Hildur Guðnadóttir / The International Nothing

The focus of Hildur Guðnadóttir’s music is on the unusual instrument Ómar, with clarinettists Kai Fagaschinski and Michael Thieke experimenting with microtonal structures.

Music, space, time, motion – the interplay of these elements has always held a special fascination for the cellist and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. For some time now she has been working together with instrument maker Hans Jóhannsson on developing a new instrument: Ómar is a kind of surround cello with integrated filter chip, without a body of its own but which can be connected to a wide range of sound-boxes.

In Guðnadóttir’s music, the sound of Ómar, iridescent in ever changing colours, and her voice engage in an intense dialogue. The two clarinettists Kai Fagaschinski and Michael Thieke also conduct a musical colloquy when they present their jointly composed pieces. The vocabularies of two musician figures, each distinctively formulated, combine to form a common musical language that is as puristic as it is complex. The focus of Fagaschinski and Thieke’s research interest is on experimenting with multiphonics and microtonal structures – as with Hildur Guðnadóttir, the aim, then, is to work consciously with the movement of sound in space.

Musikerin / Musiker: Hildur Guðnadóttir
Musikerin / Musiker: Kai Fagaschinski
Musikerin / Musiker: Michael Thieke