Osnat Netzer Artist Statement

Osnat Netzer Artist Statement The works on this album represent an artistic and aesthetic shift that originated in 2014, when I began to incorporate principles of cognitive linguistics into my music, namely: the metaphor of motion, energy trajectory, and the kinesthetic experience of physicality. Though the pieces differ in musical language and aesthetics, they all share the tropes of a punctuated sustain (Dot-Line) and many forms of pitch bends, glissandi, and stylized portamenti (Sigh).

Kinetic and Kinesthetic Approach to Composition My work as a composer encompasses chamber, vocal, choral, orchestral, and dramatic works, works for acoustic instruments with and without electronics. I have written more than 50 works in the last 20 years, and my large-scale opera The Wondrous Woman Within received its world premiere in a sold-out run at Tel Aviv’s Cameri Theater in 2015.

Circa 2014, I have experienced a shift in my creative research, transitioning from writing music that is inspired by existing musical languages, into exploring and implementing principles of cognitive linguistics and music cognition, focusing primarily on the concept of motion. When we listen to music we are going on a metaphorical journey that has a beginning, a middle and an end, like a storyline. We may experience this temporal journey as providing a sense of anticipation, a motion towards a goal, a goal achieved, and a motion away from an achieved goal.

This idea of Motion in music has led me to appreciate the role of the body producing sound, and the acoustic instrument itself, as a vibrating body. A sound played by a musical instrument starts with a person moving and exciting a vibrating body; there is a chain of activity, from the physical motion, the tension and relaxation of muscles, to the instrument’s activation, into sound waves. Each sound produced on an instrument is a multi-layered gesture. How strained is the person in producing the sound? How far are we on the spectrum, from what the instrument does naturally, to techniques that stretch the instrument’s idiomatic tendencies? What is the resulting timbre and amplitude? How does this gesture relate to previous ones, and how does it suggest that the music should proceed?

This focus on the metaphor of motion, kinesthetic experience and energy trajectory has propelled me toward an approach that is holistic, treating the musical creation as inseparable from the human body that produces the sounds and the physical properties of sound. As my work builds off the physical aspects of music-making, collaboration with the performer and creation of bespoke pieces are integral to my

research. I create my compositions collaboratively, tailoring my work to the performer’s sensibilities, physicality and improvisational inclinations, resulting in works that are deeply personal and personalized, visceral and dynamic.