Musicatlas
Music
Since 1996, Kanding has concentrated on chamber and solo compositions with the computer as a central tool both in the composition process and in performance. The computer is used to expand the sound of acoustic instruments and as an instrument in its own right, playing programmed sound material. Thus, three instrumental dimensions are present: the performance (acoustic), the response (real-time processed) and the constant (a programmed sound-file). In this structure, controlled sound (the programmed file) is present alongside chaotic sound (the processed instrument).
In Kanding’s music, musical form is often laid out by use of proportions - static and dynamic aspects as well as graphically as well as traditionally notated parts are present simultaneously. The harmonic structures are carefully defined by the relation between intervals, resulting in characteristic colours of dissonance, where one-dimensional major/minor harmonies are avoided in preference of the ambiguous and manifold. In the sphere of rhytm, pulse (a continuum from agressive simplicity to the complexity of polyrhythm and polyprosody) is combined with a kind of non-prosodic material or static planes, and the main focus is on the twilight zone in which it is difficult to determine the possible presence of pulse. However, the most important parameter in Kanding’s music is sound: Intensely, he explores the infinite possibilities and nie erhörte Klänge, made possible by synthetic sound production, manipulating existing sound, transforming noise to simple, well-defined pitches, expanding rich, acoustic sounds by way of repetition and finally by filtering, enlarging, distorting or just delicately colouring sound. Kanding’s aesthetics is permeated by opposites in a stylistically homogeneous sound world: The continuous versus the discontinuous, the static versus the dynamic, simplicity versus complexity, the synchronous versus the non-synchronous and the unambiguous versus the ambiguous and manifold.
Life
Ejnar Kanding (born 1965) is a Danish composer. He studied composition with Ib Nørholm and Ivar Frounberg as well as music theory with Yngve Jan Trede at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, acquiring a Master in both subjects in 1993, and completing the Solo Composition Class with a debut concert in 1996. Furthermore, Kanding has attended seminars and workshops at IRCAM and studied with Lev Koblyakov in Jerusalem. Important performances include Synthese 2001, 31e Festival International des Musiques et Créations électroniques de Bourges; International Computer Music Conference, Cuba 2001; ISCM World Music Days, Hong Kong 2002; The Interactive Arts Performance Series, New York City 2003.
Kanding is artistic director of ensemble Contemporánea, specialising in the performance of electro-acoustic music. The main focus is on a cutting-edge use of the latest digital innovations, realised through multi-media projects, audio-visual concerts, internet presentations, etc. The ensemble has performed in Asia, South America, New York City, France, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland and Scandinavia.