Music for Unicorns

(2022) 15' / for mezzo-soprano, modular synthesizer, and live-electronics

lyrics: Anne-May Krüger

written for the Duo Frkrr with Anne-May Krüger, mezzo-soprano (and live-electronics), and Andreas Eduardo Frank, modular synthesizer, who gave the premiere performance on January 30th, 2023 in Bern, Switzerland.

Composer's note

Mike Svoboda's composition Music for Unicorns illuminates the unicorns in their contradictory nature, imagining them on the one hand as a supernatural myth, and on the other as thoroughly earthy, sometimes downright gothic figures. Their demise in the blackness of the sea - the result of their unbridled desire for freedom - is both celebration and lament. Svoboda's piece challenges the singer and synthesizer player to the utmost through a highly virtuosic interplay: With both musicians using voice and an electronic setup, Svoboda explicitly takes the duo idea seriously in the sense of equality in music making and pushes it to the limits of coordination.