Program:

Hassan (for prepared alto saxophone, tape & live electronics)

Līmen II (for piano, tape & live electronics)

Description:

Hassan (for prepared saxophone and sound recording), commissioned by the Cultural Center Nova Gorica and the 10th International Saxophone Competition SAXGO22, was composed in 2022 as an obligatory piece for the first round of the competition. The piece is written for prepared saxophone and sound recording. Originally, I draw from the linguistic material of my improvisations, extended techniques such as “whistle tones” and microtonal polyrhythms and the expansion of my knowledge of electroacoustic sound processing through spectral filters. Hassan is a composition that has more to do with prose than poetry. It does not allow for an extremely abstract musical imagination, as it is written in a very narrative fashion, meaning that the musical material appears in the places where we expect it to appear, and uses this form to argue for its existence. For example, the technique of “whistle tones” can first be traced to the soundtrack, which later appears in the acoustic form. Preparing a saxophone with a glass jar is quite “unusual” and allows the expansion of natural spectral multiphonics, extreme dynamics, introverted acoustics and so-called “whistle tones”. Why did I name the song Hassan? It was my motivation and the presence of the name itself in my social environment, as I live in a particular part of The Hague that is predominantly associated with the Moroccan community. This allows me a connection that leads me to explore their cultural heritage, the religion of Islam, the constitutional monarchy, and the extraordinary connection within the community in everyday conversations. The piece is dedicated to my long-time mentor and friend Matjaž Drevenšek.

The composition Līmen II for piano, tape and live electronics contextually develops my other fascination and continuation of a series of works Līmen. There are seven pieces by now. The collection includes a sound installation, concerto for flute and clarinet with tape

and live electronics, the third in a series of compositions is a piece for trumpets and percussion, the fourth one is a symphonic orchestra piece, the fifth one is a concerto for harp, electric guitar, tape and ambisonics and the most recent one is Līmen VI for soprano and large ensemble commissioned by Orkest de Ereprijs.

Līmen is my way of expressing the conceptual anthropological definition of initiation rites which Arnold van Gennep has described as the transience of space through a three-part structure.