UUMMAT Revisited: THE SLEIGHT

Just about one year has passed since I returned from Greenland. Outside, the fjord has just been frozen, and Uummat has just been released on digital services. It’s as great a time as any to dig into the different songs and revisit them, now that it is easy for all to listen - in the UUMMAT REVISITED series, I will tell you about each of the songs on the album.

The whole piece is portrayed as a choral, with improvisations spots included.
For a long time, I’ve been drawn to Beethovens 7th 2nd movement…. I think because of its darkness, its simple yet haunting melodies and the slow-paced rhythmic motive that happens over and over again. I wanted to take a little bit of that vibe into this piece.

I wanted the piece to breathe… not only in terms of space, but I also wanted it to have the same heavy sense of pulse, and then add singer Undine Rolava’s incredible vocal on top of that. She makes this song sound like an angel song up above a dark sea. It’s beautiful.

I wrote the piece after witnessing a horrific event in Greenland. One of the kids had just lost a relative while I was visiting. I was not close enough to the family to know what was going on, but I knew that the person had come home on his dog sleigh…. frozen.

One of the local guides on Uummannaq told me that, how horrific that may be, death is a part of everyday life in one of the wildest and rural areas of the world.

I´m in awe of the people that live their life on Uummannaq…..

I finished the main part of the melody while we were still on the island, and I got to play it with the kids. The full Young Nordic Stars ensemble + the Uummannaq kids symphony……. A delicate and simple orchestration like this is intended to be played in tune. (like most music)….. that was not the case on that very day. The instrument was cold, and some of the participants were still very new to their instrument… BUT….. it was so so so unique, honest, wild and extremely colourful.

60 young people played these melodies at the same time….. incredible.