Hi-Ophelia!

March 4, 2018, Cleveland Museum of Art, USA
Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble
Tim Wiess -conductor

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Interview at nmh.no

(Picture from cooperation between Høyskolen for Dansekunst and the Norwegian Academy of Music in 2017) Interview at nmh.no

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As if the law is everything

Text by Øyvind Rimbereid Such was the first law: To promise, Such was the first law: To be there To be that promise. And to keep it.   Such is the opening text line from the last section of the song cycle As if the law is everything, with music by Henrik Hellstenius and text…

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Up and away

Piece for amateur string orchestra, commissioned by Barratt Dues Juniororkester.  

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Instrument of Speech

17 August 2017, Festival Musik21, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Germany
Asamisimasa: Kristine Tjøgersen, Anders Førisdal, Håkon Stene, Ellen Ugelvik, Tanja Orning. 

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The Golden Shield

Performed by Karoline Vik Hegge, viola and Finn Magnus Fjell Hjelland, piano. Visual design and installations by Vvzela Kook. This duo for viola and piano was commissioned by Risør Festivalen 1996, and written for Leif Ove Andsnes and Lars Anders Tomter. It was later made into a version for percussion and viola. performed by Hans…

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Søkk

April 15, 2017, University of Iowa, USA
February 7, 2017. Bryan Recital Hall, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA
Panagiotis Andreoglou – accordion

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The golden shield

March 4, 2017 Ørlandet Kultursenter, Ørlandet Norway
March 5, 2017 Erkebispegården, Trondheim, Norway
March 10, 2017 Sund Folkehøgskole, Sund, Norway
March 11, 2017 Kimen Kulturhus,Stjørdal, Noway
Karoline Vik Hegge -viola
Finn Magnus Fjell Hjelland -piano

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Trio de Danse

Performed by Pinquins at Salurinn Music Hall, Cycle Music and Arts Festival 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland

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Søkk

Henrik Hellstenius · Søkk Panagiotis Andreoglou – accordion

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Readings of Mr. G

March 6, 2015 Oslo Concert Hall, Oslo, Norway Hans Kristian Kjos Sørensen – percussion and voice Peter Knudsen – video Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra/ Christian Eggen – conductor

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Fredriksen/Hellstenius IV

6 december 2009 Henie Onstad Art Center, Norway FREDRIKSEN/HELLSTENIUS/CIKADA Videos by Hilmar Fredriksen Music by Henrik Hellstenius CIKADA Ensemble “Hi-Ophelia!” “Imprints” “Four short pieces for ensemble (wp)”

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Fredriksen/Hellstenius II

6 december 2009 Henie Onstad Art Center, Norway FREDRIKSEN/HELLSTENIUS/CIKADA Videos by Hilmar Fredriksen Music by Henrik Hellstenius CIKADA Ensemble “Hi-Ophelia!” “Imprints” “Four short pieces for ensemble (wp)”

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Fredriksen/Hellstenius III

6 december 2009 Henie Onstad Art Center, Norway FREDRIKSEN/HELLSTENIUS/CIKADA Videos by Hilmar Fredriksen Music by Henrik Hellstenius CIKADA Ensemble “Hi-Ophelia!” “Imprints” “Four short pieces for ensemble (wp)”

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Fredriksen/Hellstenius I

6 december 2009 Henie Onstad Art Center, Norway FREDRIKSEN/HELLSTENIUS/CIKADA Videos by Hilmar Fredriksen Music by Henrik Hellstenius CIKADA Ensemble “Hi-Ophelia!” “Imprints” “Four short pieces for ensemble (wp)”

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Five Imprints of Time II

“Five Imprints of Time II” is written for three percussionists and consists of five movements or imprints of time. Each movement «moves» time in its own way, leaving behind an imprint of the new moulding of time.

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Instrument of Speech

May 26, 2016 Cornerteateret, Festspillene i Bergen Asamisimasa Ellen Ugelvik, Kristine Tjøgersen, Tanja Orning, Anders Førisdal and Håkon Stene

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Still Panic

April 14, 2016 Grieghallen, Bergen, Norway Diego Lucchesi – bass clarinet Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Edvard Gardner – conductor  

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Loven /The Law

November 27, 2014, Oslo Concert Hall LOVEN (THE LAW) WP Text by Øyvind Rimbereid Tora Augestad – mezzo-soprano, Ander Mordal – actor, Boya Bøckmann – video, Tormod Carlsen – stage direction Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra/Christian Eggen – conductor

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Love Songs

December 1, 2016, Stormen, Bodø, Norway
NOSO Sinfonietta/ Cathrine Winnes – conductor

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Trio de Danse

Salurinn Music Hall, Cycle Music and Arts Festival, Reykjavik, Iceland
Pinquins Percussion Trio

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Praeambulum in Indonesia

October 15 – 16, 2016, Black Box Theatre, Salihara, Jakarta, Indonesia
Dance performance by Ingun Bjørnsgaard with music by Henrik Hellstenius performed by Julia Strelchenko, piano.

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The Golden Shield

This duo for viola and piano was commissioned by Risør Festivalen 1996, and written for Leif Ove Andsnes and Lars Anders Tomter.  It was later made into a version for percussion and viola. performed by Hans Kristian Kjos Sørensen and Gro Løvdal. The title refers to the mothers´ womb protecting the unborn infant. Seen on images…

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Sera

Synopsis The Chorus – Lilith’s (invisible) Sect – praises the beautiful Silence. Lilith enters, and together with The Sect she praises and thanks God. God, resigned and with a cold, wanders around in his own heaven, listening to prayers in all the languages of the world. An angel, the childish and playful messenger Sera, makes…

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Pour Gerard Grisey

Dette stykket ble i sin tid skrevet for Cikada Duo i år 2002 som en hyldest til den franske komponisten Gérard Grisey som var Hellstenius´ lærer i komposisjon i 1993-93. Siden ble stykket totalt re-komponert til det franske ensemblet Court Circuit våren 2004, og det er denne versjonen som utframføres på Ultima. Verket har ingen…

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Long Pilgrimage

Dedicated to Lilli Hellstenius Long Pilgrimage was written in 1994, in the memory of a woman who spent most of her life seeking for an inner true meaning in life, and who lived according to her ideas. The music is in no sense a description of her person or her life as a narrative, rather…

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Improvisation I & II

Disse to små stykkene for amatør-strykeorkester er skrevet som løse, improvisatoriske stykker. Improvisasjonen ligger i komposisjons-prosessen, og ikke i notene for musikerne. Det er komponisten som har sittet og improvisert og lekt seg med de akkorden og linjene som er blitt til disse stykkene. Den første improvisasjonen består av gjentatte fraser og toner som skaper…

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Five Imprints of Time III

  This piece for cembalo solo is a version of Five Imprints of Time, first made for saxophone quartet, then percussion trio. It was originally made for the dance performance «Pli a Pli» by Ingun Bjørnsgaard.

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Between Two

”Between two” is written in the form of a spiral in time. The harmonic material and the soundmaterial is circulated in an oblique way, making the piece rotate around a small amount of longer and shorter harmonic stratas and soundobjects. This material is then composed into three different types of events which the piece consists…

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Self Portrait in Bright Light

This quartet piece was written for clarinetist Hans Christian Bræin and Cikada String quartet. Together with a text which can be performed by narrator or pre recorded sound files, it forms  a small narrative and a reflection about the difficulties of being really present in ones own life. The text is partly written by the…

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Four Fragments

Four Fragments ble skrevet til Nordic Voices i 1999. Stykket var ment både å inngå i operaen Sera og stå som eget stykke som Nordiv Voices kunne fremføre på konsert. Ettersom opprinnelsen for stykket var operaen ble tekstene skrevet opp mot tematikken i Sera, som er en konflikt mellom støy og stillhet. Four Fragements er…

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The Argonaut

THE ARGONAUT I my sea-journey I my land-claim My Walk through the suburbs I My death In the rain of bird-muck In the chalky hide The anchor is the last umbilical cord The memory of the coast passes away with the horizon Birds are a farewell Are a homecoming The slaughtered tree plows the snake…

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Søkk

The piece was composed in 1990/91 and the tape part was made in the electronic studio at The Norwegian State Academy of Music. The piece evolves around five harmonic “hollows” (or Søkk in Norwegian). These hollows are easily identified as the five low pitches that the accordion and the tape reaches during the piece. The…

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Stirrings Still

The title Stirrings Still was taken from one of Samuel Beckett´s last text by the same name. «Still movement» and «movable stillness» are the two possible interpretations of the title. In the piece this reluctant motion is expressed in the relationship between the static harmony and the vivid movement. The music is not intended to…

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Ombra della Sera

I noen av sine siste stykker har Henrik Hellstenius jobbet med ”lesninger” av favoritt komponisters verk, eller fragmenter av verk. Readings of Mr. G, som ble spilt på Ultima I fjor med Det Norske Kammerorkesteret og Hans Kristan Kjos Sørensen som solist, var en lesning av et verk av den franske komponisten Gérard Grisey. Ombra…

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In the Belly of a Dancer

Våren 2008 skrev jeg ballettmusikk til åpningen av den nye operaen i Oslo, og IN THE BELLY OF A DANCER er en direkte videreføring av det arbeidet. Jeg har gjennom mange år samarbeidet med dansere og koreografer og er dypt fascinert av deres måte å kunne veksle mellom den abstrakte dansen og det konkrete uttrykk…

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Imprints

Imprints består av fem frittstående satser som hver fyller en begrenset musikalsk problemstilling. De er skrevet til Ingun Bjørnsgaard Prosjekts forestilling ”THE AFTERNOON AND THE OTHERS”. Og i forhold til arbeidet med forestillingen ble materiale og energi i hver av satsene utviklet for å kunne gå i dialog med Bjørnsgaards koreografiske språk. Som andre av…

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Fem Avtrykk av Tiden

Fem Avtrykk Av Tiden består av fem satser eller tidsavtrykk. Hver sats har sin egen prosess eller tidsutvikling. Når disse fem prosessene eller tidsutviklingene er til ende har de «beveget» tiden på fem ulike måter og skapt et avtrykk av hvordan tiden er blitt formet i vår hukommelse. Satsene er ulike i uttrykk men kretser…

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Book of Songs III

Book of Songs III for solo cello ble opprinnelig skrevet som et av flere stykker til Ingun Bjørnsgaard Prosjekts danseforestilling ”BOOK OF SONGS” i 2001, og var da for cello og elektronikk. På forespørsel fra Åge Kvalbein våren 2004 skrev jeg en ny versjon av stykket for solo cello, hvor den gunnleggende ideen i elektronikken…

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Rock Crystal

Music theatre based on a text by Adalbert Stifter. There was no snow in the whole valley, but the higher mountains that had been glistening with it for many weeks already were thoroughly covered. Toward the edge of the meadows there was a mountain brook over which led a high, narrow wooden bridge. The children…

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Readings of Mr. G.

In the percussion concerto “Readings of Mr. G” , instrumental and theatrical elements are combined. The percussionist is not only musician, but also speaker also; an actor in the widest sense. The concerto was written especially for the percussionist Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. The spoken texts are taken from the world…

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Perte de Memoire

Hva er igjen av et menneske når hukommelsen blir borte. Hvor mye av det vi anser for å være uløselig knyttet til et menneskes identitet forsvinner, når man ikke lenger kan huske sin nære eller fjerne fortid? En som mister hukommelsen mister ikke bare sine minner men også evnen til å delta i kommunikasjonen rundt…

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Loven : Mange lover, flere liv

LOVEN er et musikkdramatisk verk for mezzosopran, skuespiller, video og orkester og er i sin struktur et moderne oratorium. Forfatteren Øyvind Rimbereid har spent opp et stort lerret. Han har skrevet om loven som idé, alt fra det nære personlige perspektivet til de altomfattende naturlovene som styrer verden. Tekstene og sangene veksler mellom ulike korte…

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Still Panic (wp)

April 14, 2016 Grieghallen, Bergen, Norway
Diego Lucchesi – bass clarinet
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Edvard Gardner – conductor

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Søkk

March 16, 2016 Onassis Cultural Centre and Panteion University, Athens, Greece
Panagiotis Andreoglou – accordion

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FIVE PIECES FOR PIANO (wp)

May 31 – June 2, 2015, Bergen Kjøtt, Bergen International Festival
Håkon Austbø – piano
With Juni Dahr, Håkon Austbø, Anja Sunniva Valseth and Lars Jacob Holm.

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Readings of Mr. G

March 6, 2015, Oslo Concert Hall, Oslo, Norway
Hans Kristian Kjos Sørensen – percussion/voice
Peter Knudsen – video
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra/ Christian Eggen conductor

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PRAEAMBULUM

December 13, 2014, Dansens Hus, Oslo
Ingun Bjørnsgaard Poject
Julia Strelchenko – piano

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LOVEN (THE LAW) (WP)

November 27, 2014, Oslo Concert Hall, Norway
Text by Øyvind Rimbereid. Performed by singer Tora Augestad, actor Ander Mordal, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Christian Eggen. Video by Boya Bøckmann, stage direction by Tormod Carlsen.

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Places of Sounds and Words

September 11. 2014 · The National Gallery, Ultimafestivalen Oslo, Norway

Elisabeth Holmertz – soprano
Cikada Ensemble
Peter Knudsen – video
Henrik Hellstenius – electronics

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Victoria Counting II

Music theatre piece for violinist Victoria Johnson, based on field recordings from her domestic life, as well as professional life.

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PLACES OF SOUNDS AND WORDS (wp)

May 23, 2014, New Directions Festival, Piteå, Sweden
Elisabeth Holmertz – soprano
Henrik Hellstenius – electronics
Cikada Ensemble:
Karin Hellquist – violin
Torun Stavseng – Cello
Kenneth Karlsson – indan organ
Bjørn Rabben – percussion

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HI-OPHELIA!

April 27, 2014, Akademi der Künste, Berlin
Ensemble El Perro Andaluz
Lennart Dohms – conductor

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DREAM OF LATE

April 5, 2014, Tou Scene – Ny Musikk Stavanger, Norway
Nora Myrset Asheim – violin

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MUGETUFT

February 6, 2015, ANX – Oslo Screen Festival, Oslo
Tellef Øgrim – guitars, electronis
Jakob Janssøn – drums, electronics
Henrik Hellstenius – electronics
Peter Knutsen – live video

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MUGETUFT

January 23, 2014, Mind the Gap Nights, Rotterdam
International Film Festival Rotterdam & Gonzo Circus
Tellef Øgrim – guitars, electronis
Jakob Janssøn – drums, electronics
Henrik Hellstenius – electronics
Peter Knutsen – live video

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HI OPHELIA!

November 14, 2013, Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany
November 15, 2013, Kunstverein, Hannover, Germany
Ensemble El Perro Andaluz/Lennart Dohms

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AM I A MOUSE, AM I A MONKEY

October 26, 2013, Transit Festival, Leeuven, Belgium
November 6, 2013, Sound of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
November 8, 2013, Novembermusic, s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Elisabeth Holmertz, sopran and Kenneth Karlsson
Indian harmonium

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IN MEMORIAM

October 15, 2013, Nordic Music Days, Helsinki, Finland
Peter Herresthal – violin
Tapiola Sinfoietta/Nils Schweckendiek, conductor

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REMAINS (wp)

August 17, 2013, Oscarshall, Oslo Chamber Music Festival, Norway
Oslo String Quartet

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PRAEAMBULUM

June 18/19, 2013, City Teatre, Kuopio Dance Festival, Finland
Ingun Bjørnsgaard Project

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SYNGE OLAVS DRAUMAR

May 25, 2013, Østre, Festspillene i Bergen, Norway
Musical composition of text by Jon Fosse
Singers and actors: Silje Aker Johnsen, Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer, Anders Dale, Svein Solesnes
Stage director: Mette Arnstad

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PRAEAMBULUM (WP)

January 31 – february 3, 2013, Dansens Hus, Oslo, Norway
Ingun Bjørnsgaard
Julia Strelchenko – piano

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