The Earth and the Sea

In English

The Earth and the Sea (2019)
Cello and live electronics

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The Earth and the Sea was written and dedicated to Ida Nørholm as part of the art project Danish Golden Age – World-class art between disasters at the National Gallery of Denmark.

The piece is inspired by Johan Thomas Lundbye’s A Danish Coast, depicting a majestic cliff that fills most of the right side of the painting with a stony beach in the middle and the sea to the left. The sea’s erosion of the cliff is clearly seen, while the cliff’s size and physical appearance are highlighted by two small figures standing next to a horse and a broken horse carriage. For the composer, the painting’s power lies in the encounter with nature’s eternal weathering – an inescapable breakdown of what is, as the foundation of what is to become.

The music fluctuates between two modes across three parts and an extended coda. Throughout the work, the sound of the cello is processed with live electronics, allowing the cellist to perform alongside three to four delayed versions of herself. In the first part, an elongated accelerando is heard, where the cello and speakers eventually align rhythmically. After a shorter middle section, the opening material returns in a varied version. The work concludes with a coda based on the first four chords of Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio in G – minor, Op. 17.

Martin Lohse 2019

In Danish

The Earth and the Sea (2019)
Cello og live-elektronik

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The Earth and the Sea er skrevet til og dedikeret til Ida Nørholm som en del af kunstprojektet Guldalder – Verdenskunst mellem to katastrofer på Statens Museum for Kunst.

Stykket er inspireret af Johan Thomas Lundbyes En dansk kyst, der forestiller en majestætisk klint, der fylder det meste af højre side af maleriet med en stenstrand i midten og havet til venstre. Havets erosion af klinten ses tydeligt, mens klintens størrelse og fysiske fremtoning fremhæves af to små skikkelser, der står ved siden af en hest og en ødelagt hestevogn. For komponisten ligger maleriets kraft i mødet med naturens evige forvitring – en uafvendelig nedbrydning af det som er, som fundament for det som skal blive.

Musikken bølger mellem to tilstande over tre dele samt en længere koda. Gennem hele værket forsinkes celloens lyd i højttalerne, så cellisten spiller sammen med tre til fire forsinkede udgaver af sig selv. I første del høres et langstrakt accelerando, hvor celloen og dens ekkoer til sidst falder rytmisk i hak. Efter en kort midterdel vender musikken tilbage til en varieret udgave af begyndelsen. Værket slutter med en koda baseret på de første fire akkorder i Clara Schumanns Klavertrio i g – mol, Op. 17.

Martin Lohse 2019