Marta Sofia Honer is a viola and violin performer, session player, arranger, composer and educator in Los Angeles. As an artist on the record label International Anthem she has released several albums including Recordings from the Åland Islands, The Closest Thing to Silence, and Different Rooms – all existing in a not quite ambient, not quite jazz, not quite minimalism realm but something that dances within the in between.
Hi name is Marta Sofia Honer and this is my playlist for I Care If You Listen.
I spent the first two decades or so of my life training to be a classical musician while still eating up tons of different genres: jazz, world music, folk, electronic… and now I’m in this new phase of being an artist who is exploring and learning how to play all the notes that aren’t on the page — and I think you can find all of the above on this. There are tracks that have been super inspirational to me in the past decade or so during album writing, there are tracks that have been with me for almost thirty years always kind of being cornerstone moments of simple beautiful musicality. [And] it’s been really interesting overviewing these tracks after selecting them and seeing how many of them have commonalities of folk music and field recording which you can find in my own work today.
Figure in a Clearing by David Behrman
When starting to work with synthesist and composer Jeremiah Chiu, David Behrman’s record On the Other Ocean was, and still is a huge reference point for me on exploring and examining the qualities of electronic and acoustic instruments being played together. Played by a micro-computer reacting to pitches performed by live players then reacting to the computers harmonies, the result is a captivating performance.
Paddy Fahy’s Jig/Sean Ryan’s Jig Performed by Martin Hayes
This track is one that I have carried with me the longest. As a kid I got into learning traditional Irish music with my dad and this album was played in the house all the time. Martin Hayes has a special and calm artistry to him that I have always loved and carried with me – clear and simple tone is often the most effective and impactful statement one can make.
String Quartet No. 4, Sz. 91: III. Non troppo lento by Bela Bartok, Performed by Emerson String Quartet
Bartok was a pioneer ethnomusicologist, traveling throughout Eastern Europe recording folk music on phonograph cylinders, many of whose modal scales and rhythms then blend into his compositions.
This movement from his 4th string quartet is particularly captivating because not only does it use a lot of folk related pentatonic scales, it also features his “Night music” style of clustered drones evoking outdoor evening spaciousness, and imitations of animal sounds like frogs and birds. He’s essentially through composing field recordings into his work — if only he knew how popular they were in music today!
Acrid Avid Jam Shred by Aphex Twin
I remember checking …I Care Because You Do out from the library because I thought the album art was weird and it became my introduction into electronic music. This track (and record) has a lot of string like patches that play repetitive slow minimalism style melodies amidst the electronics that I hadn’t really considered being a gateway point for me until recently as Jeremiah Chiu and I were working on Different Rooms and re-gleaning inspiration from the classic sawtooth oscillator sounds of Aphex Twin.
Black Earth by Fazil Say
Written and performed by pianist Fazil Say, Black Earth is a composition inspired by a popular song from Turkey, and uses a muted string effect on the piano to imitate a saz (a Turkish lute). This work has always struck me in its combination of extended technique, and balance of blending both classical composition and folk melody.
“Café Table Musik” by Franco Battiato, Performed by Alide Maria Salvetta and Antonio Ballista
Battiato is a constant point of inspiration and reference, and this track like many of his more experimental works feels like you are zooming in and out of different dioramas of life that he has built, peeking into different windows of rooms of sound.
Different Room by Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer
The title track off my latest duo record with Jeremiah Chiu — I feel like this piece showcases a lot of love and inspiration by the above works.
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