Art Music Project

Chapter 1. Altgitarr

Altgitarr is an album where music for alto guitar recorded by Nils Klöfver merges with the drawings of Jenny Svenberg Bunnel to form a limited edition vinyl LP recording where each cover sleeve and disc is a piece of art in itself.

The driving force behind this project is the fascinating idea of combining different genres and discovering what happens in the very moment they meet. Both art forms are inspired and nurtured by each other in a beneficial synergy where the result is far greater than the sum of its parts.

a day in the studio

Beginning with filming a music video where Jenny was life drawing as Nils was performing, they both realised how they were feeding off each other’s artistic expression. Jenny was touched by the beauty of Bach’s counterpoint, and as her drawings evolved, as did Nils’ interpretation of the piece. The final outcome ended up being so much more than what they initially set out to do: three sublime drawings capturing three moments of instrument and musician alongside an inspired rendition of the prelude of Bach’s lute suite in E major.

paper with a pedigree

We were overwhelmed to have found a batch of paper left behind by late Swedish artist Sven Bunnel. The legendary Swedish paper mill Tumba Bruk produced this Goya paper in the 1970s, and being able to use this meant we were able to make fully inimitable prints of the three finished drawings. We only found a small number of sheets and as the production of these papers ceased long ago, the edition becomes naturally limited and future reprints an impossibility. After being printed using the fine art giclée method each sheet was mounted seamlessly and by hand onto the LP sleeve. Jenny then added the title, her signature and the numbering in her own hand to each impression creating 240 truly unique pieces of art.

11-string anniversary

Altgitarr is the Swedish word for alto guitar, an addition to the guitar family that was developed in Sweden by luthier Georg Bolin and guitarist Per-Olof Johnson. This album with the same name commemorates the 50th anniversary of this very instrument, combining music of the Baroque with arrangements of traditional and popular songs.

mr and mrs Bach

Side A is dedicated to Bach’s first suite for solo cello. This much-loved work has lately been scrutinised and it has been suggested that it was in fact not written by Johann Sebastian Bach, but rather by his second wife, Anna Magdalena, a fine musician and copyist in her own right. There is evidence speaking for both beliefs, and we might never know for sure, but it surely adds to the mystery of this great composition. The B side features a passacaglia by S.L. Weiss, Nils’ arrangement of the traditional folksong Greensleeves and a solo guitar version of Fool on the Hill by the Beatles. Here we also find the prelude from J.S. Bach’s lute suite in E major, the piece appearing in the music video recording that initiated the whole project.