Marta Forsberg - Sjunger För Varandra [Warmer Winters - 2024]" /> |
Split between pieces written for voice and field recordings, Swedish composer Marta Forsberg returns to her native Härnösand for Sjunger För Varandra, originally a commission from the northern Swedish town where the recordings took place. The elegant release is spread over four parts, sandwiched between an intro and outro, coming in at a mere 17 minutes. Without much prior knowledge of the tunnel where the performances were captured, the four central parts appear to have been divided equally between composition and recorded ephemera. It is not immediately clear what significance the tunnel has for Forsberg, but the inclusion of her brother as the sole vocal performer surely speaks to the familial significance of returning home for Sjunger För Varandra, which translates, I am told, to "Singing for Each Other." The gerundive is instructive here, for it places the emphasis on the act or performative dimension of the pieces, rather than hinting at anything like a fixed entity or score. The compositions are polyphonic – written expressly for five male voices – though the individual parts are nearly indistinguishable from one another and their limited tonal range leans heavily toward modes of seriality and repetition. The field recordings in the tunnel are harder to pick out, a mixture of Swedish and English, which I imagine is Marta and her brother, Tomasz, discussing the exact placement of the microphones and performances. What connects these otherwise disparate parts and voices is the echo of the tunnel, functioning as a structural analog to the contour of the mouth and vocal chords. Given the cursory nature of these treatments, the timing is crucial and feels rather abrupt, even for an echo device.
For fans of Forsberg's work, site-specific field recordings, and clever comparisons between architectural and vocal space. There is little else to orient Sjunger För Varandra within established genres, though affinities with earlier works like Max Neuhaus' Times Square, or more contemporary tunnel pieces like Keith Fullerton Whitman's 2003 Dartmouth Street Underpass, feel appropriate.    Colin Lang
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