Quintet for Shakuhachi and String Quartet
[Genres] | Moderne Musik |
[Komponiert] | James Nyoraku 如楽 Schlefer - Shakuhachi - 2006 |
Geschichte:
Quintet for Shakuhachi, Two Violins, Viola and Cello was written with three of my favorite elements of music at the forefront; rhythm, structure, and the combined sound of a sting quartet with shakuhachi. The three-movement form recalls a Baroque-era concerto grosso, with its fast-slow-fast structure, but within a distinctly contemporary musical idiom. Both the first and last movements have substantial solos for both the violins and the shakuhachi. The first movement is in two sections. The first part revolves around a disturbing melody that recurs several times. This gives way, first to an energetic call and response between the shakuhachi and first violin, and then to a lighter pizzicato section that resolves the unease of the main melody but leaves the listener with a question mark. The second movement starts as a blues and devolves into a section of true despair. The shakuhachi solos are in the style of the traditional music of Zen meditation. The third movement is in rondo form and presents a jagged main theme that recurs throughout and is punctuated by several solo passages for the shakuhachi and violins. |