Mathias Halvorsen - On Goldberg Variations (2020)

On their first album together, classical pianist Mathias Halvorsen and contemporary jazz percussionist Jan Martin Gismervik have build a musical world of surprising subtlety and strength. On Goldberg Variations presents a piece rich on ideas and full of creative twists. The two Norwegians have drawn heavily on each others experience, and the end result is a remarkable example of true cross - genre collaboration. Starting from Bach’s set of variations, they have developed their own original music; both close to and at the same time far removed from its source material. The original piece serves as a resource and a tool box rather than as a traditional score.

Halvorsen and Gismervik combine a reductionist approach with poetic and often sensual musical textures. These are developed using filtered sequences on every musical aspect. This brutal use of systems is their prime tool for evoking a sense of being in a foreign world. Here one does not yet understand the logical sequence of things, but can only observe what has happened after the fact. The process of making music this way has prompted Gismervik and Halvorsen to describe their music as found rather than made.

The beauty of On Goldberg Variations feels much more like the a-personal beauty of nature, rather than something subjective and willed. Through the whole album one always hears clear and concise logic, coloring all sound and time in a profound way. While at the first glance the music can seem both mystical and strange, every little thump, pause or whisper ultimately makes sense. And when beauty appears, it does so in a flash, always surprising and always on its own terms.