Trond Reinholdtsen: Intermedia methodology for music

Read my interview with Norwegian contemporary art music composer and vocalist Trond Reinholdtsen. He is a Norwegian composer who now resides in Sweden. Reinholdtsen’s journey in music started as a singer and a performer, but he shifted his focus to working in theatres and composing later on in his life. The composer makes his own computer programs that help him work with all sorts of media, so he can create a whole new universe in his compositions. Reinholdtsen values the freedom of expression and courage to explore and use different media which is a common theme in his work.

His works have been performed internationally at festivals such as the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Donaueschinger Musiktage. He works as an associate professor in composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music (supervisor of Ph.D. candidates in Artistic Research, music theatre workshops, and analysis of 21. century music). He has held numerous lectures and masterclasses, for example in Stuttgart, Basel, Oslo, Huddersfield, Köln, Linz, Luzern, Darmstadt, Warsaw, Los Angeles, Donaueschingen, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Aldeburgh, Dresden, and Manchester.

The text version of this interview was prepared by Armands Sarguns on video that I and Trond made on January, 2023.

How would you define a good musical composition?

It’s obvious that there is not a single answer to this question, as tastes, opinions and perspectives matter, but there may be a list of criteria for some. As a listener, I would say that I’m simple and quite easy to please. I enjoy various approaches to composing, especially simple pieces that make me feel more peaceful and relaxed, creating a new world that transfers me somewhere else and uses a new approach to logic. In simple terms, a good musical composition reveals a point of view that I haven’t seen before.

How would you describe your own music?

A couple of decades ago I kind of decided that I would use different genres and art forms in my compositions. I’m not sure whether it was a conscious decision, but I realised that I wanted to start integrating interdisciplinary activities in my work. I was inspired to explore power structures in visual arts and then tried to make a connection between music and the visual aspects of the world.

Another point of view that I explore in my work is the ability to discuss and criticise different aspects of creating music, such as commissions, etc. This theme came at a time when I had a crisis of sorts and I felt very trapped and limited in my creative process and I explored it more in a piece called the “Norwegian Opra”. At that time I had bought a house, so I started using the resources around me and I got into filmmaking as well. The piece then expanded to a bigger series and I created a universe with a specific narrative that is apparent throughout each part. It started as a one-man-show, because I produced it myself and sang the parts of each character and then edited everything, so each character had an individual storyline, but now I have a small team helping with my compositions.

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What stages do you go through when you compose?

It’s kind of a self-created situation where I am both the director of a composition and the producer as well. I work in a way that gives me freedom, therefore I don’t have to worry about the planning that much and I can take as much time as I need. The process usually begins with a text file where I write different ideas, so they are just words and notions at first. Then I begin to look through them and make initial concepts, slowly working out the progression of each piece. The speed of composing may vary, depending on the specifics of each piece. Sometimes I work very slowly with a score, but there may also be times when I just take the microphone to record a part of the piece and then the editing and post-production process becomes the longer part of the process. There are different approaches to it, but my way of working includes using tools and computer programs for the most part.

Do you think your music would be different if you lived in another part of the world?

I actually lived in Berlin for a year and I still feel attached to the German world and approach to things. German traditions had been the common theme in my music for a while. I learned German quite early on, so I also started integrating it in my pieces, because the language helped me build a connection to the culture in terms of developing a better understanding of it.

I come from Norway, but I’m now living in Sweden because of financial aspects and I see that there are different particularities and characteristics, even though they are neighbouring countries. I’d say the biggest difference there is a less developed and explored discourse of new music, so that means the audiences for experimental music are much smaller and getting a reaction from people becomes more difficult. Having said that, it brings a lot more possibilities and opportunities to work the way I want to by not sticking to a system. I love to do crazy things and my surroundings allow me to work as freely and creatively as possible and I’d say it attracts other contemporary composers as well.

Why did you become a multimedia composer?

I don’t remember the exact piece that made me use all sorts of media. There was a time when I started getting into hardcore modernism, algorithmic composition and I was programming platforms for myself, so that inspired me to explore this different side of music logic. One of the first pieces where I really started to integrate this approach was a choir piece and I decided to include a video in it as well, because I wanted to make a discussion with the audience. I asked the members of the choir for their approval to put this part in the performance and they were for it. It opened up the world of music for me to include a political, historical context or a critical perspective in a story.

How does the process of composing change when you use different media?

I guess it requires very different things both from me as a composer and the audience too.

The differences may not appear as strongly for the audience, but my process usually is quite systematic because aspects of my performances are pre-programmed. Taking the perceptions and expectations of an audience into account also has a part in the process, because you need to build a connection between the piece and the listener as well.

One of the examples in my work I can mention is a piano concerto that was about 70 minutes long. It included various visuals, such as video and it started with a quotation from a different piano concerto. It may have seemed a little strange to the viewer, but I added text, explanations and historical context as to why a part of this piece was quoted and gave it a meaning. At first I wanted to make a strong impression on the viewers and then I started to search for links and other connections that would suit the continuation of the piece. I’m interested in including different levels, medial and interdisciplinary situations that divide each composition into distinct parts, yet I keep a common theme, so the audience can follow through the chain of events more easily.

How do you establish a connection with the audience?

There are different approaches to it, but I believe that sometimes I have a very direct way when I look into the camera with a microphone and tell something to an audience. Sometimes I try to “mould” the audience, but I think the audience can easily tell when you are trying to manipulate them. Usually I stick to the former technique and make the situations very clear, so people can understand what to expect next.

How involved are you in the process of completing a project?

I do a lot of things. My roots in music started with singing and performing on a stage before I started studying composition, so I understand each of the roles and it helps me develop different aspects of a piece. I have worked with all sorts of different things, for example, the analysis of classical music and theatre, both of these things influenced my way of thinking and gave me a perspective on the importance of understanding how a piece comes alive. When I lived in Berlin I was very inspired by the theatre scene there and I drew parallels with theatre and contemporary music.

As I mentioned previously I have extensive experience, working in the music field, so I involve myself in various parts of creating a piece. I do have a small team of about seven people now, so sometimes I split the work. My role for the most part now is directing, so I give instructions to people that help me realise the vision had in mind. I enjoy working with others, because we collaborate well and it also gives me a perspective and an opinion that I hadn’t considered in previous steps of making the composition.

What would be the necessary skills to create multimedia compositions?

One of the main things should be courage to actually explore all those kinds of media to integrate them in a composition. Another aspect I’d like to mention is naivety in terms of just enjoying the process of composing and playing around with different sounds and visuals. Visual arts are interdisciplinary from my point of view, so it’s important to perceive a composition by looking at different aspects, trying to complement them with different media and making notes to realise what could be the best form of expression to make it more meaningful.

How did you transition from being a sound only composer to creating multimedia compositions?

I believe that my method is not classical to the preparation that happens in a theatre, it’s very composer-like, because I have almost no rehearsals, everything is pre-planned and everyone gets the instructions in their ears. As a composer, I have total control in a way, although the whole thing may appear very chaotic sometimes, but every aspect has a structure and I make sure everything goes according to the plan. I’ve expanded my composition to also include directing and building a background for the progression of a composition. To me the progression from coming as a sound only to multimedia compositions happened quite naturally, because I started gaining new skills and wanted to explore the possibilities of it in my work.

I want my pieces to explore and show more of the world, because nothing is illegal in terms of using styles as well as different traditions. There was a point in my career when the sound only approach didn’t make sense for me anymore, so I tried to open it up to more possibilities. I do allow some dogmas to influence me throughout the whole process to keep the coherence of a composition.

What technology do you use most often for creating your pieces?

Like everyone I try to use technology as an instrument to see the possibilities that it brings. Of course, the activity of editing is also an integral part of composing, because I realise how powerful of a tool it is to make illusions, dimensions, etc. to bring out the visual aspects of a piece. I make my own programs, because it allows me to use a variation of techniques that I deem important for my pieces.

How has your music changed?

I bought a house and, first of all, that was a huge personal milestone, but, second, I got away from the bustling city, festival settings etc., so I have become more independent and self-sufficient in terms of art production. Moving to a more remote place felt like I was enjoying more freedom and finding a sense of belonging deep within. Freedom is a big part of the discussions about art, so that has a correlation too. I can take more time to process everything and ideally nobody influences my decision making process, such as choosing the appropriate media and so on. I’m getting older, therefore the process may become a bit slower, but I have started to work with bigger productions more so than previously and that takes a big part of the speed and efficiency aspect of composing as well.

What do you fear the most as a composer?

My process was driven by panic for a very long time, because I was worrying about the deadlines and making sure the composition was coming together. As I’ve grown older, I have realised that this feeling is not healthy and I try not to go back to it, because my body is telling me to avoid the stress. The feeling of panic and questioning comes naturally, so it’s really difficult to feel relaxed while creating a piece. I’ve started to work on bigger projects and I don’t plan things ahead now, so now it’s a bit of an experiment to see if the emotions change.

Why do you still compose?

I don’t know anything else and this has become my life in a way. I still have an urge to express myself, I enjoy the little things about the process and the ability to explore different ideas by putting sounds together. Composing feels like the appropriate media for it.

How has the contemporary art scene changed in your region?

We have totally lost the connection with the public sphere to the point where nothing is said about our work on the main broadcasting channels and former popular newspapers. Having said that, the scene has evolved to a larger extent, because there are more concerts and festivals than ever and the audiences that attend these events have become bigger. The internet has democratised the field a little bit, yet the fragmentation remains. There are certain policies that help contemporary artists by opening up the possibilities to gather a larger audience, so the field is broadening in that sense.

What are the music trends in your region?

It’s kind of difficult to see the changes or latest trends in contemporary music, one of the reasons being the time we’re living in when the spread of information is really fast. As for other composers in the field, I think music is perceived as an interdisciplinary thing and musicians find multimedia as a natural extension to music now. Their work seems a lot more individualistic to the point where they may seem self-obsessed with their bodies, mental state etc.

What I also see is more freedom when it comes to musical expression. I have already mentioned the necessity of multimedia aspects, but also the crossing of different genres, both in the mainstream pop music as well as the contemporary art scene, trying to defy the traditional understanding and system of creating music.

What is the role of new music in society?

I have to say that the role is not big, because it’s not really a part of public life. Despite that, it’s still important to create pieces of good quality and produce interesting ideas. Although new music doesn’t play a huge part in the cultural aspects of society, it represents an alternative way of thinking, so that may attract an audience in the future.

Do you think there will be a new music scene in the future?

I’m rather a pessimist than an optimist when I look at different things happening in the world. One of my concerns is that digitalization and the internet impacts our attention span in a negative way and the ability to do extensive research becomes more decreased. That, of course, affects us as composers, because we have to realise that people may not be able to shift their focus to a composition for a longer period of time and I even sense it myself. Personally when I feel an overflow of information, I cut off the internet to improve my abilities to listen, concentrate and perceive the things I need to, but that’s not the general approach when it comes to society as a whole. I remain pessimistic about this progression of things, but I hope younger generations will find a solution to this issue.

What advice would you give to young composers?

The most important thing I would say is to have courage, because it is a skill that has to be trained. It encourages us from sticking to one conventional way of creating things and lets us express ourselves without being too afraid to make mistakes.

Selection of music created by Trond Reinholdtsen:

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