“OXIDE” is a very special quartet for me, written for the Ensemble Nikel as a commission from the quartet itself and from the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung. The world premieres took place in Haifa and Tel Aviv in December 2011. The work is dedicated to the wonderful musicians and friends from Nikel.

“OXIDE” presents different musical elements. It offers references to nature, to geological transformations and processes, and geometric pattern structures of crystals and quasicrystals. There is also a direct relationship with similar developments in artistic disciplines as painting and architecture.

The metaphorical idea is oxidation as a process, and as a result the musical material becomes eroded and destroyed. The electric guitar starts this irreversible process with its first action in the piece, and remains until the end of the work as the instrument mainly responsible for this “oxidation.”

“OXIDE,” red in colour, is a reflection of a synesthetical approach within this piece. Red is all the time linked to me to the pitch “G.” Therefore I can talk about a plastic composition that tries to develop a process of oxidation in a synesthesical (and of course musical) way. The process is complete when only the electric guitar remains.

(José M. Sánchez-Verdú)