Quanta features six works by Icelandic composer Einar Torfi Einarsson (b. 1980). As his first solo CD, it is a portrait of a prolific output. Four of these pieces – Tendencies, Quanta, Non-Vanishing Vacuum State and Desiring-Machines – were submitted, in 2012, as part of the composer's Ph.D. portfolio at the University of Huddersfield. All the works on the CD date from this period (2008–12).
Although it might seem unusual for a composer not to draw attention to their most recent work, the decision to focus on pieces spanning a fairly short time frame makes sense in this context. His website and published articles show that Einarsson (or to use the correct Icelandic form of address, Einar) has crafted a body of work underpinned by rigorous philosophical thought. Decisions are reasoned, explained and contextualised; it is no coincidence that the CD presents the works in chronological order of their composition.
The first work, Nine Tensions (2008), is written for 12 musicians, played with precision and intensity by Asko|Schönberg under the direction of Clark Rundell. Conceived as nine short movements, the work unfolds with shimmering, fragile delicacy, moving through an array of textures and timbres without ever feeling like a catalogue of techniques. Brevity conveys a sense of urgency; an assemblage of miniatures is a structural and formal necessity for the realisation of Einar's material. Einar states that his music is not built on pitch organisation or structural form. Instead, he thinks in philosophical and scientific terms, imagining ‘structure as a behaviour or activity which may result in sound’.Footnote 1 However, pitch, as a by-product of the musical conditions that Einar has established, is occasionally striking. Moments such as the opening D♯–C–C♯ figure in movement V, and the unison E heard in the first and last movements, shine as colourful reference points, throwing some of the surrounding noise-based textures into sharper relief.
In Seven Intensions (2008–2009), performed by Ensemble Adapter, the material becomes even more concise – the first and last movements each have a duration of less than 30 seconds. Written for flute, bass clarinet, harp, piano and percussion, the scoring provides space for subtle, barely audible breath sounds, scrapes and wind articulations, frequently interrupted by louder interjections. Here, too, pitch (and implied – or imagined – harmony) at times contributes to a striking creative vision. The work's opening flute and piano figurations reminded me of a distant, denatured fragment of Grisey's Vortex Temporum. The demanding, at times virtuosic woodwind writing is played deftly by Ingólfur Vilhjálmsson (clarinets) and Kristjana Helgadóttir (flutes).
Einar described Tendencies (2009) as a piece arising from an attempt to establish vertical connections through shared sound types, with each movement demonstrating a contrasting difference.Footnote 2 As before, the realisation of this idea leads to a succession of short movements. Unlike the preceding works, there is no percussion; the scoring (oboe, bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, violin and double bass) perhaps facilitates subtle changes in the types of musical material that are presented. Nonetheless, all three of these pieces share a certain family resemblance; the arpeggiation at the start of movement II reminded me of superficially similar material at the start of Tendencies. The short movements capture the vanishing, almost gaseous quality of much of the material, played with precision by Elision, conducted by Manuel Nawri.
Quanta (2010) marks a noticeable change. Einar has described it as a turning point. At the time of writing Quanta, his search for a more unstable musical structure caused him to abandon the multi-movement form in favour of a single span, to allow more interaction between different types of musical.Footnote 3 The work is correspondingly longer than anything heard previously on the CD. Whereas the juxtaposition of contrasting materials points to Einar's earlier works, moments of silence and inactivity now become a crucial element. For the first time, material is able to unfold over much longer durations. Occasionally, the repetition of similar phrases and ideas creates a disconcerting, unsteadying periodicity. Time passes, but the reference points of Einar's earlier works have been subsumed into something larger and more amorphous. Klangforum Wien capture the energy and complexity of the music. Gerald Preinfalk notably brings out the virtuosic qualities of the saxophone writing.
Although much shorter in length, Non-Vanishing Vacuum State (2011) affirms the developments signposted by Quanta. The music follows a single trajectory, ending as suddenly and uncompromisingly as it began. A rich density of mouth-formed articulations, vocal sounds, flutters and scrapes creates an almost linguistic effect, like looking at the faint indentations of words and letters left underneath a sheet of writing paper. There are no moments of silence; it is as though everything has become surface. Einar has described his approach as analogous to wrapping a piece of broken paper around a globe, thereby shifting all the dimensions of his material into the foreground.Footnote 4 Elision's playing exemplifies the sonic result of this process. The density and lack of perspective suggests an almost indeterminate number of instruments, seemingly far more than bass flute, bass clarinet, trumpet and cello.
The final work of the CD, Desiring-Machines (2012), for 24 musicians, continues the journey where Quanta ended. Fragile, shimmering, breathy textures and articulations, akin to those heard in the previous works, are now woven through more sustained sounds, such as very high accordion and low rumbles of indefinite pitch. Unlike some of Einar's earlier pieces, the score has now become a non-linear map, in which the conductor (Susanna Mälkki) is a destabilising factor, as described in Quanta's highly detailed performance instructions. Some groups of players are required to follow the conductor at all times, whereas others follow her only occasionally. The level of superimposed, simultaneously sounding detail is enthralling, conveying a sense of something both infinitely vast and microscopically intimate.
Einar's doctoral thesis was concerned with the idea of non-identity as a compositional principle, and the musicians of Ensemble Intercontemporain seem to achieve this with ease in Desiring-Machines. However, to my ears, some of the most memorable and captivating moments of this CD were heard in the first three pieces. In contrast to the vast, intricate surfaces of the later works, there were moments in Nine Tensions, Seven Intensions and Tendencies that I interpreted as clear statements of a particular musical identity – one that I would like to hear in future works. Nonetheless, whatever direction Einar's music takes in the coming years, this CD suggests that the composer's questioning, philosophical approach will continue to lead to intriguing and unexpected destinations.
The time frame of these works, composed between 2008 and 2012, is indicative of Einar's far-reaching philosophy and creative vision. Stylistic changes between the earlier and later works on this CD point to Einar's evolving musical thought. He freely acknowledges the trajectory of his work in his Ph.D. thesis and prolific writing about music. Here is a composer with a clear voice, who continues to question every sound he imagines.
