
Today’s Advent Calendar piece, Static by Finnish composer Otto Iivari, is technically an audiovisual work. On the two occasions i experienced it, the electronics were presented in conjunction with a tiny TV on a table, displaying a mixture of static and several clear bands that made for a curious relationship with the sonic element that may or may not have been closely connected.

Yet the music is highly effective on its own. A brief blip, some static slowly being wiped out, to be replaced by a hovering sine-like tone. Pitch is then slowly, haltingly, solidified, rippling and growling as it does so. It’s a beautifully patient process, the music flexing its muscles, feeling its potential, starting to sing. Around three minutes in, a gentle pulse starts up, like the world’s quietest tennis game, the beat-ball bouncing left and right against the speakers. This is the start of a lovely collection of pulsed and throbbing materials, introducing energy into the music, and with it loud snarls in the bass. With barely 30 seconds remaining, everything eases off, receding to a light ticking and a few final snarls before the opening static returns and reclaims things, ending with a big, reverberant final blip.
The world première of Otto Iivari’s Static took place at the Estonian Music Days in September 2020.