edited and produced by SAETA, 2007
SAETA, group for experimental music, saw its beginning in 1977. The group asserted in years 1979 – 1981. CD is bringing us a concert of the group, recorded in Bežigrajska Gallery 2, Ljubljana on September 5 2006. About music and a group – Milan Dekleva.
Recorded in Bežigrajska galerija 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 5 2006, 51:39 min.
Sound engineer: Vladimir Hmeljak,
Mixing: Boštjan Perovšek
Tehnical supervisor: Boštjan Perovšek,
Digital mastering: Neven Smolčič, Fabrika 13
Production: Boštjan Perovšek
Text: Milan Dekleva, Object: Zven Jakša, Design: Miloš Bašin, Photographs: Lado Jakša, Cover: Jaka Bregar
SAETA, group for experimental music saw its beginning in 1977 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Koncerti / Selected: Paris, 1980, The Youth Biennial, Graz, 1984, Styrian Autumn, Belgrade, 1980 – , Slovenia, Ljubljana,
Bežigrajska galerija 1 in 2, Cankarjev dom, Jakopičevo razstavišče, Moderna galerija, Ajdovščina, Koper, Kranj, Kostanjevica na Krki, Maribor, Nova Gorica, Novo Mesto, Tržič …
Moving in time
What is Saeta’s music, the flow of ringing and tinkling, which comes into being and then fades away, designed as the performing present about? What is the poetics of the music in which sound is not arranged into pleasing or harmonious patterns but in free-flowing rhythms? Words are, by the pattern, arranged to form a series of thoughts, but the sounds of Saeta’s music are not ordered into patterns. Saeta aims at weakening the order, the pattern, and the determination.
Yet, I will try to describe Saeta’s music: it seems- as much as our environment is concerned- not designed for ready appeal to popular taste, for the musicians of Saeta genuinely believe in the magic power sound effects have. They think, like the ancient Indians, that the origin of sound is in the cosmos, close to the sphere where the world began. In the contemporary (elderly) world, we are not really in favour of such beliefs and views on art; we are prejudiced against them, considering them as a sign of immaturity and childishness. However, to see sound as the origin of existence is to be aware of the essence of life and the power it has.
The more we rely upon the magic, the more we become aware of its generating force, and eventually develop a deeper understanding of the mystery of life, the mythical power of all existence. However, in the contemporary world, there is a tendency not to cherish a creation myth, but simply to give it up, which is not a sensible thing to do, because in doing so we actually foster a sense of the world being mythical. The music that conveys a mythical sense of creation is not determined by a particular space or time but moves here and there easily, encouraging us to set off for the quest of the Universal, bringing us close to the transcendental. This the music that does not die out over time, but perpetually moves in time. What we can hear is the periods of silence dramatically intermingling with those of sound, the thin with the thick. What else could this music be but the world in its primeval counterpoint and harmony?
No, the aim of Saeta is not only to entertain and relax, but also to evoke in the listener a sense of chaos, which is oppressive. Despite of this Saeta’s music has the effect of a mantra and can induce a meditative state in the listener; it can soothe both his soul and skin. We consider ourselves civilized, being able to keep the contemporary world in order, but, fortunately, we still exist as the creatures of the wild. It is not that we are bestial in nature but we continue living as wild beings, because in our ears the Primeval Beginning music, in its totality, keeps ringing.
Milan Dekleva