Maya Bennardo
four strings
released September 16, 2022
About the album:
four strings is the debut solo album of violinist Maya Bennardo. On this album, Bennardo presents two long-form quiet, contemplative pieces for solo violin. In Eva-Maria Houben’s four strings, singularly presented high harmonics are contrasted with silences and long drones on the open strings. In Svensson’s Duk med broderi och bordets kant, the same harmonics are combined with stopped tones tuned in just intonation, to allow for brief melodic and harmonic shapes to coalesce. The pieces are thematically unified not only by their tonalities’ basis in the overtone series but also by their sparse and fragmented breathing patterns in which noise, tone, and silence interact dynamically.
About the performer:
Violinist, improviser, and composer Maya Bennardo has been a driving force in the New York City new music scene for over a decade and is currently based between Brooklyn, NY and Stockholm, SE. In 2012, she co-founded the violin/viola duo andPlay, known for their close collaborative style and adventurous commissioning and programming. Bennardo is also a core member of the highly sought-after contemporary music ensemble, Mivos Quartet. To each project, Bennardo brings an intense focus and virtuosic control over the most subtle timbral nuances and microtonal inflections, with an acute sensitivity to shaping the musical worlds each project brings forth. 'Four strings' is a continuation of Bennardo’s work exploring sonic fragility and temporal stasis on the violin. (www.mayabennardo.com)
About the composers:
Eva-Maria Houben (born 1955, she/her) is a German composer, performer, and author. As an organist, Houben has been performing for more than 30 years. As a composer, Houben is related to the wandelweiser-group and her compositions are published by edition wandelweiser. Her list of compositions includes works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, orchestras, and choirs (www.wandelweiser.de). As a writer, Houben publishes on subjects of contemporary music, contemporary composers, and traditional music listened to with ‘new ears’ (Steiner, Stuttgart; PFAU, Saarbrücken; Edition Howeg, Zürich; bis-label, Oldenburg; Edition Wandelweiser, Haan; transcript, Bielefeld).
Kristofer Svensson (born 1990, they/them) is a Swedish composer and performer. As a kacapi musician, Svensson has been developing a practice of justly tuned, modal improvisation as both a solo performer as well as in ensemble settings. In 2020, Svensson’s debut kacapi album ‘Andra Segel’ was released on the kuyin label. In 2022, a trio with Maya Bennardo and Erik Blennow Calälv will be released on the thanatosis label. As a composer, Svensson has written justly-tuned pieces for groups such as Contemporaneous, ensemble mise-en, Quatuor Bozzini, andPlay, Mats Persson & Kristine Scholz, Musica Vitae, Bennardo/Larson duo, Norbotten NEO, and the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble.
Tracklist:
1. Duk med broderi och bordets kant 21:48
2. four strings 27:01
Credits:
Recorded by Daniel Bengtson in February 2021 at Studio Rymden, Stockholm.
Mixed and mastered by Mike Tierney at Shiny Things Studio in Brooklyn, NY.
Original photograph by Shervin Lainez.
Album design by Kristofer Svensson.
First track title from Lars Olof Loeld’s “Lykta ledsyn”.
“Duk med broderi och bordets kant” composed by Kristofer Svensson.
“four strings” composed by Eva-Maria Houben.