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World Premiere of Luke Bedford's Where the Lines Cross in Freiburg

Feb. 28, 2026

On February 10, the Holst Sinfonietta, under the baton of Klaus Simon, premiered Luke Bedford's Where the Lines Cross for harp and ensemble at E-Werk Freiburg. Notably, the performance also included the German premiere of David Sawer's Good Night. 

Bedford was inspired to write Where the Lines Cross after reading Jon Fosse's Septology:

“And I see myself standing and looking at two lines that cross, one brown, one purple, and I see how I’ve painted the lines slowly, with a lot of paint, thick paint, two long wide lines, and they’ve dripped, and where the lines cross the colours blend beautifully and drip and I’m thinking that this isn’t a picture but suddenly the picture is the way it’s supposed to be, it’s done…”

– Jon Fosse - Septology (trans. Damion Searls), opening of part 2

He notes, "I had written around four minutes of another piece entirely, when I started reading Jon Fosse’s Septology. Almost straight away, I was taken by the idea of translating the atmosphere of this unique book into music. A work written essentially in one huge sentence – where the words he uses are simple, but the thoughts - the composition of these words - is complex. I particularly admired how the same ideas obsessively circulate in the narrator’s head, something that seemed to convey the way that we think, which also has an inherently musical quality to it.

Somewhat unexpectedly, a composition written almost entirely in Bb major appeared: reflecting Fosse’s simplicity of vocabulary. The pitches are constructed using an infinity series but always kept within the bounds of the key signature. The rhythms for each part are also derived directly from their pitches; creating an effect where patterns emerge but the repetition is never exact.

The solo harp plays a key role in the piece: perhaps something akin to the role of the narrator in the novel. Sometimes it picks out the notes “where the lines cross”; sometimes it creates the lines of music itself.

Where the Lines Cross is dedicated to Julia, Klaus and the Holst Sinfonietta."

To learn more about Luke Bedford, visit universaledition.com.

Luke Bedford
Where the Lines Cross (2023)
for harp and ensemble
fl.cl.hp.2vn.va.vc
15'

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