|
MUSIC BOX by Zachàr Laskewicz
UPLOAD DATE: 8 February 2016 URL : https://soundcloud.com/laskewicz/sharing-moonlight DESCRIPTION : 'Sharing Moonlight', initially taken from the epithet 'Sharing Moonlight on a Summer Eve' is a dance I composed for the incomplete opera planned while I was teaching composition in China. Although this is an electronic version, it was initially intended for a chamber orchestra and scores are available from my website or through the Australian Music Centre in Sydney. When I chose to return to China after my professorships in theatre and performance in Taiwan were dogged by ill-health, I decided to go and teach composition and try not to be too influenced by my environment as I was becoming overwhelmed with stimulation. Unfortunately, closing the door to inspiration is not only not easy; it's just impossible if you're a creative artist (at least for me). Working at the conservatorium at the University of Zhao Qing and hearing the performers practicing late into the warm summer evenings on the exquisite and long Chinese wooden flutes led to the composition of this contemplative work which would find itself into the story of the opera of an emperor who wakes up unable to remember who he is and what his possible role could be in the royal court which surrounds him in bitterness and intrigue. In this scene I initially envisaged the emperor looking out beyond the restricting walls of the court to hear sounds which evoked something he couldn't quite remember about his past - something quite possibly lost forever. He stands alone; so he's sharing the moonlight with a faded part of his own history which is attempting to direct his attention away from the evils of courtly existence. It should also be mentioned that this composition started out as a variation on a composition exercise I had put to my students, to apply their creative energies to a simple Chinese folk melody. This was one of my interpretations. It's interesting and ironic to note that my students looked shocked when I played it to them, many not really considering it music at all. Getting people to be creative with limited means is a useful exercise if you have students open-minded enough to utilise the many other options not connected to drum-machines and electronic harmonic beat-box pop formats that seemed to restrict their sense of what they could define as music. TAGS : #Ensemble Music #Flute Music #Chamber Music #Electronic Music #Chinese Music Influence #Gamelan Influence #Opera
UPLOAD DATE: 20 February 2016 URL : https://soundcloud.com/laskewicz/ddoverture DESCRIPTION : The Dreaming and Dancing Overture, is a plot related event I had envisaged while planning the story: the emperor, still completely overwhelmed by an intrigue-filled and incomprehensible environment he hardly recognises, is lulled into sleep by a staid court dance performed for him by his servants. At the moment he falls asleep the dynamism suddenly changes and only within the context of the dream does he remember his ‘real’ life outside of his royal prison. At the time I imagined that the dance would suddenly change from being staid and stately to vital and lively while the emperor realises for the first time that he may in fact be an unwitting victim in a game whose rules he can’t begin to fathom. I composed this work for an opera known as ‘Huangaditamon Menateladonamontelidas’ which roughly translates to the for the emperor – music, from a language which I had written myself. I planned to write dialogue within the court in English, but all attempts at communication from the ‘real world’ outside the confines of the court, would be in this entirely artificial but still incredibly complex language rich in cultural content. The language within the court was to be formal and dead whereas ‘Ymolah’ spoken at some lost time by the Emperor was to be dynamic and exciting. It’s interesting to note that the word for emperor includes the Chinese word; I was influenced to write this opera while observing life in China, and the various music and music-theatre forms I encountered while I was in China and Taiwan. At the time I wrote this work, I was teaching composition to a class of students who I discovered, ironically, couldn’t speak a word of English. Although this is an electronic version, it was initially intended for a chamber orchestra and scores are available from my website or through the Australian Music Centre in Sydney. It should also be mentioned that this composition started out as a variation on a composition exercise I had put to my students, to apply their creative energies to a simple Chinese folk melody. This was one of my interpretations. A more elaborate set of variations can be found in the other major musical composition ‘Sharing Moonlight’ I actually ended up composing. It's interesting and ironic to note that my students looked shocked when I played these works to them. I found our later that it wasn’t that didn’t find it good or bad. They just didn’t think it was ‘music’. Getting people to be creative with limited means is a useful exercise if you have students open-minded enough to utilise the many other options not connected to drum-machines and electronic harmonic beat-box pop formats that seemed to restrict their sense of what they could define as music. Forcing them to do this, especially if they don’t understand anything you’re saying, is naturally impossible.
TAGS: #Ensemble Music #Chamber Music #Electronic Music #Chinese Music Influence #Gamelan Influence #Opera
|
Send mail to zachar@nachtschimmen.eu with questions or comments about this website.
Last modified: 19 March, 2012
SHORTCUTS TO PLACES :
