Blog

(How) T o Play The Ocean

2025; dur:10-15′; 1+afl+pic.2+ca.3.3/4.2+pictpt.3.1/timp.3perc.hp.pf(cel)/str.;Score at Wise Music Classical How can an orchestra sound like an ocean? The rich and multi-layered sea, reconciling and disturbing, full of all types of big and small waves at once in simultaneous fractal patterns, always changing—from calm ripples to house-high swells—much alive, yet never aware of its overwhelming effect on humans […]

(How) T o Play The Ocean Read More »

Pedunculate

2025; dur: 4′; Vln; Score at Wise Music Classical (coming) The oak tree is an inspiration for this piece. The oak tree is a host to a huge number of endangered species, from birds to small insects and plants, growing, breeding and dying on the tree. Oak trees play an important role in the cultural

Pedunculate Read More »

I Cannot Heave My Heart Into My Mouth (Cordelia’s Lament)

2025; dur: 11′; Accordion and Voice (One or two performers); Score at Wise Music Classical This solo piece is an uttering for sincerity and love, using a textual fragments from Shakespeare’s King Lear – in the mouth of Cordelia. The performer is asked to sing along while playing the piece. There is no demand to

I Cannot Heave My Heart Into My Mouth (Cordelia’s Lament) Read More »

Helt for seg selv (NO)

KONSERT: Lundelig, meidelsk, apnesielt og majastetisk. Av Arild R. Andersen, Jazz i Norge. Der Maja S.K. Ratkje møter opp i musikken, setter hun tydelige spor med god mønsterdybde. Det gjør hun også på «Collage», det nylig utgitte albumet på Hubro.Erlend Apneseth Trio with Maja S.K. Ratkje står det på coveret, og all musikken er skrevet

Helt for seg selv (NO) Read More »

All Losses Are Restored reviews (in French, German, Norwegian, Italian, Czech and English)

photo by Ola Vatn and Voldseth “…Le jeu de guitare de Stian Westerhus révèle une subtilité que ses habituelles incursions noisy peinent à dévoiler de façon aussi nue, alors que les atonales cordes des violons ne cessent de poser des tentures effondrées. Beau, solaire et sensible plus que tout autre, ce disque n’est pas de

All Losses Are Restored reviews (in French, German, Norwegian, Italian, Czech and English) Read More »

Review from Vinterjazz in Salt Peanuts (DK)

“Det islandske ensemble Nordic Affect og Maja S. K. Ratkjes (hovedbilledet) samarbejde kombinerer ny musik med traditionelle instrumenter ligesom Forbidden Color fra aftenen før. Men begge har et unikt tag på denne fremgangsmåde – især med tilføjelsen af Ratkje på elektronik og sang til Nordic Affect. Hertil består Nordic Affect af violinisten Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir,

Review from Vinterjazz in Salt Peanuts (DK) Read More »

Divine Supplication

TRACKLIST: Nobilis Humilis East Tennessee Perfect Matrimony I Bowed Divine Supplication (feat. Maja S. K. Ratkje) S’on Me Regarde Avoiding Friction Bell, Book, Candle Falling Away A Not-Quite Locked Door LINK TO ALBUM ON BANDCAMP Divine Supplication, Derek Piotr’s new release, is a deeply intimate work wrought from a series of personal tragedies. Yet while

Divine Supplication Read More »

The Great Bailout

by Moor Mother The Great Bailout is Moor Mother aka Camae Ayewa’s ninth studio album and third with ANTI- Records, with production contributions on various tracks from Mary Lattimore, Lonnie Holley, Vijay Ayer, Angel Bat Dawid, Sistazz of the Nitty Gritty, Aaron Dilloway and more. Called “the poet laureate of the apocalypse,” by Pitchfork, Ayewa’s music contains multitudes of

The Great Bailout Read More »

MEUF vol. 1

A compilation featuring a small selection of some of the many interesting female voices on the blossoming field of experimental music in the Nordic countries, working in new collaborations. MEUF vol. 1 features:Maja S. K. Ratkje, Hilde Marie Holsen, Nina De Heney, Maria Laurette Friis, Qarin Wikström, Carolyn Goodwin, Nana Pi, Laura Toxværd, Marilyn Mazur,

MEUF vol. 1 Read More »

All Losses Are Restored

We are happy to present the debut album of the duo Stian Westerhus and Maja S. K. Ratkje, two Norwegian composers and performers known to the international scene through numerous works and albums in various constellations over decades. Released 15 March 2024 Crispin Glover Records. To many of their followers’ big surprise, Stian Westerhus and

All Losses Are Restored Read More »

Poesi på bristepunktet

Poesi på bristepunktet (Poetry at the Breaking Point) is a series of collaborations between author Aasne Linnestå and composer and performer Maja S. K. Ratkje with fellow musicians. The author sits onstage writing poetry in real time, projected on a large screen visible to the audience. The musicians accompany, respond to and interpret the words.

Poesi på bristepunktet Read More »

Nordic: A Fragile Hope

For the immersive concert experience Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (Göteborgs Symfoniker) has commissioned orchestral works from five prominent composers from all Nordic countries, Daníel Bjarnason (Iceland), Miho Hazama (Denmark), Mats Larsson Gothe (Sweden), Maja S. K. Ratkje (Norway) and Outi Tarkiainen (Finland). Drawing inspiration from the Nordic nature, each commission in “Nordic – A Fragile Hope”

Nordic: A Fragile Hope Read More »

Scroll to Top