This album presents a collection of works by the Norwegian composer Bjørn Bolstad Skjelbred (b.1970), all composed between 2001 and 2013. The works have been written with melodic percussion as the central and dominating element – with various surrounding ensembles – performed by the recognized Norwegian percussionist Eirik Raude. The smaller chamber formations very suitably illustrate several of the central compositional and poetic aspects of Skjelbred’s music.

The music of Skjelbred is quiet, and just like his shy persona it is exactly this quietness that gives the music its character and originality. This is not music that leaps off the stage and authoritatively grabs the listener. It is rather music that encourages the listener to actively advance, to follow the finely chiselled processes that you will find under the surface, in sequences that in Skjelbred consciously avoid being directed towards final and unambiguous goals. One rarely finds that the composer in his works wishes to draw rigorous conclusions.