2021/2024; dur:50'; Voice solo, 1(pic).1(ca).1(b.cl.).1/1.1.1.1/pf.perc./str.;
Score at Wise Music Classical
photo by Nabeeh Samaan/Ultima 2024
Imagine there’s no countries
Despite today’s globalization, we still structure our world and its people with national states. Despite collective ownership to the world and global principles of justice, such as determined by international organizations, each country’s internal structure gives huge differences in living conditions for its people. Within a state, principles of
justice are depending on which grounds are shared among its people: politically, socially, cultural and religious traditions. Citizenship alone gives no guarantee for actual participation.The historical forming of a national state is not necessarily built on rational or moral virtues unique to the state, or on an internal collective affiliation. Crucial for a state to uphold existence, is its ability to realize basic moral rights. Crucial for our highest political ideal for states to coexist is to prevent boundaries from becoming barriers that sustain suppression.
A starting point for creating National Anthems, was:
What can artificial intelligence, created by humans and completely lacking morals and deep rooted cultural understanding, tell us when responding to how we present our national states? The way existing and no longer existing states are presented on Wikipedia was the source for AI learning. This AI learning is done with the help of Inga Strümke and Steffen Mæland.The result is edited and presented online at atlantispedia.art.
The music was put together with another form of computer assisted processing. Henrik Sundt and Anders Vinjar has helped creating the meshed up melodies based upon existing anthems:
Norland Bolis – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, The Republic of Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
Hanyst – Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
The Tepublic of the Fiolli – Albania, France, Portugal, Italy, Slovenia, Spain
Monf Li – Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Papua New Guinea
Handong – Tuvalu, USA, Australia, New Zealand
Igmondero – Angola, Brazil, Cameroon, Ecuador, Guyana, Sierra Leone
The Empire Jazzic of Neg -Yugoslavia and European countries with Alps
Mathuna – Israel, Libanon, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Syria, Jordan
At last, I asked GPT to suggest lyrics to some of the anthems, as performed by the vocal soloist in The National Anthem of Handong.
-Maja S. K. Ratkje 2024
PERFORMANCE NOTES
The score includes an ensemble and vocalist. Stage instructions also open up for contributions by external contributors to the visual and textual concept. A staged version included one external actor/presenter, lights, video art, costumes and scenography at the Norwegian premiere of National Anthems, premiered at Cosmopolite, Oslo at Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival Sept. 19, 2024, performed by Maja S. K. Ratkje and Ensemble Modern with external contributors Amund Sjølie Sveen, Tormod Lindgren and Peter Knudsen.
Poster by Peter Knudsen.
Future staging should use this performance as a starting point. Concert versions of the piece without extra staging is also possible. The anthems can also be performed as separate pieces, referred to as “from National Anthems”. Versions in German or English for musicians’ spoken text.
The duration of the music without external textual interludes is 40 minutes. A staged version with external textual contributions will exceed this time frame. The ensemble’s default position is onstage, being amplified. Where the musicians are asked to play at other positions, no amplification is needed.
Commissioned by Ensemble Modern. A previous version premiered in Kölner Philharmonie Jan 6, 2022.
„National Anthems“ von der norwegischen Sängerin und Komponistin Maja S. K. Ratkje, und dieser Zyklus hatte wirklich alles, womit man hätte locken können: Phantasie, Humor, Einsatz von Künstlicher Intelligenz beim Materialarrangement und eine charismatische Ratkje mit auf der Bühne, die ihre Nationalhymnen für erdachte und jeweils auch in Worten vorgestellte Staaten zusammen mit dem Ensemble Modern zum eklektisch-elektronischen Spektakel machte.
Andreas Platthaus, Frankfurter Allgemeine, 2022
“Alt ved dette prosjektet er i grunnen rart inntil det absurde, ikke minst musikken (…) som er fantastisk absurd og rar og spiller på veldig mange av de klisjeene vi kjenner fra nasjonalsanger. (…) Det er klart at dette politiske poenget om at nasjonale fellesskap er i bunn og grunn konstruksjoner: flagg, visuell ikonografi, folkedrakter og nasjonalsanger, det er, som vi ser i denne forestillingen når det blir generert av KI, så er det noe veldig rart og snålt, men det i grunn all nasjonal symbolikk, det er bare det at vi er så vant til det at vi tenker på en måte ikke over det. (…) og så kan man jo spørre om det finnes bedre alternativer til nasjonalstaten. Det er jo ikke noe som dette verket svarer på, men det belyser i hvert fall problemet på en måte som både er, på sitt beste, fengende og morsom og totalt uforutsigbar, og det liker jeg godt.”
Eystein Sandvik, NRK P2 (radio), 2024
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