Scores/Writings | Søren Kjærgaard

Meridiana: Lines toward A Non-local Alchemy – Booklet

Album covers by Torben Ulrich and Søren Kjærgaard.
The project started out in the spring of 2011, at the Meridian Gallery in San Francisco, during SK’s artist residency there. In the following years TU and SK worked together on the project, that looks into the interplay of lines, sonically, textually and graphically, inspired by the different meanings and usages of meridians in Eastern (Daoist-alchemical) and Western (geo-navigational) traditions.
The album, a double LP containing a lengthy booklet and unique graphic covers by SK and TU, was released in October 2014 in a limited edition of 300 units.
Check out the album info here: http://sorenkjaergaard.com/discography/meridiana-lines-toward-a-non-local-alchemy/

Mind Map For Five Players is a 20-minute site-specific composition written for Mønsted Kalkgruber, Denmark – the world’s largest limestone mine. The piece was commissioned by SNYK (New Music Organization, Denmark) and was premiered on September 12th in Mønsted Kalkminer by Maria Laurette-Friis, Thomas Morgan, Torben Snekkestad, Kresten Osgood and Søren Kjærgaard (composer).
The piece interweaves a variety of sonicalities that are inspired by the sounds and silences inside the mines, like dripping water, crumbling rocks, crying bats – all immersed in a dark and heavy humidity. Each performer prepares a set of sounds which is laid out in the graphic score, by choosing ones own path through it. As the piece unfolds, the five players encounter in an ever changing and indeterminate sonic cross field.
Supported by the Danish Arts Foundation.

Commissioned by the Copenhagen Saxophone Quartet. First performance by the Copenhagen Saxophone Quartet on January 27th at “Ny Musik i Birkerød”, Mantziusgården, Denmark.
Supported by the Danish Arts Foundation.

It don’t mean a thing
And it ain’t got that swing
This slight change in a well-known line is the launching point for both the album “Alphabet, Peaceful, Diminished: 29 Proposals from the Towers of Babble” and its linernotes, written by Torben Ulrich & Søren Kjærgaard.
Listen to the album here: http://sorenkjaergaard.com/discography/alphabet-peaceful-diminished-29-proposals-from-the-towers-of-babble/

This is the booklet from the double album “Meridiana: Lines Toward A Non-local Alchemy” by Torben Ulrich and Søren Kjærgaard.
The album looks into the interplay of lines, sonically, textually and graphically, inspired by the different meanings and usages of meridians in Eastern (Daoist-alchemical) and Western (geo-navigational) traditions. And the essay contained in the booklet is a thorough explanation on the many aspects, compositionally, textually and philosophically that were basis for their common research in the years leading up to the album release.
The project was released as 300 copy limited edition double vinyl, with unique art work by SK and TU, including this booklet of liner notes and texts.

Pludselig, Stilhed (Suddenly, Silence) is an article on John Cage, written by S.K. for the Danish magazine Jazz Special (printed in JS edition #130, December 2012 / January 2013) in celebration of Cage’s centennial on September 5th, 2012.