My new piece for bass trombone, church organ and tape was recently performed at the Oslo Organ Festival. The title, "Between Sounds", is a play on words. On the one hand meaning that i'm undecided on which sound to use, and focusing on the "silence" one can hear in between sounds. This reflects my curiosity and restless artistic nature. I can't bare the notion of only working within the boundaries of one genre or discipline.
For this site-specific commission I wanted to create a piece, not just for these specific musicians, but for (and with) the sound(s) of the church itself, and in fact it's surrounding neighborhood. To achieve this I utilized field recordings of ambient street noise surrounding the church as well as internal sounds such as creaky floor boards, footsteps and the whirring of the organ's motor. By amplifying these sounds I attempted to bring small, otherwise unnoticeable sounds to the audiences attention, as well as bringing the exterior of the church (including children playing, birdsong and even the tram!) inside. In a sense, the true music of this piece occurs when the performers stop playing!
Thanks so much to Clare Farr and Inger-Lise Ulsrud for their generosity, hard work and for a stellar performance!