I Thought Someone Came

KammarensembleN, Mikael Samuelson, Franck Ollu

Four Poems by Bruno K. Öijer

2003-04

Instruments:

Large ensemble: 1111 111 2perc , harpsich/cel, bass baritone, strings

Durata:

13'

Lyrics:

Bruno K. Öijer

Dedication:

To Joel Sachs

Commission:

Rikskonserter

First performance:

Ryan McKinney and the New Juilliard Ensemble conducted by Joel Sachs, Alice Tully Hall, New York 1/4 2004.

Other performances:

Stockholm New Music 2005 by Ketil Hugaas, KammarensmebleN and Franck Ollu.

Ircam/Centre Pompidou 4 April 2005 by Mikael Samuelson, KammarensembelN and Franck Ollu.

Nordland Musikkfestuke, Bodø, Norway 2008 by Ketil Hugaas, Bodø Sinfonietta and Roland Böer.

Publisher:

Swedish Music Information Center

Program Note

I thought someone came

Selected Poems by Bruno K. Öijer

I thought someone came
but it was nothing
only the dusk
straightening out my blanket
and the wallpaper sang
. /

*
you didn't exist
not yet
only as a thought
...

an empty
vacated apartment
and weren't you warned
...

nail holes
empty spots in the wallpaper
showed where paintings and mirrors once hanged
and in the dream I ran
...

These are the opening lines from the four poems by Bruno K. Öijer. On one level they all express the presence of someone who really isn't there. So the music starts just like that - hardly audible...

". / but it was nothing; only the dusk; straightening out my blanket..."

Bruno K. Öijer (1951--) is one of Sweden’s best known living poets. He debuted in 1973 with "Sång för anarkismen" (Song for Anarchy) and was part of the eruptive 1970s poet’s group called Vesuvius. Bruno K. Öijer made a name for himself as a poetic performance artist, a rebellious societal critic and outsider, who took his rhythm and feeling from rock and beat. And one can wonder if there is any other living Swedish poet who is as unbending in his convictions as Bruno K. Öijer. Few other poets draw such large audiences outside of the traditional literary circles. Nowadays his suggestive appearances are much rarer, and his readings are always sold out.

"I thought someone came" was written for The New Juilliard Ensemble and is dedicated to their amazing conductor Joel Sachs. It was commissioned by the Swedish Rikskonserter and premirèred in New York 2004.

The poems by Bruno K. Öijer are published in "Dimman av allt" (The Mist of All, Wahlström & Widstrand, 2001). The English translation is by Öijer.