The piece is built around the Kolakoski sequence: an infinite sequence consisting of only 1’s and 2's, which has the property that it is its own run-length encoding. The piece is divided into two movements, I and II: the first being polyphonic, the second being monophonic. These are further subdivided into Ia, Ib, IIa and IIb. They appear in the order: Ia, IIb, IIb, Ib, Ib, IIa, Ia, IIb, ... - The Kolakoski sequence. Theoretically, the piece is infinitely long, so you will play a fragment of the piece lasting around five minutes. The first movement explores the fractal and canon like properties of the Kolakoski sequence. It also demonstrates the binarity of the sequence - both audibly (accents) and visually (up/down bow). The second movement explores the idea of the Kolakoski sequence as a scale expanding and forming chords.
Composer: Aske Kai Tengberg
My name is Aske Kai. I’m 15 years old. I live in Freetown Christiania, a squatted anarchist commune in the middle of Copenhagen, Denmark. I play piano and clarinet, and I’ve been composing for about a year. I dream of studying at the conservatory one day. I saw your performance in Copenhagen the 7th of September. You played Xenakis and Ligeti, two of my biggest inspirations. That inspired me to write this piece for you. Apart from music. I am also interested in math, physics, politics and philosophy, which is also present in my compositions.