No 4 from the Impressions series commissioned by the Van Abbemuseum.
View the original painting here.
Between two worlds. What music exists at the boundary of abstraction and imagery?
Evi Vingerling has chosen a challenging stylistic approach. Her art works are neither total abstractions, nor realistic landscapes with fully recognizable objects and shapes. Her style neatly balances between these two worlds. The delicate middle path is a conscious choice. As Evi Vingerling explains, she wishes to present concrete visual and emotional impressions of the beauty of nature that she willingly collects in her daily life. And yet, the artist prefers to hint at an image she may hold in her mind rather than depicting it directly. She provides a lot of freedom for the viewers to experience and interpret what they see. But how might such a dualism of reality and abstraction be represented in music?
As the base of his artistic response, Sachit Ajmani takes up the challenge of writing a piece that walks the same delicate stylistic path. On one hand, he connects to the linear plant-like texture of the painting with its wavy rising motion by exploring different representations of a “wavy” melodic line. On the other hand, in the same way as Evi Vingerling, he avoids explicit description of objects, staying away from a mere imitation of nature sounds. Instead, he creates a piece with a self-contained dramaturgy and an atmosphere that might indirectly remind of natural imagery. Colourful, contrasting timbres of the marimba and cello, rich rhythmic content, daring contemporary techniques, and intriguing interaction between instruments: these are prominent aspects to consider in Sachit’s auditory reflection.
Text: Asja Zakhareva, Sachit Ajmani
Composer: Sachit Ajmani
Performers: Heiður Lára Bjarnadóttir (cello), Francesco Bellomo (marimba)
Project curation: Asja Zakhareva
Recording: Nader Adabnejad
Recorded at Koninklijke Oude Harmonie van Eijsden.
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