STRÅKKVARTETT EKMARK playing Orrr… (video)
”Orrr…” in a version for string quartet (1996/2015)
STÅKKVARTETT EKMARK: Ekaterina Spitsyna – violin; Anna Sundborg-Dodelinger – violin; Jessica Strid – viola; Lisa Ekmark – cello.
Sound & Video: Stefan Klaverdal
Listen on YouTube
Other versions of ”Orrr…”
version for organ (1996/2001) – listen on YouTube
(Carson Cooman playing)
version for piano (1996/2020) – one pianist – listen on YouTube
(Thomas Åberg playing)
version for piano (1996/2019) – two pianists – listen on YouTube
(Karin Hellman Geworkian & Thomas Åberg playing)
Thomas Åberg about his first version for organ:
”’Orrr…’ is a fantasy piece I wrote after a radio interview in 1996. The reporter was very prepared and knew a great deal about my music, even from my early years. He called me three times before the broadcast and begged me to provide him with some material from the 1970s. After I began writing more traditionally in the 1980s, I no longer performed or published my more experimental works from those early years. At first I kept saying ”no” to him, but after three calls, I gave up and gave him a recording of a piece from 1978. Before I gave it to him, I re-recorded it at double speed so that it sounded almost like electronic music. I remember I was very anxious before the broadcast, but when I finally heard it, I thought it came off surprisingly well. Then the idea came to me—what would it sound like if I wrote a piece today (1996) but with just a bit of the more experimental spirit I had when I was younger? The result of this is called ’Orrr…’—since a fantasy piece must also have a fantasy title. But of course ’Orrr…’ has something to do with organ….”
Fun stuff:
The organ version can be performed on two organs by ONE organist!