compositions
Like my other music, my compositions are explorative — albeit primarily in the additional sense of exploring concepts or ideas — and can be placed on a gamut between two extremes: (1) purely conceptual work where the music is completely determined by a small set of algorithms; (2) more free work where the concept leaves much more open to my subjective preferences and to other kinds of explorations. Creative activity in (1) consists of finding a set of rules/algorithms that results in something I like, but by the nature of this kind of "composition", no individual notes can be altered, which means that there is no room for small changes and polishing. The latter is rather different for (2), of course, which is the reason why I almost never decide that a composition closer to that extreme is finished. Most of my (finished) compositions are somewhere in between these extremes, although often closer to (1) than to (2).

Probably, the main influences on my compositions are (in random order) Indeterminacy, Serialism, Minimalism, Morton Feldman, John Cage, Galina Ustvolskaya, some (sub-) genres of heavy metal and experimental music (incl. noise), and various traditions of Asian music. Whether much of that is audible is another matter, however. In any case, my compositions should (obviously) not be considered contributions to the traditions these names and (sub-) genres belong to. Composing — or music in general — is merely one of my hobbies.

Except where note otherwise, all sound files are created by means of the score writing software Musescore.

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Trio 7 (2019)
For baritone sax, vibraphone, and piano. [complete score] — [piano, baritone sax, vibraphone]

This piece was originally an experiment with metric modulation (and polymeters) for my band, but I decided to make a version for acoustic instruments as well. (I'm not sure whether it is actually playable, however, as there are probably aren't enough opportunities for the sax player to breath in...)


Thrash Metal Trio (2018)
For bassoon, cello, and piano. [complete score] — [piano, cello, bassoon]

Tthere is no real idea or concept behind this piece. There is a backstory, however. About three years before writing this, I played an arrangement of Slayer's "Raining Blood" for classical and folk instruments with some of my students at their graduation party. Soon after that, I wrote a metal song inspired by the same Slayer song. That metal song was shelved for three years, until one day I decided to transcribe it for a trio of classical instruments. After many other changes, the result is the current piece (but it is entirely possible, that I'll decide to make further changes one day).


Metal in D Minor for Low String Trio (2017)
For viola, cello, and contrabass. [score]

This is a transcription of what was originally a heavy metal song (or probably avantgarde metal, technically) for low string trio, but in the process of transcribing several other changes were made as well.


Ouroboros (2016)
For 1 non-sustaining and 3 or more sustaining instruments. [score]
The fourth in a series of indeterminate pieces. See score for further details.


Pulsar (2016)
For three or more instruments. [score]
The third in a series of indeterminate pieces. See score for further details


Wovon man nicht sprechen kann (Monothematic Explorations 2) (2015)
For three (different) instruments. [score]
As in "Monothematic Explorations for 2½ Instruments" (see below), a series of notes is divided among instruments, but unlike in that composition, in this one, note length is undetermined, similar to "Transform Fault". Note length, octave, and dynamics are to be decided by the performers, preferably while performing.
"Turn order" in the main parts of the piece is determined by the letters in the last sentence of Wittgenstein's Tractatus in the original German: "Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen". (There is no special significance to this selection of text. I needed an interesting 47-symbol sentence, and this one worked.)


Transform Fault (Repetitions 3) (2015)
For three (different) instruments. [score] [alternative score]
Borrowing ideas from John Cage's "number pieces" (Two² particularly), minimalism, and elsewhere, this piece cuts up a 13-note sequence into 5, 6, or 7 "brackets", a different number for each part/instrument (but note that these "brackets" work differently than Cage's time brackets). Only note sequences and bracket boundaries are determined. Note length, octave, and dynamics are to be decided by the performers, preferably while performing.

about the "repetitions" pieces
By separating instruments into two or more groups that just repeat a relatively short phrase or piece of slightly different lengths a somewhat paradoxical situation occurs: nothing changes (it is just repetition), and everything changes at the same time (because the two parts do not align). This I find very interesting to explore, but it is nothing new, of course. Steve Reich and other minimalists already did similar things decades ago, and in its most rigid form (i.e. that of polymeters) this technique has been used in popular music since Frank Zappa experimented with it in the 1970s.


Repetitions 2 (2015)
For two pianos. [score]

A four bar 10/8 composition in chromatic scale is divided over two pianos. The first repeats those four bars 22 times; the second adds one 2/8 rest at the end and repeats all of that 21 times. The result is a gradual shift of the two "perspectives" on the original composition until they align again.


Repetitions 1 (2015)
For any even number of guitars and percussion. [score]

Guitars are divided into two groups. One group plays a single 23/16 bar n × 26 times; the other group plays a single 26/16 bar n × 23 times. n is at least 2.


Monothematic Explorations for 2½ Instruments (2014)
For piano and one other instrument (preferably bassoon, tuba, or cello), or for three different instruments. [score]

The same 16-note series (in octatonic half/whole scale; note length and octave undetermined) is repeated 14 times. The first 9 times are in dialogue form — that is, the 16 notes are played in order by the 2½ instruments, where order is determined only by start time of a note, with the instruments taking turns in playing a note or short sequence. In the second part, the 2½ instruments each play the whole series (i.e. all 16 notes) together 3 times (but at different rhythms). The final part is two repetitions in dialogue form again. Although the same series of notes is repeated 14 times, there is no repetition in rhythm and structure.


Triple Algorithm (2014)
For piano and one other instrument, or for three different instruments. [score]

This is a purely conceptual/algorithmic piece based on a few very simple rules. What those rules are can be easily inferred from the score. The piece is "circular" in the sense that it ends exactly where it started. Preferably, the full cycle should be played at least twice.