The music of Ruben Gjertsen is a flow of sounds; bits, pieces, fragments put together so beatifully that it seems to  be created in one consecutive stream of thought, a relentless mental effort from first to last sound. Exploring his scores we find proof of the opposite. They provide layer upon layer of information, conections and anecdotes.  Behind this almost over-communicative surface the composer comes across as an eclectic  character. Strict structural controll and computer aided composition seems to coexsist happily with improvisatory materials bordering to the burlesque. The result is a chamber music that sounds full, almost orchestral in one moment only to dissolve into translucense in the next.

Throughout Gjertsens music there is one common focal point: the will to redefine the concept of a good sound. As the composer doesn`t subscripe to a fixed compositional school, his music is neither spectral, serial nor neo-complexity. It is simply coloured by an ambition and an ability to shape the sound of acoustic instruments down to the last sample.

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Friedrich Gauwerky  •  cello

Jeanne-Marie Conquer  •  violin
Alain Billard  •  bass clarinet

Jean-Christophe Vervoitte  •  horn

Dan Styffe  •  double bass
Catherine Bullock  • viola
Birgitte Volan  •  harp
Torbjørn Ottersen  •  percussion
Terje Viken  •  conductor

Ensemble Ernst
Thomas Rimul  •  conductor