HERE'S YOUR MILK was commissioned by Karolina and Erika Öhman – Ume Duo – with the kind support of KodaKultur and the Danish Arts Council, Statens Kunstfond.

HERE'S YOUR MILK continues a series – following JOUNCE (2016), THRESH (2018) and BEAT (2020) - that explores tapping, hitting and shaking sounds across various strings, dowels and instruments. It also looks back to RHODA'S SONG and HARRIET'S SONG (2001), which in turn are inspired by Jane Bowles’ puppet play A Quarreling Pair, from 1945.

The thematics of a sister relationship from Jane Bowles’ play resurfaced in my response to the Öhman sisters’ commission. Where, in HARRIET's SONG, I took a more gentle and sentimental angle on sisterhood, I chose in HERE'S YOUR MILK, to go with the strength. The players sit back to back - the percussionist (Erika) with a drum kit, and the cellist (Karolina) playing with two bows. They each have a hi-hat, kick drum and triangles in common, and their metrics and rhythms are locked into one another. Sharing close quarters is not only a recipe for spatial claustrophobia, but also an opportunity for intensely meaningful contact? The unconventional yet completely ordinary rigidity of Jane Bowles’ take on sisterhood is, in this case, a strong ground for tight musical coordination and sonic mirroring.

Duration: variable, c. 10 minutes