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By Eamonn Keyes. September 9th The Orkney Club, Kirkwall. Orkney-based accordionist Karen Tweed and Edinburgh-based quantum physicist Erika Andersson present a performance of music inspired by quantum physics. They share a passion and fascination for music, art, textiles and science and explore topics from entanglement to quantum computers. In each case the music expresses the essence of the concept. Quantum physics and music, how does that work then? Over to Erika Andersson, who is a master in both of these areas and can give us an exact insight on this curious pairing of science and art……. “For example, superposition or quantum entanglement can be illustrated by two or more harmonic lines in music. How two voices move around, never completely ‘determined’ but always in precise relation to each other, is reminiscent of entanglement.“ In this case Erika has become entangled with the well-known accordion virtuoso Karen Tweed, a common multi-coloured sight in Orkney this past few years as she frequently wended her way towards any type of music available to her, but who is now sadly departing these shores, and more’s the pity for us. Karen started to play the piano accordion at the age of 11 and her many collaborations since then have ranged from Irish pipers and American guitarists to Norwegian fiddlers and English songwriters. She was a founder member of the Poozies and sometimes leads a 21-piece all-female orchestra. Karen is currently collaborating with accordionist/composer Karen Street and saxophonist/composer Andy Tweed. For the avoidance of doubt, Karen is a virtuoso, and unafraid to take her instrument outside its more usual folk and traditional music domains. For example, I first met her when she was giving a beautiful rendition of Stevie Wonder’s ‘If It’s Magic’. First time I think I’d heard a Major seventh on a piano accordion… Erika Andersson started piano lessons at the age of 7, followed by guitar and violin. In parallel, she developed an interest in mathematics and science and ended up studying both science and music in her home country, Finland. After a PhD in Theoretical Physics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, she came to Scotland in 2001 on a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship. She is currently Professor of Physics at Heriot-Watt University. She’s also a whizz on the old Joanna. More seriously, she’s a concert pianist of some stature, and this appearance lets us see just how brilliant she actually is in performance. I’m going to make a confession. I thought Erika was Swedish, and if I’d known she was from Finland I’d have approached her with a little more trepidation from the start. I have had two interactions with Finnish people in my life, and neither ended well. The first, in a Marmaris restaurant with my Turkish friend Gurhan involved a Finnish lady drunk on much vodka who sat at my table unbidden and proceeded to take my knife and cut both her wrists. I mean, I didn’t think my lines were that bad. She was hospitalised and was generally fine but continued to peer out from behind the bushes the following night in the same place. The second was on a visit to Helsinki itself, when I decided to see what a Saturday night bars would be like. I found that after midnight it was like a scene from The Walking Dead, with hefty drunken men stumbling around, bumping into me and others as they tried to walk home, and growling menacingly at any contact. I was glad to get back to the peaceful gaiety and gentle ambiance of Belfast. For this performance Karen played her usual piano-accordion but from time to time also included some poetry to help illustrate the subject matter. Erika delivered basic descriptions of quantum physics whilst at the piano but also played violin and viola during the evening with contemptuous ease. They were also joined for the final piece by Martin Foden on drums, a challenging and daunting part for a young man with no previous live performing experience. There was an extensive setlist which included original pieces by Karen Tweed, rearrangements by Erika and Karen of other pieces, some well-known, and several pieces specifically to show quantum concepts as musical forms. The initial premises dealt with Uncertainty and Superposition, where the fundamental unit of quantum, the quibit, can exist in two states simultaneously, but in trying to precisely measure pairs of properties only one can be accurately measured, as the process itself disturbs the system. This is an inherent property of quantum systems. Two musical pieces were played simultaneously, with both happily existing in the same structure and without clashing, the intertwining pieces being ‘ The First Nöel. and ‘Santa Lucia’. Later late local songwriter Aly Windwick’s ‘Sleepy Laddie got a run out with ‘Flickorna Svensson’. Erika gave the physics behind the quantum concepts, dealing with everything from quantum entanglement to atomic clocks, before both musicians played a corresponding piece. Erika Andersson’s prowess on the piano certainly came into its own, with some extraordinarily complex pieces dazzling the audience as the night progressed. The only downside was the quality of the instrument that she played, a borrowed budget electronic piano, which did not do real justice to her dexterity and dynamics with its limited sound and voicing, which relied on the middle frequency range, and with a loss of timbre and richness that it needed. If I’d known she was this good I’d have hoofed my own Roland RD 2000 Stage Piano down to the venue just to hear it played properly. It’ll be available for any future events, Erika! There was some audience participation where an audience member caused key changes as he rang a small bell, showing how an intervention would result in a change in the music, demonstrating how this brought about a change in a particle, but with one element staying the same as another changed. The evening wended its way through the different musical styles, popular, folk, classical, and ended up with jazz, with ‘Never Stop” by The Bad Plus. This was to mimic an atomic clock and the effects of quantum physics in present and upcoming technology, as the kick drum never stops through the changes. For this Martin Foden took the stage and proceeded to give a flawless debut. Well done to him for stepping up at this event, taking on a major role with such quiet reserve. There was a great reception from the audience for the show, and many people were asking questions afterwards. In addition, Erika and Karen had handed out small cards to the audience earlier for comments, and these were very interesting, including some drawings probably coming from train of thought of the listener. This was a brave concept, and with a tweak here and there can only get better. It’s a complex subject, and anything that can add to popular comprehension is to be lauded as it takes on a bigger place in science, technology and our lives. I enjoyed it immensely and look forward to seeing it again hopefully at some future time. An event like this might also be an excellent teaching aid for Highers Physics students. Great musicians, a great performance and both food and music for thought. Performance video clip (2 min 22 secs), YouTube. Performers’ websites Music For A Quantum Landscape – Setlist The First Nöel (William B. Sandys 1823)/Santa Lucia (Trad. Neopolitan, translated by Teodoro Cottrau 1849), both Arr. Karen Tweed and Erika Andersson Sleepie Laddie (Aly Windwick)/ Flickorna Svensson (Pelle Svensson) Spiegel im Spiegel (Arvo Pärt 1978) Taklax (efter Johan Erik Taklax) (Trad.)Arr. Karen Tweed and Erika Andersson Polska från Dorotea (Trad.) Arr. Karen Tweed and Erika Andersson I’m Not Fed Up of The Pacific Ocean (Ola Bäckström) Apples For Fred (Karen Tweed) Greenville (Svante Kvarnström) Back Home At Önsbacken (Karen Tweed) A Torrent of Gold (Karen Tweed) Spaghetti Panic with Chilli (Andy Cutting) China Gates (John Adams 1978) L’Indifférence (Tony Muréna and Josef Colombo 1942) Never Stop (The Bad Plus -2010)
