Kali Malone, organ
Lucy Railton, cello
Stephen O'Malley, electric guitar
As part of an extensive international tour, American organist and composer Kali Malone comes to Interfinity with Burning Song, her new work for pipe organ, cello and guitar, performed together with cellist Lucy Railton and guitarist Stephen O’Malley at the Pauluskirche. The programme also includes selected compositions from Malone’s extensive organ repertoire.
Burning Song marks a transformation in Malone’s compositional approach towards a process that is more intuitive and direct. Moving through endings and beginnings, reflection and foresight, the music seems to hover in the moment just before understanding. The canonical structures that have shaped much of her previous organ music give way to a greater sense of freedom: chord follows chord in slow succession, with each piece unfolding linearly and connected to the next by subtle bridging tones.
Malone is joined by Lucy Railton on cello and Stephen O’Malley on acoustic guitar, continuing the profound musical connection the trio developed through earlier projects. The three musicians move as one through passages that shift between ambiguity and radiance, at times rising triumphantly towards the organ’s upper register. Through its scale, duration and radical slowness, the music creates a space for introspection, wonder and unwavering tenderness.
Burning Song also touches on a central question of the festival: How do we communicate when language is absent? Built on deep listening between the three musicians, the work allows understanding to emerge through sound itself – through resonance, attention and the subtlest shifts in tone.
Here you can listen to samples of Kali Malone's new album.