Daniel Herskedal received TONO's composer award during Spellemann 2020 last Friday. – On paper, my music is unsellable, but I personally have zero focus on playing the tuba.
/ 23/04/2021 / Kristian DugstadIn January 2020, Daniel Herskedal packed three tubas, a bass trumpet, recording equipment, firewood and cross-country skis, and drove to Elgå in Engerdal.
There he stayed in a rented log cabin, went skiing, looked at nature, and recorded the album. Call for Winter.
Last week, all of Norway could see him get an iconic Spellemann harp stuck in his neck on NRK 1, when he was awarded TONO's composer prize for his brass-heavy tribute to the cold season.
– On paper, my music is unsellable, but I personally have zero focus on playing the tuba. It just so happens to be my tool for creating. Receiving such an award gives me confidence that I might be onto something.
Through its collaboration with Spellemann, TONO is the guarantor of the prize, and also appoints the jury. Herskedal himself has been a member of TONO since 2005, and has rights to a total of 340 registered musical works.
Call for Winter is a solo project in the truest sense of the word. Herskedal has composed, performed and recorded all the voices himself. The starting point for the album was a sonic universe he introduced five years earlier.
– In 2015, I released the song The Mistral Noir, which is just me, with three tubas and a bass trumpet. In retrospect, I discovered that it has been picked up by filmmakers, dancers and yoga instructors alike. For once, I thought I would listen to the audience and take this sound as a starting point.
For 17 days, Herskedal sought solitary refuge in the snow-covered landscape along the banks of Femunden, just under twenty kilometers from the Swedish border. There, he improvised the music that would become the award-winning album, mostly interrupted only by daily ski trips.
– I sat there and tried to find peace, dug deep within myself, looking for a core to build on. I have a lot of lessons from Palle Mikkelborg and my studies in Copenhagen. When he plays, every note means the whole world. There is a lot to reach for, but I try to take with me the mindset – The way he offers his very innermost being.
Considering the reception, Herskedal has succeeded in this. The title Call for Winter invites spectacular inner images, and the sound landscape reflects the nature in which the music is written. The music undeniably has something cinematic about it – a quality that has proven to be important for Herskedal's path forward.
The story continues below the video.
Like most people who make a living from music, Herskedal's life was turned upside down in March of last year. After a grand tour of Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway, he returned home on March 8, ready to travel on to the United States. That was not to be.
– There was a bit of panic. You didn't know if you were going to make it financially. My closest relatives suggested that I start working as a farmer. The mood was that music wasn't a viable path for a while, but I wanted to do everything I could to have a music job to go to after this too.
Therefore, he used it instead newfound time to throw himself into a wide range of new compositional projects. He has orchestrated his partner and artist Marja Mortensson's album with the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra, composed new repertoire and recorded a new album with his own band, and is now writing commissioned works for the Trondheim Jazz Festival with, among others, Emilie Nicolas and Eivind Aarseth.
At the same time, he has embarked on several interdisciplinary collaborations. He is currently composing music for his first feature film, a play, and an American podcast.
– I see that a slightly different work routine may form in the future. Last year was of course catastrophic in a way, but at the same time it has forced me to think through what I really want with music. I have had time to focus more on creative art, rather than performing. Last year was a turning point, which in a way was quite positive in all the pitch darkness. It was my most productive year ever last year, after all.
The story continues below the picture.
There was a clearly infection control-oriented Spellemann award ceremony that took place on NRK1 on Friday, April 16. Along with Herskedal, Andreas Rotevatn, Henrik Ødegaard and Maja SK Ratkje were nominated in the TONO composer award category.
– The other compositions are incredibly beautiful, so I feel sorry for the jury who had to choose. I certainly didn't expect to be sitting with the harp in the end, but it's a huge recognition. It gives me confidence that I might be onto something.
He himself is not even sure what genre he operates in. He laughs and says that most of the music consists of Call for Winter, of nine tubas and three bass trumpets.
– Which on paper is completely unsellable music. But then perhaps a characteristic sound image with personality has formed. I really have zero percent focus on playing the tuba. It just happens to be my tool for creating music.
