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Ensemble
2022
Bass Clarinet
Double Bass
Piano
Piccolo
Pitched Percussion
ShĹŤ
Soprano Saxophone
Trombone
Unpitched Percussion
Violin
- Program Notes
- "Melting Pot" is a slogan for the formation of a new culture in which diverse cultures of various ethnic and racial groups blend together in one society. In this piece, an Ensemble made up of instruments of different cultures, origins, and materials is used as in a melting pot. 　The piece opens with the sustained sound of the glass harp, and various instruments "imitate" or attempt to imitate it imperfectly. For example, a piano cannot sustain a note due to its mechanism, so it must be played as a single percussive note, and a trombone is a low to mid-range instrument, so it must be played at a lower register. 　By comparing these differences to racial and cultural differences, and combining those differences with the disadvantages of instruments and the originality of each instrument (e.g. the piano's ability to play multiple notes, the trombone's ability to change colors by using mutes), each instrument will take its own unique position in the Ensemble. In the first half of the score, I projected the fundamental process of community formation and coexistence, "perceiving others with different cultures and ways of thinking." 　In the second half, they cooperate with each other, building a relationship through various techniques such as blowing, tapping, rubbing, and flicking the same rhythm, and also weaving in material that sounds like squeals as a metaphor for breathing. This music also reflects my own thoughts on issues such as discrimination and violence against minorities, which are inextricably linked to the "melting pot" theory of "creating a new culture while fusing together."
- Performer Credits
- Geidai Ensemble