Nachtgewächse
Nachtgewächse is a continuation of the aesthetic project of Forklaret Nat for string quartet - premiered at the 2012 Darmstädter Ferienkurse by the Arditti Quartet - in that it 'interprets' or 'performs' an existing piece by Arnold Schoenberg. To quote the programme note from 2012 on my compositions based on existing works, 'these compositions explore the tension between various forms contributing to the identity of a musical utterance - scores as well as recordings and other traces of performances - by heightening the distance between a musical work and its instantiation in performance.' Nachtgewächse is a continuation of the aesthetic project of Forklaret Nat for string quartet - premiered at the 2012 Darmstädter Ferienkurse by the Arditti Quartet - in that it 'interprets' or 'performs' an existing piece by Arnold Schoenberg. To quote the programme note from 2012 on my compositions based on existing works, 'these compositions explore the tension between various forms contributing to the identity of a musical utterance - scores as well as recordings and other traces of performances - by heightening the distance between a musical work and its instantiation in performance.'
In this compositional process, I use various recordings of a given work, combined and processed through time stretching, filtering, etc., to compose a maquette for a composition, from which all of the instrumental and electronic material is then derived. The act of composing thus becomes a kind of interpretation of an existing work, or rather a representation of it based upon remnants of its performance history. These compositions thereby engage with the poïesis of composition: they situate interpretation and performance within the creative process and unfold the compositional process of representation in performance, as a listener may relate what s/he hears to the original work; they explore what is gained and lost when one tries to capture or re-capture a given moment or image or sound.
While Forklaret Nat was based upon Verklärte Nacht, this new composition is a 'performance' of Herzgewächse. It is in fact part of a series of works based on this short and rather unusual piece in relation to the rest of Schoenberg's oeuvre: it succeeds Schattengewächse for self-playing toy piano, and precedes Mondgewächse, a multimedia inclusive music theatre project for twelve performers, which is being workshopped as a work-in-progress at Darmstadt this year as well. I have chosen the music of Schoenberg to interpret for several compositions to date because the stylistic language of his works has been instrumental in forming what might be considered a kind of 'default' language for much contemporary music, especially that which places itself in the continuity of the modernist project. By 'performing' this music in my own compositions, I am neither identifying myself with this aesthetic nor rejecting it, but rather acknowledging this legacy and 'performing' it in a highly subjective manner, with my own set of aesthetic concerns.
Nachtgewächse is also an exploration of inclusive musical practice: parts written specifically for the contemporary music specialists of the Dal Niente ensemble (in this case, Pierrot ensemble with percussion) are combined with other parts adaptable to a variety of musical and physical abilities. The intention is to allow some parts to be played by any member of the ensemble, regardless of the instrument s/he usually plays, or for the ensemble to invite amateur or professional musicians to perform with them on different occasions. Electronic devices facilitate the execution of these parts, and allow for expressive control of the electronics, which are diffused through the instruments themselves.
