Solastalgia (2022)
(for violin and electronics (co-composer Karin Hellqvist))

The term ‘solastalgia’ refers to the sense of loss and emotional distress we feel as environmental changes that we perceive as negative unfold before our eyes. It was coined in 2005 by Glenn Albrecht, professor of sustainability at Murdoch University in Western Australia. The man-made ecological collapse that has been lurking around the corner for a long time, is now no longer a future danger – it is here upon us. Recently, we have experienced floods, not only in tropical regions but in places like the German Ahr Valley, forest fires at unprecedented levels, not only in fire-prone areas like the California mountains, but globally, and drought in countries known for their rainfall such as the United Kingdom. Our yearly seasons are being denatured and we watch helplessly as species of insects and plant die out. We are more likely to change our behavior if we can move from general intellectual observation of these phenomena to personally experiencing the ecological disruption – with the attendant anger, fear and sadness.

During our collaborative process of creating Solastalgia in the pandemic, we have faced our eco-anxiety through the attempt to lend our voices to the struggling Arctic ice. By sending recordings of ice and violin back and forth online and examining them, Carola and Karin have together created a multi-layered mapping of the sounds of the polar regions. At the same time, Eric Lanz has studied and shaped the formation of salt crystals as an analogy to melting ice. We have immersed ourselves in the characteristics of the element of ice, inviting it to speak through our eyes and ears.

Solastalgia is developed in collaboration with Studio für Elektroakustische Musik der Akademie der Künste in Berlin (2021–2022) and Experimentalstudio des SWR in Freiburg. It is commissioned through the Swedish Arts Grants Committee as a part of Karin Hellqvist’s PhD in artistic research at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.

Carola Bauckholt