MUSICAL WORKS

SHIMAZU Takehito / 嶋津 武仁

1994

Illusions II in desolate field

Birth Y: 1949 Birth C: JAPAN Gender: Male

Dest: Concert

Media Specification: Live electronics and tapes

Commission: Les Ateliers UPIC, Paris

Duration: 15:00

Instruments: for UPIC, a graphic computer music system

Prog. notes: Here is a very famous Haiku (interpretation in English), a shortest style of the Japanese traditional poem created at Edo-period, which was made by Basho, a Haiku master, and which is said to be his last piece.

On a journey, ailing -
My dreams roam about
Over a withered moor
During my composition, the imagery of this Haiku gave me some suggestions for this piece. Namely, I employed the numerical combinations, 5 to 7 and 2 to 3 as the divisions of 5, which are the rhythms of the Haiku and also the prime numbers I often used into other works until now.
In my country a journey or a walking has been considered to be very similar to live and at the same time, I believe, to compose. In fact I composed my composition on a journey in Europe, being distant far from my house. To walk can give me very minute and friendly nature. And it shapes this composition in a structual and mental sence.
Although I still used some imaginary sounds of the nature, rain, wind, river and others which I can hear during my walking or in the Haiku I imagined, the most important sound was employed from the sample sound of Shamisen, a traditional Japanese instrument of 3 strings .
For the effective interaction, I adopted psychological operations in the time space of this piece.
This piece can be played also with UPIC system in real time.

Editor: MB