The identity of the phrase

The musical parameters examined in the project include dynamics, pitch length, leading, intonation, rhythm, tempo, pauses. Awareness of these will strengthen a musical expression in thematic presentation and give any phrase a strong identity - and it will generate a 'language' that provides a common direction in the interplay.

The core of the project is thirteen short duets composed by Mydtskov and Nordal. The pieces are composed based on different principles and dogmas, so that they appear in their basic form as a kind of neutral music that is not carried by specific musical traditions and expressions.

All duets are recorded by Nordal and Mydtskov themselves on baritone guitar and baritone saxophone respectively. The choice of instrumentation is to get a firmly defined framework that is the same for all pieces and not to be controlled by too many predefined musical references.
The compositions are deliberately created neutral - meaning that they are all written from different compositional principles without being guided by emotional, idiomatic or traditional choices. This leaves it up to the individual musician to give the music identity by making different choices around issues such as dynamics, tempo and phrasing. It is therefore important that the sheet music also appears neutral, so that the musicians who play it can make their own choices about musical identity based on the above parameters.

This will be of great importance when the pieces are recorded by two other duos with musical starting points that differ from Mydtskov and Nordals. These are the two classical clarinetists Rene Højlund from Odense Symphony Orchestra and Ron Chen Zion from Esbjerg Ensemble, and folk music violinist Harald Haugaard and cellist Kirstine Elise Pedersen. The two duos will receive the sheet music in a completely neutral form, i.e. without tempo indication and without indication of any of the above musical parameters. It will be up to the duos themselves to make a number of choices that give the music an identity that will be characterized by individual perceptions and references.
The cornerstone of the project is precisely that the individual musicians add their own distinctive characteristics to the music based on different musical backgrounds and traditions and that this is documented in recordings and in writing based on conversations we have with the musicians afterwards.

In connection with these recordings, the two duos are interviewed about their choices and reflections on the individual pieces of music, which forms the basis for comparative analysis of the different recordings of the different pieces.

Read about and listen to the project results here:

Publication: Identity of the phrase