Emanuel Vigeland’s Mausoleum, June 12, 2015

February 13, 2015

A project which I’m looking forward to with great interest will start in June 2015 at the Emanuel Vigeland’s Mausoleum in Oslo, Norway; three days of making acoustical experiments and recordings, and a public concert on the 12th of June.

The mausoleum of the Emanuel Vigeland’s (1875-1948) Museum is not only known of the 800 sq.m. fresco Vita but also of the unusual and overwhelming acoustics of the room. The particularly (over 20 seconds) long reverberation inside the fascinating surroundings has enthused many musicians and is very inspiring for acoustic experiments. Since the resonance and the reverberation in the sound of kanteles is already quite remarkable, opens this unique room acoustics the whole new range of possibilities. Often the music made in such places is monophonic with slow progression, but since the tuning of the kanteles in the ancient music culture was based on just intonation, I’m keen on trying their response in such reverberant barrel-vaulted room – the resonating layered space created by the musical movement and the long reverberation, inside which the musician can create melodic phrases. This new room acoustics also gives new ideas for using different playing techniques, like the bow, for example.                                                                           The concert on Friday the 12th of June at 7.30 pm will be recorded by Taito Hoffrén/Aania. A CD is planned to be published from the selected material. This project is supported by the Alfred Kordelin Foundation, and the concert is promoted by the Finnish-Norwegian culture institute FINNO.