CONDENSED MUSIC is a patchwork of solo violin micropieces and a crossover between contemporary music and punk.

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Each performance usually features 60-80 works between 1 and 45 seconds long from ca. 60 composers. It is played in one go with a different order and altered content every time. The music resists elaboration, compresses dramaturgy, or freezes in a brief moment. The result is a bit noisy, high-voltage, sometimes contemplative, or inebriated. The recitals promote diversity, accessibility, efficiency of expression, raw intensity, honesty, altered perception of time, and fluidity. 

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It started with a performance in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in February 2023. Since then, it has accumulated around 60+ new works and been performed in Kyiv, Helsinki, Berlin, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Tampere, Copenhagen, Rīga, Vilnius, Fiskars, Hämeenlinna, Freiburg im Breisgau, St. Gallen, and Singapore.

 

The project’s origins can be traced to wishing Anton Webern and Erik Satie had more music for the violin, followed by interest in György Kurtág, accompanied by an aspiration to create non-linear concert experiences with more attentive listening. Musically, it was very much inspired by punk–DIY–noise concerts, stories, and records, where bands incomprehensibly play a ridiculous amount of songs in a short set. 

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Among many influences that pushed realizations of CONDENSED MUSIC are Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Terveet Kädet, The Demars, Coming up for Air (Kathryn Williams), Small Creatures (Petri Kumela), New York Miniaturist Ensemble, commissions by Johnny Chang, The Gerogerigegege, and “I’m So Sad, So Very, Very, Sad” from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.