" composer.
What is your favorite car/travel snack?
Anything that does not leave any residue or waste (such as plastic wrappers or peels) is good for making me feel free, especially here in Japan where rubbish bins are so notable scarce. A surprising, new, exotic fruit would be ideal, otherwise an apple will do.
If you had to live the rest of your life without cheese or chocolate which would you choose?
I already lead a happy cheese-free existence, so I don't see why that would be such a conundrum.
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Check out more of Kristofer's music on his soundcloud!
Also, read more about the joyous tradition of fika.