Himmelmekanik (2024)
Himmelmekanik is a permanent site-specific sound composition created for the Black Diamond: an iconic building overlooking the Copenhagen harbor that serves as a public space for the Royal Library. The work was commissioned by the Royal Library in connection with the 25th anniversary of Black Diamond in 2024. Himmelmekanik is an algorithmic (rule-based) composition generated by a computer prgram developed by the composer. It is not a musical composition in the traditional sense with playback of audio files. The work is generated by the program in real time and is constantly changing. The inauguration was held connection with an anniversary celebration concert featuring the Danish String Quartet on September 10th, 2024.
Listen to examples of Himmelmekanik, Example 1: New Moon, Example 2: Full Moon
The Black Diamond has a unique permanent 12-channel sound system built into the ceilings on the three levels. The facility was originally used to play “Katalog” (2002) by the Danish composer Jens Wilhelm Pedersen (known as “Fuzzy”) in the period 2002-2015. Between 2015 and 2017, Wayne Siegel was composer in residence at the Royal Library, where he, among other things, created the installation “Outside-In” for the Black Diamond. The piece was played daily in the period 2015-2021. The Royal Library took the initiative to commission a new work by Wayne Siegel for this unique space on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Black Diamond.Himmelmekanik plays daily at astronomical noon: the time when the sun is hghest in the sky at the Black Diamond’s exact geographic coordinates. Since the Earth’s orbit around the Sun is not circular, the time of astronomical noon varies from day to day. This variation is a reminder that certain things are beyond human control and clock time. Himmelmekanik utilizes the architecture of the Black Diamond and loudspeaker system to surround the visitors in a site-specific soundscape
Signs in the sun and the moon
Himmelmekanik is affected by the position of the sun in the sky, the cycle of the moon and by local weather conditions. The computer continuously retrieves data about the position of the sun, the phases of the moon as well as local weather data, such as temperature, wind speed, air pressure and humidity, from an online weather service. This data affects the composition in different ways. For example, the work is influenced by the lunar cycle, so that daily performances that are close together in the lunar cycle have a close musical kinship with each other, while performances that are far apart in the lunar cycle are more different in character. Himmelmekanik maintains its aesthetic identity throughout the year, and will thus be immediately recognizable as the same composition.
The work consists of three musical elements:
Drones: long notes that develop slowly in a 24-voice timbre. Technically, phase modulation is used by the computer program to create the individual tones and overtones.
Water Organ: a 12-voice choir of sounds consisting of a synthetic morph between water sounds (bubbles, waves, trickling streams) and the tones of an Indian sitar.
Chimes: broken chords with bells. Here, too, phase modulation is used as a synthesis technique.
The three elements fold in and out of each other in a relatively random way, influenced by wind, air pressure and humidity. The three elements follow a common harmonic progression, which is influenced by the phases of the moon.
The daily performance of the work takes 3-4 minutes. But the work is always developing and changing: even when it is not heard. Since the work is generated continuously, it can also be played at other times of the day, for example when the library opens in the morning and when it closes in the evening.
Himmelmekanik received financial support from the Royal Library in Copenhagen, KODA and the Danish Arts Foundation.