Stillness Refracted

from Degrees of Fidelity

Premiered via YouTube on July 22, 2016

About

I have worked for years with my friend and ensemble-mate, Naomi Sato, in Ensemble N_JP — and it is from this collaboration that I was inspired to write for her and the sho. The piece uses both traditional and extended techniques to create a varied and complex sound palette, one that is well-suited for the experienced and nuanced performance that Naomi brings to all new music. As an American composer of European descent, I was interested in finding a way to collaborate with my friend — a process that was easy from years of working together — but I was particularly careful to try to find a path that is respectful of the long and wonderful tradition of Gagaku music, while still being true to my own compositional voice. There is a practice of writing for this instrument in Western music, most notably in the music of John Cage and Helmut Lachenmann. The sound of the sho is both ancient and somehow quite new. Sounding almost electronic at times, it is little wonder that this instrument appeals in unique ways to a modern ear. Listening to both ancient traditional Gagaku and modern uses of the instrument by Western and Japanese composers is an experience I highly recommend to all lovers of music. I hope my deep respect for this instrument and its long performance practice is evident in my composition. In Stillness Refracted, the sound of the sho is augmented and shaped through the use of live electronic processing. The computer serves to augment, frame, and magnify small phenomena in the sound of the sho that I find fascinating. The instrument is traditionally tuned in near-Pythagorean ratios, which means that beatings that occur due to slight mistunings in its intervals are minimal. And yet, it is these small fluctuations that I find so intriguing. The computer processing acts as a prism to refract and expose these various small sonic phenomena, hidden in the stillness of the sho's placid tones. I would like to thank Naomi for her friendship, and for being such a wonderful advocate for new music.

Credits

Adam Vidiskis - composer, conductor, and live electronics
Naomi Sato - sho