The Squid's Ear Magazine


Rasten, Fredrik (Johan Lindvall): Four Parallel Rivers (Edition Wandelweiser Records)

Norwegian composer Fredrik Rasten, a guitarist who himself has recorded pieces by pianist/composer Johan Lindvall, sees Lindvall beautifully perform 15 of his works for solo equal tempered piano, minimal pieces developed under the influence of Debussy and Bartok's Mikrokosmos compositions along with adaptations of his own microtonal/just intonation work.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Johan Lindvall-piano

Fredrik Rasten-composer


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UPC: 4011778039440

Label: Edition Wandelweiser Records
Catalog ID: EWR 2106
Squidco Product Code: 30673

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2021
Country: Germany
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels
Recorded at Studio Paradisio in Oslo, Norway, on January 13th, 2021, by Marcus Forgren.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"These pieces (composed between 2019 and 2020) marks a kind of return to the piano, the first instrument I ever learnt to play, and a reflection of the repertoire that made a special impact on me while learning to play this instrument.

A few of the Debussy preludes were important, and maybe even more so a couple of Bartok's Mikrokosmos pieces.

There is a personal connection between my interpretation of those pieces and the music presented here. For instance, the dogmatism, counter movement in left and right hand; and use of diatonic scales in some of Bartok's pedagogic pieces have been a clear inspiration.

Writing music for the equal tempered piano is also a personal novelty in another respect, as my compositional endeavours almost exclusively have been on microtonal music in extended just intonation. In fact, the three 'murmurations' are 'piano reductions' of pieces in just intonation, originally written for guitars played with electronic bows.

The microtonal dimension is essential and more concretely so in the piece 'aerodynamic', where the piano itself avoids intervals like thirds, sixths and major sevenths, while keeping exclusively to harmonic material that approximates pythagorean tuning, based on just fifths; while a sine wave track plays back notes in just relationships to the harmonic structures of the piano part.

Lastly, I cannot underestimate the importance that the musical and pianistic personality of my friend Johan Lindvall has had on this music."-Fredrik Rasten



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"Johan Lindvall is a Swedish pianist and composer based in Oslo, Norway, born in 1990."

-Squidco 3/25/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Fredrik Rasten, guitarist / improviser / composer "I am a Norwegian guitarist (b. 1988) working in the field of experimental music, both improvised and composed. My main focuses are exploring and utilizing the acoustic possibilities of the steel string guitar, motivated by a fascination for the almost tactile experiences of acoustic phenomena. The last months I have been working extensively with intonation, with an extended concept of consonance as a point of departure, both in solo work and in duos with trumpeter Torstein Lavik Larsen and bass player Jonathan Heilbron. I have also had the lucky opportunity to take lessons in this field with composer and violist Catherine Lamb.

Other music that I am inspired by includes wandelweiser music, traditional british folk and early music."



"Fredrik Rasten works with acoustic guitar and in exploring the possibilities for putting this instrument in new musical contexts. With extensive use of preparations and different non-tempered tunings, he creates warm sounds in gradual development. He also includes subtle use of the voice to make interfering thick timbres and tonalities in combination with the guitar. A goal for the music is to open a room for details that invites the listener inside the musical material in an active and exploring way.

He is also playing composed music, especially related to quiet / Wandelweiser music and Just Intonation music, and has performed pieces by Johan Lindvall, Antoine Beuger and Catherine Lamb."

-Fredrik Rasten Website (http://fredrikrasten.com/)
3/25/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Amaranth 3:25

2. Two Cycles For Johan Lindvall - First Cycle 2:29

3. Second Cycles For Johan Lindvall - First Cycle 5:55

4. Pythagorean Sequence I 1:18

5. Lunation 4:57

6. Four Parallel Rivers 12:34

7. Pythagorean Sequence II 1:15

8. Murmurations I - III (Version For Solo Piano) - I 2:54

9. Murmurations I - III (Version For Solo Piano) - II 4:52

10. Murmurations I - III (Version For Solo Piano) - III 3:17

11. Pythagorean Sequence III 1:17

12. Pendulum 3:33

13. Aerodynamic (For Piano And 13-Limit Just Intonation Sine Wave Track) 11:31

14. All Heart 7:17

15. Suffuse 3:58

Related Categories of Interest:


Compositional Forms
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Piano & Keyboards
Solo Artist Recordings
Ambient & Minimal Music
New in Compositional Music

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Edition Wandelweiser Records.


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