MUSICAL WORKS

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ITO Miyuki / 伊藤 美由紀

2005

Energy Void for shakuhachi, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, harp and percussion with electronics




Birth C: JAPAN Gender: Female




First perf.: Merkin Concert Hall, New York, USA. February 12, 2006

Duration: 10:00

Perf. Country: UNITED STATES

Instruments: shakuhachi, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, harp and percussion with electronics

Prog. notes: http://www.miyuki-ito.com/Miyuki_Ito/Projects/entori/5/4/3_Energy_Void_%282005-06%29_for_shakuhachi,_flute,_clarinet,_violin,_cello,_harp,_piano_and_percussion_with_electronics.html

Energy Void (2005-06) for shakuhachi, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, harp, piano and percussion with electronics

The title ‘Energy Void’ is derived from one of the Isamu Noguchi’s sculptures, which I saw in the Whitney Museum, in New York, a few years ago. It is a six feet twisted rectangle with a hole, set in Swedish black granite. It reminds me of a formless protean object. The word ‘Energy Void’ seems to have a negative connotation, but, in fact, a powerful positive presence resides in the sculpture, which gave me a strong impulse to create the music. I could see nothing through the hole, which was created on purpose for the viewer. However, I felt a strong energy originating around the sculpture and passing through space and time. According to Noguchi, the empty center represents the zero of nothingness from which we come and to which we return. Obviously, he is influenced by the Zen concept of nothingness. I think that in our lives energy is circling invisibly and in unexpected places. Even inside a void, on the level of quantum mechanics, a pair of particle appears and disappears. I wanted to create something yet nothing with sounds, controlling them with my own energy. For this piece any energy moving through space and time between sounds and musicians are created intuitively.

I was impressed by Akikazu Nakamura’s performance on a F# bass shakuhachi(3尺1寸), which is a very special instrument, and decided to include it in this piece. Thanks to Mr. Nakamura, I recorded samples of the instrument to use for an electronics part as well as for a spectral analysis by computer, which gave me a pitch content. Since this shakuhachi is in F#, I focused on an analysis of F# spectra using such techniques as harmonic distortion and ring modulation, and similar. I used 1/4 tones, unstable pitches, and white noise-like sounds to create a floating tension. This time, instead of Bass Shakuhachi, I use alto flute.

(from program note)

この作品は、ニューヨークのホイットニー美術館での『イサム・ノグチ個展』でみた彼の代表作のひとつで、スウエーデン産黒花崗岩を使い、2メートルほどの高さで、真ん中に大きな穴のある長方形に加工した彫刻作品である「エナジー・ヴォイド」からインスピレーションを受けた作品です。「エナジー・ヴォイド」という単語自体は、否定的な意味を内包していますが、実際は、力強く肯定的な存在感を、変幻自在な無形のオブジェクトから感じ、この作品を創造するきっかけとなりました。鑑賞者に対して、意図的に創造された“穴/無の空間”を通して、何も私たちは、観ることができません。しかし、時間あるいは、空間を経て、彫刻の周りに生ずる宇宙的な静けさの中に存在する強いエネルギーを感じました。イサム・ノグチによると、“中心の穴”は、我々が戻っていく場所であり、ここに到達する前の場所-禅からの影響を受けた“無/ゼロ”を意図しているそうです。私たちの人生の中で、エネルギーは、予期できない見えないレベルで、循環しています。この作品のなかで、音により、“何か”あるいは、“何もないもの”の創造、また、エレクトロニクス(尺八とベルの音が素材)を使うことにより、時間と空間を通して移動する“音”と“演奏家”の間のエネルギーと音色の変容を試みました。

(プログラムノートより)

*写真は、別の機会にコネチカットのミュージアムパークで偶然みつけた作品です。見えないエネルギーを感じますよね。

Editor: Tamamo Nagai