On 15 November an EP is released featuring acoustic interpretations of Else Marie Pade's electronic main work Syv cirkler (Circles of Sevenths) from 1958, recorded by the duo Dybfølt (Mathæus Bech og Kirstine Elise Pedersen). Experience a fresh take on this pioneering piece, inspired by celestial movements, as it unfolds in this new version for cello and double bass as well as a new "remix".

Cello and doubel bass replacing tone generators

Syv cirkler  is often regarded as Else Marie Pade's electronic main work. In 1958, Pade visited the World's Fair in Brussels to immerse herself in the latest musical developments. Syv cirkler is directly inspired by an installation at the fair, where artificial stars adorned a dome with a background of electronic music. Pade said about the experience: "It [the stars, red.] kept going around in my head, and it dawned on me that it was all about circles." 

The idea of the work was to describe seven spheres with each their own timbre and velocity. The work follows a serial structure with a sequence of seven notes that are repeated and layered, each time at double speed, until there are seven layers - seven ‘circles’, if you will.

It is well documented that Pade never saw tonal and atonal music as opposites. Her lucky numbers 7 and 12 are said to represent just that: the seven notes of a major scale and the twelve notes of the chromatic scale. With this background, the question arises as to why Syv cirkler became atonal when the number seven also represents the tonal. What if the tonal series was based on a major scale instead?

On the new release, this question has manifested itself in two different acoustic versions of Syv cirkler: A version faithful to the score where cello and bass replace the tone generators, and a remix where Dybfølt has replaced the original chromatic scale with a major scale. 

Sange fra en væg and EMP Series

Dybfølt has in the last couple of years immersed themselves into Pade's music. Earlier this year the EP Sange fra en væg (Songs From a Wall) was released, with new interpretations of swing and schlager songs written during the Second World War.

To celebrate the birthday, Dacapo Records will also be continuing the EMP Series, which was launched in 2022 and contains digital releases featuring new, digitized versions of all Pade's electronic works. So far, seven releases are available and on Pade's birthday EMP 8 and 9 will be released. Releases will continue into early 2025, finally coming together in one big anniversary release.