Reaction

From Ethereal Heights to Sonorous Depths

By the Dacapo Records staff in collaboration with EKKI MINNA

Reaction (2006) by Icelandic composer Haukur Tómasson opens with an almost hesitant exchange between the two instruments, accordion and cello – as if they were old acquaintances cautiously resuming a conversation. This gentle opening sets the scene for a work that constantly shifts in the relationship between the two instruments – merged and in playful opposition – unfolding in a series of contrasting episodes. Bright, lively passages with energetic rhythmic elements alternate with slower, more majestic and harmonically rich sections. In this way, Tómasson explores the instruments’ unique characteristics and possibilities, from ethereal heights to sonorous depths.

At times, the accordion functions as a kind of artificial overtone machine for the cello, an idea reflected in Tómasson’s working title for the piece, Die künstliche Obertonmaschine. This concept allows the composer to create complex timbres and harmonic textures that blur the boundaries between the two instruments. Elsewhere, they engage in a more pronounced dialogue, reacting to each other in what sound engineer Sebastian Vinther Olsen aptly describes as ‘two old brawlers having a go at each other’.

The piece reaches its climax in the third movement, where the two instruments connect in an energetic unison section. This passage, brimming with shared joie de vivre, encapsulates the spirit of the entire work. From this point, the instruments hurl themselves from the highest registers to the lowest, as if to embrace the full spectrum of their expression.

Reaction, which Tómasson originally scored for accordion and double bass, was reworked in 2021 for accordion and cello at the request of EKKI MINNA. The composer took the opportunity not just to arrange the piece, but also to undertake a comprehensive revision, which he himself called a ‘recomposition’. After the premiere in Copenhagen that same year, Tómasson made further adjustments before the work was recorded by EKKI MINNA in Tingbjerg Church in June 2023.

Like grand sonatas and miniature works, Reaction draws on music history whilst remaining distinctly contemporary. The work’s alternation between connected textures and contrapuntal dialogue is reminiscent of Baroque concerto forms, while its rhythmic vitality and tonal exploration lend it a decidedly modern expression. In this way, Tómasson speaks to both past and present, creating a work that is at once familiar and refreshingly new.