Sky Mechanics – new sound installation for the "Lunchtime Concert"

In connection with The Black Diamond's 25th anniversary, a new sound installation is being inaugurated for the Atrium, Sky Mechanics by the American composer Wayne Siegel. The work is generated in real time by a computer programme and although it can only be heard for 3-4 minutes, it is constantly changing as it is affected by the cycle of the moon.

This evening you can hear the piece played in the Atrium for the first time, and before the premiere there will be a speech by programme manager for music Jesper Egelund and director of the Royal Danish Library Svend Larsen.

"The lunchtime concert"

Every day at 1 o'clock, the Atrium in The Black Diamond is filled with a 3-4 minute long piece of music. The music is specially composed for the Diamond's specially designed 12-channel "speaker orchestra", where each speaker is programmed with its own "orchestral voice". Four loudspeakers have been installed in the ceilings of each of the three balcony floors in the Atrium.

Until 10 September 2024, you can experience the very first work that was written for the Diamond's "house orchestra", namely Catalog from 2001 by the legendary composer Jens Vilhelm Pedersen, better known as "Fuzzy". The work consists of 52 parts – one for each of the weeks of the year – that let the library's greatest treasures get new musical life.

Between 2015 and 2017, Wayne Siegel was house composer at the Royal Danish Library, where he i.a. created the installation Outside/In for the Atrium, which was played daily in the period 2015-2021.

Continue the evening to the anniversary concert with Den Danske Strygekvartet on the same day at 8 pm.