On Friday February 3, 2012 the Pan-Asian Music Festival on the campus of Stanford University commenced. The festival is in its 8th year and continues its mission to promoting an understanding and appreciation of music from contemporary Asia.
The 2012 festival is built around the theme "Transforming Tradition". Its mission is to explore how musical performance traditions from Asian countries - primarily China, Japan, and Korea - have changed and been transformed throughout history.
The inaugural concert was entitled: The Magic of Asian Zithers: Three Masters, Three Instruments, and Three Traditions.
It featured master musicians who flew from their respective countries for the festival. These included Kazue Sawai (Japan), Aeri Ji (Korea), and Sha Yuan (China).
The instruments they play can be traced back to China of 2500 years ago. As the Chinese zither called “Guzheng” traveled to Korea it become the gayageum and went to Japan to become the koto.
Though called by different names and with vastly different repertoire and playing techniques there are similarities in construction. Each zither features a long hollow (average eight meters) body usually made of wood. The body has strings stretched across it and movable bridges under the strings to accommodate different tunings.
The first set of the evening featured the Sawai Koto Ensemble, a group of students, many from the Bay Area, who are connected with the Sawai Koto Academy of Music in Japan led by venerable Sensei Kazue Sawai.
The first set opened with ". . . early in the morning, right before waking. . ." (1979) by Sofia Gubaiduliana.
The stage setup featured an ensemble of kotos starting at stage right arcing into stage rear and terminating at stage left. Up at stage front seated near the enormous 17 string bass koto was Sensei Kazue Sawai.
There is a saying "expect the unexpected" and with "early in the morning" it was all unexpected. The piece opened with the full koto ensemble bowing their kotos creating a haunting drone. Kazue Sawai provided busy plucks and up-and-down portamentos on the bass koto.
The sliding sounds were produced by a pilsner glass moving against the strings! Avant-garde playing techniques abounded and the piece took many unusual twists and turns.
The piece was not without its humor either. As the piece progressed most of the ensemble players were playing the koto with drinking glasses, and drumming on it with a hairbrush and a scrub brush.
The composer who spent time at the Sawai koto school in Japan says of this piece: ". . . I sensed the profoundness of these instruments (kotos) and now have a very close bond with them, having spent days and nights together with the instrument and its sounds. One morning I awoke and thought I could hear them conversing. I guessed they had been playing my music just before I awoke."
The second piece "Letter From A Strangers Childhood" (1986) by Celtic Bard Robin Williamson was completely different.
It was deeply contemplative and inwardly drawn. Kazue Sawai played it with great sensitivity. This was impressive as it showed her versatile ability to easily transition from a bombastic angular piece to a serene reflective composition.
The reflective aura didn't last long however, as the ensemble returned on stage to play the fiery "Homura" (1979) by Tadao Sawai.
Homura, literally meaning "to burst into flames" was very active and dynamic. It featured many diverse modern playing techniques that involved the whole ensemble. Rare, unusual sonic materials emerged. One poignant moment happened when the ensemble were playing the kotos in unison with long wooden sticks with a scraping motion that combined together sounded like a very large snare drum.
The composer Tadao Sawai says of Homura: "Homura is the title I have assigned with intent to verify how the life of the 17-string koto mixes with the noise of the koto group and how it flares up."
Sensei Kazue Sawai was impressive in these performances. A commanding presence on the koto, she was confident and powerful. She played the 17 string bass koto with poise, confidence, and impeccable technique. Seeing her play it is impossible to believe that this is a woman in her seventies! The vigorous energy that characterizes her performances is youthful, dynamic, and robust.
The second set of the evening featured Aeri Ji a Korean master of the 12-string zither called "gayageum". It was completely different in mood. Seated in a golden polished silk gown with brown accents, a refined gentle quality characterized her performances.
Aeri Ji's set began with "Chimhyangmu" (1974) by ByungKi Hwang. It was played on the sang gayageum a traditional 12-string folk gayageum.
The strings of the gayageum were tuned in an entirely new way for this piece based on a scale used in Buddhist chant. New playing techniques were also used such as arpeggios evoking the ancient Asian harp, the gonghu.
Interestingly, Chimhyang is a natural fragrance derived from an Asian aloe that has long been prized as a perfume. Thus the title Chimhyangmu means "Dance in the perfume of aloes."
Also notable in Aeri Ji's set was "Sigyetap" (The Clock Tower). This piece featured Aeri Ji playing the 17-string developed gayageum. This gayageum is lower in tone than its 12-string cousin and has a deep woodsy tone.
The first movement was slightly slow with a calm rhythm gradually featuring disjunct motions and decorative figures and making subtle changes in rhythm, ending with cheerful melodies in preparation for movement two. The second movement featured beautiful Western-style melodies in 4/4 time, reminiscent of a clock's sound. The third movement developed into lively, rhythmic dance rhythms while the fourth movement transitions into rapid triplets.
According to the program notes:
"Sigyetap" is a work that requires sophisticated performing skills and fully shows the high-level beauty of form that the gayageum can reveal. It has yet another attraction - it creates the atmosphere you may feel when you open a treasured music box and experience somewhat plaintive emotions like nostalgia.
The third and final set featured Chinese Guzheng player Sha Yuan. Her set featured guzheng mixed with western instruments. The tone was elegant and refined and her playing showcased many beautiful melodies and lush sweeping gestures.
Her set began with "A Moonlit Night On The Spring River" an old Song Dynasty tune that was arranged for guzheng, violin, cello, and piano. The original name for the tune was "Flute and drum at sunset" after an ancient melody that describes a beautiful sunset over a river in springtime.
The cello, violin and piano played a piece by Dvorak from his New World, evoking nostalgia from the Czech music combined with the imagery of the sunset in China - a perfect musical conversation.
Also notable on the program was "The Lotus that Stands Out" a traditional composition arranged for guzheng, harp and upright bass.
It had a haunting beautiful melody that was deep and serene. Inspired by the lotus flower, the Chinese believe to be very pure in nature representing elegance and honesty.
In this piece the guzheng sounded slightly sorrowful, while the harp evoked a clean elegance and the bass was quiet and broad. Together the instruments formed a perfect harmony.
The grand finale was "The Eternal Sorrow of Lin'An" by composer Zhanhao He. This piece was very rhythmic and featured active, dynamic playing from Sha Yuan flanked by Elias Wu on piano. "Eternal Sorrow" had a certain tension to it and a feeling of desperation. This mood perfectly evoked the story behind the composition.
General Lin'An, a patriot who was very popular among the people and who did much for his country repelling invaders and leading victorious battles became the victim of jealous bureaucrats who envied his popularity, eventually influencing the king to destroy the general.
Thus the evening ended with this dramatic conclusion.
Overall the concert was informative, exciting, and inspiring. Kudos to the festival organizers who had the vision of putting it together.
Judging by the inaugural concert the 2012 Pan-Asian Music Festival is poised to be a resounding success.
Further Reading: Koto Lantana, Wooden Fish Ensemble
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