Repetition, Resonance, and Discernment

Musical performance is an artistic manifestation consisting of action or being enacted by the artist. At the same time, the artist is in a discerning, perceiving situation, a situation of "resonance." However, the potential of both discernment and action is dependent upon the performer's entire artistic background which is the result of a patient acquisition of artistic skills and knowledge, and upon the cultural tools at hand. The moment of kairos, the opportune time at which these processes come together joining the intuitive knowing and the individual skills of the performer to the clearest light is the focus of this article. We will in the present text look at several instances in the production and performances of a composition by the Swedish composer Henrik Frisk titled Repetition Repeats All Other Repetitions. Particular emphasis will be put on video material from CD-recording sessions that took place with the guitarist Stefan O?stersjo? at the Electronic Music Studios (EMS) in Stockholm in January 2011.