Lament for a Strip of Land

In the creation process of this piece I quite soon realised that it was a lament – »sorgesång« in Swedish. The instruments that I play here are gongs, singing bowls and a deep frame drum – instruments traditionally used for healing purposes. And healing is my deepest intention. But I don’t believe we can bypass the pain. Maybe the breaking of a heart is what lets the world into its chambers? And the archaic sounds of gongs and drums, the weeping sound of a friction mallet on a gong, can maybe also invoke the memories of war, loss and torment. Harmony and disharmony. Sounds of a lament, sounds for healing. 

Tina Quartey, gongs, singing bowls and frame drum.

Recorded at Umami Production in Malmö, October 2024 by Sofia Chanfreau.

Additional recordings from Cisternen at Svanö, June 2020 and June 2022, recorded by Lee Berwick and Daniel Jonsson.

Production and mixing, Sofia Chanfreau.

Composition by Tina Quartey, all rights reserved.

Courtesy of Ljudmiljöcentrum/The Sound Environment Centre, University of Lund.