Anton Webern’s mathematically centred String Quartet Op 28 (1938) is one of the most influential and controversial works of the 20th century – expanding on Bach’s music as it explored the tempered 12-tone scale, Webern tipped his hat to the great composer with the first four notes of his landmark work, spelling out B-A-C-H. In […]
Das Wohltemperierte SPUNK reviewed by The Wire Read More »
2013; dur: 20′; Voice(B), vln, vcl, pf, backing voices; Score at nb.no; For parts rental, contact Ratkje
From Ziggy Stardust Read More »
Dagens Nyheter: Veckans album (…)Precis som efter långvarigt sällskap av Bachs preludier och fugor infinner sig efter ett tag en viss déjà vu-känsla, men i själva verket finns hela tiden små, små skiftningar. Här finns förstås också en uppenbar formförebild i den italienske excentrikern Giacinto Scelsis entoniga ”Quattro pezzi (su una nota sola)” från 1959.
Das Wohltemperierte SPUNK reviews in Norwegian and Swedish Read More »
På boxen “Das Wohltemperierte Spunk” utforskar den norska kvartetten SPUNK tolv toner i den tempererade skalan. Verket tog tolv år att skapa! Ett firande av den tempererade musikens historia, men också ett firande av musikens mikrotonala potential och ett farväl till det gamla, säger Maja Ratkje i en mailintervju med Soundofmusic. Av: Magnus Nygren Soundofmusic.no
SPUNK firar och tar farväl av det gamla (SE/NO) Read More »
I am very happy to announce that I am among the nominees for the Nordic Council Music Prizethis year. This year’s theme text is: “The Nordic Council Music Prize 2013 will go to a small or large ensemble or an individual musician whose musical activity must be characterised as innovative and of a high artistic
And the nominees are… Read More »
The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival has sent us some audience reactions. All very positive. Enjoy. • Beautiful, peaceful, melodic, graceful. The children and we were mesmerised. Thank you. • Beautiful. Just the right size. • Lovely, interesting and innovative. We had a fantastic time. • Esme, aged 2 1/2: ‘Very slidey ladies!’. Brilliant, beautiful and
Korall Koral feedback from Huddersfield and Dewsbury 2012 Read More »
(In)famous noise duo consisting of Hild Sofie Tafjord and Maja S. K. Ratkje. Legendary releases in vinyls and in numerous compilations, art projects and known for free improvised concerts worldwide with the use of unorthodox sound sources. Follow the tag ‘fe-mail’ at this post to discover their world. Full album releases: Syklubb fra Hælvete Voluptuous
Fe-mail (2000-2005) Read More »
Biel: Fulminanter Auftakt: der erste Abend am diesjährigen Festival “Ear We Are” bestach durch pointerte Farbkontraste.
Abstrakte Pinselstrichte and Klangarchitekturen (DE) Read More »
Rune Grammofon: “At one minute past eight in the evening of the twentieth of January, 2001, the Norwegian quartet SPUNK began playing a drone in the key of B, inaugurating a project that would weave into their musical lives for the foreseeable future. Eleven years, eleven months and eleven minutes later, the same foursome struck
Das Wohltemperierte SPUNK Read More »
2013; Album by Maja S. K. Ratkje and Ikue Mori
Scrumptious Sabotage Read More »
Vibrations 2012: photo by Lasse Marhaug Part of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (HCMF), this was the UK Premier of Crepuscular Hour, a piece by Norwegian composer and musician Maja S K Ratkje that seeks to incorporate harsh noise within the more formal setting of a written piece of music. A fascinating idea in itself,
Crepuscular Hour reviewed by Vibrations Read More »
Phantom Orchard began as an experimental duo comprised of two innovative figures from the experimental New York downtown scene: Ikue Mori, who exchanged the drummer position in the No Wave band DNA for a unique exploration of electronic sounds; and Zeena Parkins, who has expanded the vocabulary of the harp in acoustic and electric contexts.
Trouble In Paradise reviewed by All About Jazz Read More »
The German film makers need your contribution to finish the promising documentary on my work. The film has so far met high expectations! But where is the money when it really counts? So much spare time and idealistic work behind this, please support! Funding campaign link.
Please help fund the final production of ‘Voice – the movie’! Read More »
hcmf//: We talk to Maja about finding her voice, both as a performer and a composer, about the liberation that comes from improvisation and about how her music managed to upset the United Nations…
Maja S K Ratkje: a unique voice Read More »
Tzadik: “Members of bands as diverse as DNA, Skeleton Crew, Electric Masada, Hemophiliac and Björk, Zeena and Ikue have been leading figures of the downtown scene since the early 1980s. Their fabulous duo project Phantom Orchard is expanded here with five of the most exciting and creative women working in experimental music today. Created in
Trouble in Paradise Read More »
Indie Recordings: “Trinacria was originally a composition by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved), Maja S. K. Ratkje and Hils Sofie Tafjord (both from Fe-mail), commissioned by Rikskonsertene for a concert series. The line-up was completed by Grutle Kjellson, Ice Dale (both from Enslaved), Iver Sandøy (Emmerhoff) and Espen Lien. In short: after working together briefly, the composition
Trinacria (2007-2010) Read More »
Visual artist HC Gilje and sound artist Maja Ratkje ended the festival. The setting was impressive: eighteen large (40 x 40 cm) monitors were stacked in a semicircle about eight feet high.
Reviews from Krems, Kontraste 2012 (in English and Norwegian) Read More »
The Guardian Nov. 15 2012 Norwegian composer and performer Maja Ratkje has worked with classical groups and metal bands. But it is her opera for babies that has brought her international fame by Alfred Hickling At an arts centre in Asker, a small Norwegian town a few kilometres from Oslo, a select crowd has gathered
A collaboration consisting of the two Norwegians Hild Sofie Tafjord and Maja S. K. Ratkje in trio with Swedish dancer and choreographer Lotta Melin (2004-2011). The trio worked in the fields of openness and density within an acoustic and electronic sound world; Music and dance being created together in the instant now, with the help
Agrare (2004-2011) Read More »