In her poem Månen (The Månen), the Danish poet Barbara Agertoft writes about how we each belong to each other, even as we are on our own, just by existing. The Polish, Danish based composer Adrianna Kubica-Cypek has set the poem to music in a work commissioned by the vocal ensemble ÆTLA for their concert series h j æ l p (help) from 2024, centred on the themes of vulnerability, support and community.

Månen will be releasing as a digital EP on 10 April. Pre-save to your streaming library here.

A state of calm and togetherness

Månen is written for eight voices and is a celebration of everything we mean to each other. In her poem, Barbara Agertoft paints a picture of the moon ceaselessly and smoothly through the night and is viewed by groups of individuals who are brought together into a state of calm and togetherness through their shared experience of its light.

The theme of support and togetherness resonates strongly with ÆTLA. Tenor Hávard Magnussen explains: "Singing in an ensemble is of course about a high artistic level, but it's also always about community and care – at least for us in ÆTLA. When you consider that the WHO in 2023 declared loneliness a ‘global public health challenge,’ Barbara Agertoft’s words resonate in a very special way.”

Lone voices

In Månen, Adrianna Kubica-Cypek provides setting for exposed vocalisation with delicate allusions to plainchant, ritual prayer and congregational singing. But she also makes space for those lone voices to be supported and gradually brought into safety and security without giving up their identity or independence.

With simple materials, Adrianna Kubica-Cypek creates a space of tension between delicate calmness and insisting intensity. As the singers in ÆTLA explains: "Adrianna Kubica-Cypek describes her own music as standing on the threshold of minimalism in terms of its musical material, and of maximalism in terms of its musical expression.”

ÆTLA (photo by Saba Lykke Oehlenschlæger)