O/Modernt Recordings

You might well ask how it is that Josquin, Igor Stravinsky, and Miles Davis ended up on the same album. On a pragmatic level, there was a triple anniversary of passings in 2021: five hundred years since the death of Josquin, fifty since that of Stravinsky, and thirty since the loss of Miles Davis. We brought their seemingly disparate sound worlds together as an expression of the philosophy underlying O/Modernt’s creative impulse.

The basic idea is encapsulated in our name: O/Modernt, which means “Un/Modern” in Swedish, the language of O/Modernt’s birthplace and home. The ambiguous contradiction contained in the name implies the bringing together of old and new music, with the further implication that sound recognises no borders. If we then understand music as a sounding expression, the boundaries drawn to demarcate styles, genres, modalities, times, traditions, and so forth become no more or less real than the lines on an atlas.

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Artists and tracks

Hugo Ticciati violin, director
Nils Landgren trombone 
Gwilym Simcock piano, arranger 
Robert Ikiz percussion 
Jordi Carrasco Hjelm double bass 
Irina Zahharenkova piano 
Christoffer Sundqvist clarinet 
Johannes Marmén arranger 
O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra
 

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1 Josquin des Prez /arr. Johannes Marmén — Ave Maria 3.20
Hugo Ticciati, Annette Walther violin solos | Bryony Cornish-Gibson viola solo
Julian Arp cello solo | O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

2 Miles Davis /arr. Gwilym Simcock — Selim 3.17
Nils Landgren trombone | Gwilym Simcock piano | Robert Mehmet Ikiz percussion
Jordi Carrasco Hjelm double bass | O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

Igor Stravinsky — Three Pieces for String Quartet

3 I. 0.54
4 II. 2.12
5 III. 3.33

Johannes Marmén, Ricky Gore violins | Bryony Cornish-Gibson viola | Sinéad O’Halloran cello

6 Josquin des Prez /arr. Johannes Marmén — Mille regretz 2.28
Nils Landgren trombone | O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

7 Miles Davis /arr. Gwilym Simcock — Sivad 8.54
Julian Arp cello solo | Nils Landgren trombone | Gwilym Simcock piano
Robert Mehmet Ikiz percussion | Jordi Carrasco Hjelm double bass | O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

Igor Stravinsky — Suite de L’Histoire du Soldat

8 I. Marche du Soldat 1.28
9 II. Le Violon du Soldat 2.34
10 III. Petit Concert 2.47
11 IV. Tango — Valse — Ragtime 6.08
12 V. Danse du Diable 1.24

Hugo Ticciati violin | Christoffer Sundqvist clarinet | Irina Zahharenkova piano

13 Josquin des Prez /arr. Johannes Marmén — Une mousque de Biscays 2.01
Nils Landgren trombone | O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

14 Miles Davis /arr. Gwilym Simcock — So What 12.22
Nils Landgren trombone | Gwilym Simcock piano | Robert Mehmet Ikiz percussion
Jordi Carrasco Hjelm double bass | O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

Igor Stravinsky — Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet

15 I. 1.53
16 II. 1.09
17 III. 1.18

Christoffer Sundqvist clarinet

18 Josquin des Prez /arr. Johannes Marmén — La plus des plus 2.31
Hugo Ticciati, Annette Walther violins | Bryony Cornish-Gibson viola | Julian Arp cello

19 Miles Davis /arr. Gwilym Simcock — All Blues 9.47
Nils Landgren trombone | Gwilym Simcock piano | Robert Mehmet Ikiz percussion
Jordi Carrasco Hjelm double bass | O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

From the Ground Up: The Chaconne

Being means ground – ground means being.
— Heidegger

Originating as a sexy South American dance, the chaconne crossed the Atlantic to sixteenth-century Spain, where it acquired a reputation as a dangerous pleasure. Constructed on repeating ground basses, the form’s sinuous flexibility articulated two facets of the modernist urge to self-expression: the boisterous delights of turning the world upside down and the sweet sadness of melancholy introspection.

From the Ground Up: The Chaconne explores the history of the chaconne in Spain and Italy, and its acceptance into high musical culture. In England, it became a chief inspiration for Purcell, while in Germany it triggered the sublime achievement of Bach’s ‘Ciaccona’ from the Partita in D minor for Solo Violin. Also springing from this fertile soil are works by contemporary composers Johannes Marmén and Dušan Bogdanović, and a set of three improvisations – ‘Ground’, ‘Breath’, ‘Being’, featuring the elemental art of overtone singing.. These include the elemental art of overtone singing, performed by Gareth Lubbe, who studied with the Tuvan people of Siberia. Returning to the chaconne’s Renaissance roots, readings from Shakespeare by actor Sam West inspire extempore reflections by beat poet Baba Israel, Purcell’s ground basses furnishing the harmonic groove.

Gramophone Award

The album was released on Signum Classics on 7 June 2019 and was chosen as the Gramophone Concept Album Award winner 2020!

The Award celebrates imaginative A&R, ear-catching programming and, above all, faultless execution, all of which is found in this album in which Ticciati has surrounded himself with instrumentalists ‘so at one with the chaconne repertoire’
— Gramophone

Review by Mark Seow

Sustainability

In an aim to reduce environmental impact, the album has been produced as sustainably as possible. For every disc sold O/Modernt donates to charitable tree initiatives in India, one of the most important forested areas in the world to protect. Forests sustain nature’s diversity, benefit our climate, and support human well-being.

Additionally, spellbinding photographs by artist Serinyà and wildlife photographer Jose Pesquero are included in the booklet. The liner notes trace key motifs from Cervantes and Shakespeare through the album’s diverse tracks, whilst Hugo Ticciati’s introduction considers the importance of breathing as the ground of our being. The booklet also includes British Museum curator Irving Finkel’s reflections on the trumpets of Tutankhamun, heard in the twentieth century after an interval of three and a half thousand years.

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White Light: The Space Between

White Light is the debut album for the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra, led by Hugo Ticciati. At the heart of the album lies a dialectic between inner contemplation and ecstatic joy, a journey within and without. The sonic worlds of Arvo Pärt, John Tavener, Peteris Vasks, The Beatles and India are woven together to invite a sense of reflection, a sense of surprise, a moving in and out, and finally a return to inner peace and silence.

I could compare my music to white light which contains all colours. Only a prism can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener.
— Arvo Pärt

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Sonic Philosophy: Colour and Affect

Twentieth-century classics by Webern, Pärt and Takemitsu paired with new commissions by Johannes Marmén, Charles Economou, Albert Schnelzer and improvisations around a Purcell ground bass.

This disc is a rare pleasure. Music to feed both brain and soul.
—The Arts Desk

Dazzling wide-ranging recital played with captivating sensitivity.
—BBC Music Magazine

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