Focus - Axis (2010) for Ensemble

During the Renaissance, European painters began to use a new tool in their work: the lens.

This period saw a growing fascination with perspective and highly detailed depictions. Every

element of a painting was meticulously illuminated and staged. Objects were first observed

and rendered through the lens before being "composed" into a complete image. A new

understanding of light began to shape the artistic aesthetic of the time — much like the later

invention of photography.

However, the technique of painting with the help of a lens remained a secret of Renaissance

art. Only recently has the British painter and photographer David Hockney rediscovered and

documented key aspects of this hidden practice through his own research. He has used the

principle of focus artistically, creating a series of works based on it.

In these works, the whole image is structured through individually focused and thus

magnified sections. These individual parts often overlap or intersect. Compared to the

original motif, this creates new and dynamic relationships between details. Each image

reveals a concentration on specific elements, which are highlighted through magnification —

yet without incorporating distortions along the axis.

This principle of local focus and continuous axis is translated into sound and structure in the

composition Focus-Axis. The resonance between string instruments (especially the rubbed

bow hairs) and the metal strings of the piano, in combination with the didgeridoo and the

bass clarinet's multiphonics, forms the central color palette of the piece. Added to this are

the voice (bocca chiusa, humming, or nasal tones — sometimes produced by wind players

simultaneously with their instruments), echo effects, and the sound of a Waldteufel on the

bass drum.

Each sound has its own emphasis and interacts with others — with sonic textures and

timbres. Every local variety of components contributes to the overall sound through layering

and combination. The result is a highly refined and unusual blend of timbres.

Moreover, different instrumental groups occupy their own space within the sound, aligned

with an imagined axis. This axis principle permeates the entire piece.

YW, 2010, Frankfurt / www.yingwang.de

•26.09.2010, IEMA Ensemble,Conductor: Susanne Blumenthal

Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Frankfurt

• 02.10.2010, ZKM_Kubus

• 08.12.2015, Tokyo Sinfonietta,Conductor: Yasuaki Itakura

Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Recital Hall