Performers & composers

Fredrik Hedelin

Born in Stockholm on the May 29th, 1965. From 1984 to 1993, he studied composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with Sven-David Sandström and Pär Lindgren, among others. From 1996 to 1997 he pursued further studies at IRCAM with Tristan Murail and Brian Ferneyhough.

Fredrik Hedelin works with both instrumental music and electroacoustic music and his works have been performed by numerous ensembles and soloists including the Swedish Radio Orchestra, KammarensembleN, TM+, and the ensemble Nieuw. Beetween 1998 and 2000, Fredrik Hedelin was Composer in Residence at the Swedish Radio, and since 2004 he is compositeur en recherche in the real-time group IRCAM. He also teaches composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

Akt (20')

Premiered 2004 in Nanterre, France.
Akt, for string trio, flute, harp, and electronics, is the third and final work in a suite where the string trio is the common denominator. The setting string trio, flute, and harp can be seen as a melding of two rather unusual ensembles: the string trio and the flute/harp duo. The inherent three voices of the trio, together with the round sonority of the flute and harp, give the ensemble a rather special, fragile, and tranquil feel.

Either by itself or together with the other works in the suite, Akt is meant to work as a rite. I have used ritual elements in my music before, in among other works Röstriter (Voice Rites) for chamber ensemble and Tecken (Signs) for orchestra, both of which can be seen as antecedents to Akt. Common to these works is the ritual form, where sections that are simultaneously returning and contrasting generate power and direction.

Akt is primarily built with 168 gestures, or signs, divided into four groups. These signs form the music according to certain patterns, together with a harmony that constantly moves between returning harmonic domains. Through a simple model of the human brain, the computer can follow the harmonic course of events and generate complementary shifts in timbre. The electronic part is built upon the gestures that are the foundation for the instrumental parts, and have, via resonance models of string instruments, even sonorous aspects in common with the instrumental sounds