In Cardinem there are impulses from Scelsi’s music and the peculiar richness of the song of the robin in play with tight quarter-notes— from deep bourdons that grow and spread out as quarter-tone pulses to ripples and polyphonic interplay within the sound fabric coloured by the collisions of quarter-tones which reinforce, stress, and create an internal dynamic—from there to small glissandi— extracted from the recordings of the songs of birds, glissandi that also grow out of twists and shifts of the tone, inspired by Scelsi’s improvisations, that result in a big, final movement.

The Latin word cardinem means “turning point”, and the piece carries with it a twist—towards that which is self-sufficient—towards a simpler soundscape—towards opening up and grabbing hold of the small ripples.

Ragnhild Berstad, 10 November 2014