Kanashibari
dedicated to Phil Hansen
Kanashibari is available on
Offshore
Albany Records Jan. 2006
Score, Parts and Electronics available from
Voice House Publishing
$100.00
Program Notes
Kanashibari is the Japanese term that describes an intense and often frightful
experience, common in Japan, but rare in the west. It occurs upon waking from
deep sleep. The sleeper opens eyes, looks around the room and tries to rise,
only to discover with fright that she/he is unable to move paralyzed
limbs and muscles frozen. They try to call out, but their larynx is also
frozen. In terror they sense the presence of another being.
In Japan discussion of Kanashibari is common, talk show hosts joke about it
and self-help gurus prescribe tactics for dealing with the ghosts. Some say
that, if one can overcome the fear, this state presents a powerful opportunity
to communicate with the Kanashibari spirits.
The subject of this work is ghosts the shadow personalities that inhabit
our sleep that we know little or nothing about the sides of ourselves
that may be completely obvious to others, but that we are almost completely
oblivious to the dark beings that live in the nooks and crannies of our
gestures and populate our dreams. It is about the yearning to know these secret
creatures that rustle the curtains just beyond reach. It is about pathos and
vulnerability. It is about our terrible nocturnal loneliness and fear of the
great darkness. November 2000
Performance Notes:
This work belongs to an ongoing series in which I explore the interaction of
solo acoustic instruments with concrète and electronically generated
sounds. In this case cello and human voice were the sources of the electronics.
In these works I am striving to accomplish several things:
1. virtuosic, idiomatic writing that exploits new or seldom used performance
techniques of acoustic instruments;
2. a modern, multi-layered compositional style that is simultaneously challenging
and accessible;
3. complex chamber music, with precise and variable interplay between electronic
and acoustic performers;
4) electronic elements that may be performed, from score (and with practice!).
The electronics employ techniques that I have been developing in a series of
works since 1997. These techniques allow me to create precise works that retain
the flexibility necessary for non-rigid interpretation by instrumentalists.
To accomplish this I create a fully scored part for the instrumentalist. The
electronic part consists of a set of complex sound cues. These are triggered
at various points in the score, and serve to embellish, contrast, follow or
lead the acoustic performer. Many variations are possible. Cues are stored either
in laptop computer or commercial, professional "DJ" compact disc players.
The latter are designed specifically for live performance and hence are well
suited to the demands and rigors of travel and live performance. Dynamics are
performed via audio mixer, either virtual or hardware.
Biography
Joseph Waters is a member of the first generation of American classical composers who grew up playing in rock bands. Throughout his career he has been intrigued by the confluence and tensions that entangle and bind the music of Europe and Africa. Much of his work involves interactions between electronic and acoustic instruments.
He is the founder of NWEAMO (New West Electro-Acoustic Music Organization). Each October the NWEAMO Festival travels from Mexico City, to San Diego, to Portland, Oregon, presenting composers from around the world in concerts that unite the worlds of classical and rock.
He also performs and composes for the Waters_Bluestone_Duel, an out-of-the-box ensemble that explores the combination of cutting edge, live electronics and virtuoso percussion.
He studied composition at Yale University, the Universities of Oregon and Minnesota, and Stockholms Musikpedagogiska Institut. Primary teachers were Jacob Druckman, Bernard Rands, Roger Reynolds, Dominick Argento, and Martin Bresnick.
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