Shadow of bells

In summer 2014, I spent three months in Japan studying aspects of traditional and contemporary culture, life, and ritual. I visited countless temples, listened to their bells, and wandered the gardens - all of them breathing with a particular rhythm.
The influence on my sense of time was incredibly fascinating.
Shadow of Bells for piano and electronics brings those memories back into my musical world but I'm not trying to replicate any existing structure or particular musical source. The electronics act as a shadow to the piano and provide an acoustic space around the instrument.
The 20-minutes composition is a meandering walk through imaginary landscapes of quietness and resonance. The quick shifts between fluid, crystalline, singing passages, sparse lines, and large chords depict the sonic interplay of a society with many contrasts.
The sense of slowness has occupied many of my recent works. This new composition is again an invitation to step out of our fast-paced activities and to discover small elements and their variations through time.

first performance with Paavali Jumppanen at the Gardner Museum Boston

 

audio recording at festival 29. Tage Neuer Musik in Weimar with Frank Gutschmidt on Ocotber 26 2016

 

 

score:
Babelscores

downloads:

The electronic part is realized as a Max/MSP patch.

download electronics for Mac – version 24 – February 2024

 

iPad with MIRA application

running an iPad with the MIRA application on the same network as the Mac provides the pianist with visual feedback of the current and next event numbers

 

Technical requirements:

• grand piano

• six high-quality loudspeakers