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Fixed Media
2023
Electronics
Fixed Media Audio
Fixed Media Video
Performer
Piano
- Program Notes
- when Joji Yuasa composed his piano piece "On the Keyboard" in 1972, he tried to reflect a strong cynicism and criticism about the conservative Japanese society on extended Piano technique which is mainly performed inside the piano (like striking, swiping, muting, or plucking the piano strings, etc.). but for now, this piece, ironically which is not played inside of the piano at all (also which is the paradoxical intention of the piece), is recognized just like 'one of the most difficult piano pieces from Japan', but with being erased the original message which Yuasa intended. and the atmosphere of Japan's society on extended piano techniques, has not changed at all - even it has become more conservative than before, with the consistent ignorance of hall managers, teachers, and even several pianists themselves. "toccata" is a series of experimenting percussional aspects of Piano. this is my third toccata with a parody of "On the Keyboard" by Joji Yuasa. but with the same context. this piece also follows the conventional writing method with European modern music. but there are no real performers on the stage. even though there is the performer, (s)he/they doesn't play the real notes at all. the performer on the stage, who performs inside the piano, is just a virtual existence projected as video. technically, there are no reasons to be scolded by hall managers since we didn't actually touch the inside of the piano at all. but is that really OK for us? could we get this situation as a total fear about the future of contemporary piano music, in which the real performers can't be able to perform the extended piano techniques at all, at nowhere, but only "On the Keyboard"? I rather regard this piece as not just a conceptual work, but a possible prognostication of our future, if we don't act more aggressively and leave this situation on and on. on composing this piece, I can't deny the huge influence of the "Piano Hero" series by Stefan Prins, which also aggressively uses and collages the video samples performing on the piano strings. this work is also an homage to Stefan and is dedicated to him.
- Performer Credits
- Hyun-Mook Lim
- External Links