Fantasias for Theremin and String Quartet

Composer: Carolina Eyck

Intrumentation: Theremin, String Quartet or String Orchestra

Length: 30 minutes

Movements: 

1. Oakunar Lynntuja (Strange Birds)

2. Leyohmi (Luminescence)

3. Nukkuva Luohla (Sleepy Dragon)

4. Metsa Happa (Jumping River)

5. Dappa Solarjos (Dappled Sunlight)

6. Nousta/Needad (Ascent/Descent)

Carolina Eyck composed these Fantasias specially for the 12'' vinyl LP format, a practice reminiscent of early-60s Nonsuch releases. The quartet parts are composed, and Eyck improvises on the theremin over these. The result is an organic virtuosity that leads the listener through a wide range of sonic environments across the piece.

Eyck's Fantasias range from slow-evolving arpeggiations reminiscent of Reich and Glass, to alternative bowing and fingering techniques that achieve an ethereal ambience, to athletic explorations reminiscent of Bartók's String Quartets. The titles were devised by Eyck and Butterscotch Records producer/label-head Allen Farmelo by scanning multiple Scandinavian languages for pleasing lingual combinations. Conceptually, Eyck has located all of this music within her vivid childhood memories of the woods of northern Germany where she grew up. However, Eyck remains pointedly cognizant that this setting act as metaphors for the context and mental state one needs to sustain creative presence. In a sense, the Fantasias stand as a metaphor for the very thing that made them possible.

Score example:

Recording by Butterscotch Records with Carolina Eyck and ACME (American Contemporary Music Ensemble)