Ultima Thule: The Closest Possible Sound

Ultima Thule! Utmost Isle!
Here in thy harbors for a while
We lower our sails; a while we rest
From the unending, endless quest.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1880

Ultima Thule is the ancient name for the farthest possible place, the edge of the known world. In Longfellow’s poem, it is also a harbour reached after a long journey, a place where the sails are lowered for a while and the endless quest briefly comes to rest.

FRANÇOIS SARHAN | VIOLETA GARCIA | TANJA ORNING | LEMUR | YANN LEGUAY | MIGUEL ÁNGEL GARCIA | ZAFRAAN ENSEMBLE | ASAMISIMASA | NINA GUO | SIMON LØFFLER | HEIDA MOBECK | ALBERTO BERNAL | SVETLANA MARAŠ

For one long evening, Sentralen becomes a harbour for music moving towards outer limits: the limit of the instrument, the limit of the body, the limit of electricity, the limit of belonging, the limit of what can still be called a concert.

At the centre of the evening, François Sarhan’s seven-hour Log Book unfolds in sections. A daily record of voices, fragments and observations kept since 2019, the piece is also a map of lived time and a portrait of contemporary Europe.

Around it, the physical world pushes back. Cellos resist their players. Objects become instruments. Electricity flickers in the air. Images of protest movements and stock market charts are pulled into sound. These are not neutral materials, but unstable systems that answer back.

What unites the evening is a refusal of distance — between performer and instrument, between music and the world outside, between what happens on stage and what happens in the room. A willingness to be affected.

The closest possible sound.

Programme

• Log Book
  18.00 – 01.00
  Forstanderskapssalen
• Cello Musique Concrete
  18.00 – 18.55
  Gymsalen
• Volta Feedback
  19.30 – 20.15
  Hvelvet
• Lichtbogen
  20.30 – 21.15
  Marmorsalen
• Close to the Ground
  21.30 – 22.15
  Hvelvet
• Slightly Bent
  22.30 – 23.00
  Gymsalen
• Volta Feedback
  23.30 – 00.15
  Hvelvet

How to sail through the evening

Format 

Ultima Thule unfolds across several rooms at Sentralen, with concerts taking place in parallel throughout the evening.

Rooms 

Forstanderskapsalen: Log Book

Gymsalen: Cello Musique Concrète and Slightly Bent

Marmorsalen: Lichtbogen

Hvelvet: Volta Feedback and Close to the Ground

Salon, Gullbaren and game library: open throughout the evening

During the evening 

You can move between rooms, take breaks and return. The salon, Gullbaren and game library offer space to rest, drink, talk, play or spend time between events.

Artists and composers 

The evening brings together François Sarhan, Nina Guo, asamisimasa, Zafraan Ensemble, Tanja Orning, Heida Mobeck, Simon Løffler, Violeta García, Miguel Ángel García Martín, Svetlana Maraš, Alberto Bernal, Yann Leguay and LEMUR.

Tickets

An Ultima Thule pass gives access to the full evening.

Please note

Some works contain loud sound, intense light and close physical encounters with sound.