Undercurrents (2007)
(for violoncello, ensemble and electronics)

Most art is dealing with undercurrents, wether in the artists mind during the process of creation, or in the moment of reception by the audience that seldom (if ever) have the time, possibility or interest in seeing all the layers and parts of the work. I find this concept fascinating since I also work a lot with improvisation - both in my compositions and in different ensembles - where the undercurrents of mind and sound become even more important. In this piece I have tried to make some of these underlaying aspects clear for myself. The undercurrents in this piece includes for example music that is heard only by the musicians (before or during the piece) and that they react to in different ways. In other parts the currents are the different ways sound flows through the ensemble - one instrument can control the amount of amplification of another which in it's turn is sent to affect a third instrument. The conscious work with undercurrents also includes the compositional process, where sometimes an entire section is built around an idea or another piece of music which is then taken away completely. In my music a lot of the underlaying inspiration comes from other genres - traditional Swedish folk musik, rock music of different kinds, improvised music - as well as from the classical and contemporary tradition. All of this is present in this piece as well, both in some of the undercurrents I described earlier and sometimes in the actual sound of the piece.