Bettina Marie Ezaki - Lark Animations (2024) Hi-Res

In his work Lärkeanimationer, Aske Zidore works the characteristic call of the lark directly into the sheet music. Inspired by game mechanics, the solo violinist is surrounded by twelve sheets of music, forming an organic open-world system that animates the movements of the body and bow and the resonance of the violin as an echo of a singing lark soaring through the sky. Lark animations will be released on LP and streaming services on June 14 and will be celebrated with a release concert the day before.

The lark emerges from the music sheet

The lark has inspired many composers over the years and the violin in particular has often given voice to it, with Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending as perhaps the best-known example. Aske Zidore's lark has superficial similarities to Williams', but examines modern man's relationship with wild nature in the year 2024 and is also quite differently constructed.

During a performance, the soloist finds himself in a circle of twelve sheets of music, with the option of turning from one sheet to the other in any order, and adapting the duration of the piece to the concert situation. Zidore describes the construction as a non-linear, organic open world system that allows the violinist to move freely from sheet to sheet through "portals" indicated in the notes.

The sensation of something non-linear also arises between the musical fragments - for they can alternate abruptly between baroque ornamentation, minimalist repetitions and abstract noise, with the commonality that they include free interpretations of the bird's movement patterns and song. And when the violinist jumps from sheet to sheet, it can almost, according to the composer, resemble the flight of the lark when it dives into the grass on a spring day and emerges in a completely different place.