Sigurd Hole: Roraima

Roraima, by Norwegian bassist and composer Sigurd Hole, was commissioned by Oslo World for the festival in 2020. The work reflects themes such as solidarity and ecological vulnerability and draws inspiration from the creation myth of the Yanomami people and the sound of the Amazon rainforest.

The ensemble features Trygve Seim, Frode Haltli, Helga Myhr, Tanja Orning, Håkon Aase, Per Oddvar Johansen and Sigurd Hole, and the music also includes field recordings of the Amazon biophony by US soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause. The album is a live recording from the premiere in Jakob Church, Oslo, October 29th 2020.

‘Roraima is the northernmost state of Brazil. It is home to the Yanomami and several other Indigenous peoples, and like the rest of the Amazon basin it is also home to an incredible diversity of animal and plant life. While listening to field recordings from the Amazon for the first time, I was surprised by how densely packed the whole sound spectrum was; a perfectly executed orchestration literally teeming with life. It took some time getting accustomed to this intense quality of sound, but after a while I settled into a more relaxed mode of listening. Suddenly, a bird cut through the dense wall of sound repeating a simple phrase with a very distinct tonality. This phrase, which I later learned was performed by the red-billed toucan, reoccurs in many of the different movements throughout the musical work ‘Roraima’.

‘Roraima’ is both a celebration of the soundscapes of the natural world, an expression of grief as many of these sounds fade away – and a prayer. A prayer that world leaders will finally listen to the voice of our planet as it begs us to change our course. The growth imperative of our economic system wreaks havoc on all of nature, and will ultimately lead to our own demise.

However, there is another way to be found. The ancient wisdom of Indigenous peoples gives us clues to a completely different approach to interacting with nature. We should listen to what they have to say.’

– Sigurd Hole