Contra-Compositie by Roland Kayn

Space in music can be conceptualised in various ways, from the importance of “the unplayed notes” affirmed by the most zen-minded improvisers, to the imitation or appropriation of physical space and its acoustic qualities. Kayn’s music seems to address the notion in its many facets at various moments – at times a musical lull is preparatory to a change in acoustic setting; at others it may simply confront us with a loaded pause, cannily placed for dramatic or emotive effect.

It should be noted that we are only able to enjoy the luxurious representation, in works like ‘Contra-Compositie’, of Kayn’s masterful command of the frequency spectrum and the stereo field thanks to Jim O’Rourke’s sensitive and thorough restoration of the composers’ home recordings. This piece – spare, unhurried, yet uncompromising in its demands of the attentive listener – is perhaps among those to benefit most from this painstaking process.

"The mystery, the grace, the boundless invention – Kayn’s machine music is a vast catalogue of very human wonder." -The Guardian

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