contents
1. summary
2. listen
3. programme notes
4. details
5. performances
summary
infinity stairs (2014) by Rozalie Hirs is a trio comprising article 6 [waves] (2013) for electric guitar, article 7 [ways to climb a mountain] (2012) for bass clarinet, and article 8 [infinity] (2014) for flute, each with optional electronic sounds.
Conceived as independent solos, duos, or most strikingly, as a simultaneous trio, the works are interconnected through their spectral foundations: ways to climb a mountain generates overtone fields above an inaudible fundamental; waves reinterprets those overtones as new fundamentals; infinity derives its partials by treating waves as a sequence of fundamentals. This recursive process of harmonic transformation produces a shared vocabulary of spectral resonances, psychoacoustic sum and difference tones, and fluid temporal modulations. Inspired by M.C. Escher’s paradoxical staircases, the trio embodies an endless ascent and descent, a sound world at once rigorous and meditative, where perception and illusion intertwine.
listen
programme notes
Rozalie Hirs’ infinity stairs (2014) is a trio that emerges when three solo works — article 6 [waves] (2013) for electric guitar, article 7 [ways to climb a mountain] (2012) for bass clarinet, and article 8 [infinity] (2014) for flute — are performed simultaneously. Each piece may also stand alone or be combined as a duo, with or without electronics, making the trio a modular and flexible constellation.
Hirs’ music draws from spectralism and the overtone series, but her aim is not mathematical demonstration: frequency calculations provide a framework for resonant harmonies and intricate rhythms, ultimately shaped by her intuitive ear. The result is music where rigour meets lyricism, and where psychoacoustic phenomena — such as sum and difference tones — give rise to spectral “phantoms” that hover between physical sound and perception.
The foundation of the cycle is article 7 [ways to climb a mountain] (2012), written for bass clarinet, the lowest voice of the trio. Longer than its companions due to its additional section, it explores overtone fields above an inaudible A-flat fundamental. Arpeggiations, trills, and spiraling tempo shifts evoke the paradox of Escher’s endless staircases.
article 6 [waves] (2013), commissioned by guitarist Wiek Hijmans, reimagines the overtone fields of ways to climb a mountain as new fundamentals, from which further spectra are derived. Its lyrical guitar lines interact with electronic glissandi — sinewave textures transformed only by binaural beating and ring modulation — that advance in vast arcs enveloping the instrument.
Finally, article 8 [infinity] (2014) treats the fundamentals of waves as the basis for new overtones. Lyrical flute lines unfurl against electronic glissandi, weaving a texture of perception and illusion in which physical and phantom tones blur.
When played together, these three works form infinity stairs: a trio of infinite transformation, recursive derivation, and spectral resonance. Composed between 2012 and 2014 with the support of a Stipendium for Music Composition from the Netherlands Performing Arts Fund, the cycle represents a pivotal stage in Hirs’ exploration of how spectral processes and psychoacoustic effects can merge.
technical details
support
infinity stairs (2014) was composed with financial support of a Stipend by the Netherlands Foundation for the Performing Arts.
instrumentation
flute
bass clarinet
(electric) guitar
optional electronic sounds (triggered by a MIDI pedal, to be played by the flautist)
duration
11′ ca.
publisher
Rozalie Hirs’s music scores are published by Deuss Music. The score and parts of infinity stairs (2014) can be purchased through this link (click here).
further technical requirements
1.) QLAB software, to be installed on a laptop
2.) The infinity stairs custom sounds sampler, to be obtained through Deuss Music
3.) Amplifier and mixer in the concert hall
4.) Stereo loudspeakers, to be placed on stage
5.) Optional amplification of the instruments (i.e. microphones, cables)
recording
infinity stairs is featured on Hirs’ portrait album Infinity Stairs (2025), in a recording by flautist Marieke Franssen, electric guitar player Wiek Hijmans, and bass clarinettist Fie Schouten.
performances
24 October 2021, 20:00, Infinity Stairs: Rozalie Hirs (portrait concert), LOOS, De Constant Rebecqueplein 20-B, 2518 RA Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands – Marieke Franssen (flute), Fie Schouten (bass clarinet), Wiek Hijmans (electric guitar)
13 May 2021, 20:00, Up Close: Rozalie Hirs (portrait concert), Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Marieke Franssen (flute), Fie Schouten (bass clarinet), Wiek Hijmans (electric guitar)
21 March 2021, 16:00, Rozalie Hirs (portrait concert): Infinity Stairs, Martin Luther Church, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Marieke Franssen (flute), Fie Schouten (bass clarinet), Wiek Hijmans (electric guitar) **POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC**
11 February 2016, 20:30, Unexpected Consequences, Constellation, 3111 N Western Ave, Chicago, United States – Shanna Gutierrez (flute), Fie Schouten (bass clarinet), Wiek Hijmans (electric guitar) – North American premiere
12 November 2015, 20:30 CET, Sonic Hedgehog, Café De Ruimte, Distelweg 83, 1031 HD Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Shanna Gutierrez (flute), Fie Schouten (bass clarinet), Wiek Hijmans (electric guitar)
20 February 2015, 20:30, Rozalie Hirs (portrait concert): Poetry and Music, Ostadetheater, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Marieke Franssen (flute), Fie Schouten (bass clarinet), Wiek Hijmans (electric guitar), Christian Karlsen (conductor), Arne Bock (sound diffusion in the hall)
17 September 2014, 20:30, Infinity Stairs, Bethaniënklooster, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Shanna Gutierrez (flute), Fie Schouten (bass clarinet), Wiek Hijmans (electric guitar), Christian Karlsen (conductor), Arne Bock (sound diffusion in the hall)