"Traces" was written for an exhibition by the same name, presenting texts and drawings by Hilde Flikke at Hellviktangen, Nesodden in April 2023. The exhibition "Traces" was based on a collaboration with dancer Fernanda Branco through her Artistic Research project “environment embodiment - towards poetic narratives” at Oslo National Academy of the Arts.

In her project, Flikke takes the role as an artistic documentarian, or logger, who records Branco's movements in the landscape minute by minute. These records (text and drawings) formed the performance's material/scores (shown in the exhibition) for which I was to write music.

traces #3 - Hellviktangen north seashore, 2022

It is somehow difficult for me to put into words why the music turned out the way it did. The drawings and texts by Hilde Flikke were spontaneous impressions of Fernanda Branco’s movements in a landscape. But in contrast to the simple, distant and fleeting expression in Flikke's sketches, the music is quite massive, tonal (and microtonal) and noisy. It develops slowly and resembles a tough mass.

What is certain is that the music was also created quite spontaneously during some short and intense periods in the spring of 2023. During these periods, I listened to the music of the Austrian composer Klaus Lang, and therefore I believe that this work is also somewhat inspired by his music too.

In the live version, the music is partly used as a sublayer for Flikke's lyrics, which she reads herself over the music. Whereas in the recorded version (which is without lyrics) one can meditate more on the aural details and the slow changes of the timbres. I imagine that the music lingers on just a few, distinct moments in Flikke's drawings and in Branco's movements, and freezes in them. It is also a description of the earth on which they move and the water that lies around.

On the recording I make use of many layers of double basses, perhaps as many as nine or more. I also use a special playing technique where I hold a cymbal (hi-hat) next to the deepest string of the bass and bows the string simultaneously. The result is a loud and violent mix of deep rumbling and shrilling cymbal. During the last minute of the piece, five double basses play this timbre simultaneously.

Version 1 was first performed at Hellviktangen, Nesodden, 23.April 2023.

The recorded version will be released on Peninsula Audio Records in 2025.