Acoustic improvisation as a living and unpredictable force

18/7/2025 | Forfatter: Karen Segal | Fotograf: Hrein Gudlaugsson
Hein Westgaard & Margaux Oswald, Det 3. Rum 17/07/2025

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Norwegian guitarist Hein Westgaard and Swiss pianist Margaux Oswald explored pure musical spontaneity in a concert free from melody, rhythm, or form – held together only by deep listening and fearless expression

Artiklen herunder er på engelsk, da den er skrevet af Karen Segal, der kommer fra USA.

This concert was free music in the most free sense - free from key centers, melody, rhythms, or form, or any other preplanning whatsoever. Guitarist Hein Westgaard (Norway) and pianist Margaux Oswald (Switzerland) played in complete spontaneity, sometimes conversationally and sometimes simultaneously, exchanging musical contrasts of dynamics, tempo, and texture. High notes were contrasted by low notes, loud notes by soft notes, fast runs by spacious and slow single notes. The resulting experience seemed as much of a surprise to the performers as the audience.  That their music stayed connected and compelling is a testimony to their deep listening, conviction, and craftsmanship on their instruments.

Westgaard seemed intent on exploring all possible sounds that he could extract from his steel string acoustic guitar including bending, tapping, pounding, scratching, sliding, muting, and stretching his left hand fingers as far as they could go. During one piece, Westgaard played solely on his sixth string with his right hand while shifting its tuning pegs back and forth with his left hand. Then he explored detuning the other strings and by the end of the piece his guitar was in a whole new tuning. 

Oswald, clearly an expressive, and accomplished pianist, mostly used the piano keys to stay engaged musically, although at times she gave it “hele armen” playing multiple neighboring notes with her forearm. Her instrument didn't have quite as many exploratory instrumental options as the guitar but she did have access to the piano strings that she made use of on occasion by scratching them. At one point they went into swinging quarter notes, hinting that they were certainly both quite capable at playing other forms of jazz expression. But tonight, free expression was all that was on the agenda.