Ophir - Opus Operatum

THE ORIGIN OF OPHIRWhen we first met at the EMS studios and started a series of eight sound experiments, which was part of our formal education in electro-acoustic music, a Dylan refrain suggested itself – “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now” – since we immediately found a form of co-operation on equal terms – despite the remarkable discrepancy both in age (Anders was twice as old), and in experience. All the same, the encounter between two musical dimensions could have been perplexing or staggering, because Anders came from the Medieval Sacral Mass and the Renaissance polyphony of Lassus and suddenly found himself “in the world of post-post-modern electro-technology and apocalyptic Death Metal”, to use his own words.But some way these apparently conflicting worlds invisibly passed by, intermixed or intertwined, evaporated as it were, and the outcome was something new, even recondite and elusive to us both, lacking genre. We found these experiments very exciting and had a good time, and at long last we produced our first album in late 2010.Recorded at EMS studio 4 and Callithrix StudiosMixed at EMS studio 3 by Stefan ÖstlundMastered at Tailor Maid Production by Peter In de BetouAll music is written and performed by OphirAll female vocals by Julia HallengrenPhotos by Julia HallengrenCover artwork by Stefan ÖstlundOphir is:Anders Hallengren - Viola and violin, piano, acoustic guitars, electric guitar, soprano and tenor saxophones, birch-bark horn, concert fluteStefan Östlund - Buchla, bass, electric guitar, percussion frog, bells, dhol drum, rababah496CambioNebula 7-5K2CélesteCoup d’apoplexieImberopolisAl Sarab