ØX

2005; dur: 1o'; Alto sax and stereo playback file;
Score at nb.no;
Works also as a stereo electronic piece.

On the records River Mouth Echoes (Nystrøm), ANTITHESIS: Contemporary Saxophone Music (Bianchini), Music for Saxophones (Raven) and Concepts of Sorrows & Dangers (Nystrøm).

Programme note:

ØX is a piece in which I originally intended to cultivate simplicity – straight lines, hard edges, noise, silence. It was supposed to be a piece that moved between the extremities of silence (represented by Ø, the empty set) and an unknown factor X that alternates between elements of noise and sine wave-like saxophone tones in the extreme upper register of the instrument, creating amazing difference tones. In the course of the composing process, however, I could not free my mind of the lyrical potential in the pre-recordings made by saxophonist Rolf-Erik Nystrøm. By retaining a lyrical element, the piece takes on a three-dimensional quality in which the saxophone (the human factor?) falls victim of ØX* – but in a world of art and fairy-tales anything is possible, so the piece has a happy ending!

* ØX is phonologically identical to the Norwegian word ‘øks’, in English ‘axe’.

Dedicated to Rolf-Erik Nystrøm.

Alternate programme note:

ØX is a piece with hard edges, the title giving associations to the Norwegian word ‘øks’ which is pronounced the same way, meaning ‘axe’. The title ØX also points to ‘ø’, the letter symbol for ’niente’, used in music notation to describe sound coming from or going towards nothing, or complete silence. The X insinuates cuts or cross fades in sound production. Placing the human, the solo saxophone player, in a both brutal and tender landscape of deconstructed saxophone samples (recorded with the Norwegian saxophone player Rolf-Erik Nystrøm), creates a musical narrative where the soloist alternates between being led by the impulses in the recorded part and taking initiative with loud outbursts inspired by the harsh sound of frijazz performers.

in Norwegian:

ØX er et stykke som i utgangspunktet skulle dyrke det enkle, de rette linjene, de harde kantene, støy eller stillhet. Det skulle være et stykke som beveger seg mellom ytterpunktene stillhet (den tomme mengde, Ø) og en ukjent X som veksler mellom å være innslag av støy eller sinusliknende saksofontoner i ekstremt høyt register som skaper vanvittige differansetoner. Men underveis i prosessen klarte jeg aldri å kvitte meg med sitater fra Rolf-Eriks mer lyriske side (kanskje det skyldes at min egen estetikk også inneholder alle disse elementene), og ved å bevare dette aspektet får stykket en tredimensjonalitet hvor saksofonen (mennesket?) blir rammet av en ØX, men i kunstens og eventyrenes verden er alt mulig, så det ender godt. Alle lyder er hentet fra Rolf-Eriks saksofon, og stykket er dedisert til den, eller jeg burde si ham.

Jazznytt nr 5, 2006:

“(…)På “ØX” bearbeider Maja Ratkje Nystrøms saksofon ved hjelp av elektronikk. Sammen lager de massiv støy, bitende, skrikende og gnissende høye frekvenser. (…) Som Nystrøms musikalske univers er også denne platen svært varierende, på godt og vondt. Høydepunktene er “ØX” og de akustiske solosaksofonstykkene, (…)” Audun Reithaug Rasmussen

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