Echoes from the Periphery

Cikada’s concert at Periferien invites listeners into a landscape where musical boundaries dissolve, and textures, resonance, and shadow-like sonorities come to the forefront. The program unfolds as a dialogue between composers who, in different ways, challenge the traditional notions of timbre, form, and musical perception.

Programme: José M. Sánchez-Verdú: Qasid II (2000-01)

Laurence Crane: Sparling (1992)

James Dillon: Todesengel (1996)

Ruben Sverre Gjertsen: Leftovers (2001/2006)

Salvatore Sciarrino: Canzona di ringraziamento (1985)

Asbjørn Schaathun: Mirage – London 1985 (2017)

Bent Sørensen: Schattenlinie (2010)

José M. Sánchez-Verdú’s Qasid II draws inspiration from Arabic poetry, weaving an intricate tapestry of microtonal colors and flowing gestures. In contrast, Laurence Crane’s Sparling offers a minimal yet deeply expressive language, where simple harmonies and repetitions create a sense of meditative stillness.

James Dillon’s Todesengel—a tour de force of intensity and contrast—plunges into dramatic, almost theatrical sonic realms, while Ruben Sverre Gjertsen’s Leftovers builds a fragmented, shifting texture that blurs the line between structure and improvisation.

Salvatore Sciarrino’s Canzona di ringraziamento exemplifies his signature approach to musical whispering—where near-silent gestures and fragile sounds gain an almost hypnotic power. Asbjørn Schaathun’s Mirage – London 1985explores spectral illusions of sound, with layered textures forming a constantly shifting sonic mirage. The evening concludes with Bent Sørensen’s Schattenlinie, a work that lingers in the space between memory and disappearance, where delicate figures emerge and dissolve like shadows.

Through these works, Cikada delves into music that exists at the periphery—both of sound itself and of our perception—creating an immersive and introspective listening experience.