Circulation in nature symbolizes the concepts of interchangeability, replaceability, and substitutability. Each concert performance of a composition has its own organic form—music is born and begins, it endures, and eventually ends, it dies.
With each new performance, even if only slightly, the manner of execution changes, as does the listener’s perception. The composition Krog (The Circle) embodies the idea of our replaceability and expresses it by having performers switch instruments, even if they are not well-versed in the ones they must play. We come into this world unprepared, and are faced with many such challenges. Once we become sufficiently skilled in a particular task, life elevates us to the next one. “Promoveatur – amoveatur – eliminatur.”
The title Krog (The Circle) thus derives from the rotation of performers, while the red thread of the composition remains the ostinato repetition of the pitch A. This ostinato is passed from instrument to instrument, while the rest of the sonic material is based on extended performance techniques or instrumental preparation. The piece concludes with a mechanical, automatic bouncing of a ball against the harp strings—the ball, tied to a string, rebounds faster and faster from the strings until it comes to a complete stop.