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Shishi (lion, trad.)
Yoshikazu Iwamoto shakuhachi flute 9'48'' silent pieces live at dacapo is a specialmembers-only-edition. (siehe DACAPO
Förderkreis)  Shishi was performed by the most wonderful shakuhachi player Yoshikazu Iwamoto during the 256th DACAPO-concert on November 29, 1992. Listening to this inimitable interpretation one seems to breathe the spirit of silence, the title of another CD recorded by Iwamoto recently. Shishi means lion, and according to Iwamoto, this ancient title may refer to an old dance from Bobigo, a far-off province, where in the old times boys used to walk through the streets on their hands while their masters played hand-drums. Shishi may also have to do with pairs of lion-like statues, which guard the doors of numerous village temples. Yoshikazu Iwamoto, (1945, Tokyo) studied the classical solo-repertoire with Baisen Onishi and the ensemble-repertoire with Shizue Sasagawa. He has performed worldwide over the last 15 years and published a basic text about the shakuhachi in 1994 (Oxford University Press).   Drei kleine Stücke op.11 by Anton Webern (18831945) date from 1914 and were performed by Yukiko Sugawara (piano) and Hans-Peter Jahn (violoncello) in the 262nd DACAPO concert on February 21, 1993. The movements are (1) MäBige Achtel (moderate eighths, 9 bars), (2) Sehr bewegt (very agitated, 13 bars), and (3) ÄuBerst ruhig (extremely silent,10 bars). These short pieces are of extreme intensity. They are the very opposite of the music that was beeing composed in those days. One listens to barely perceptable sounds and colours; an enormous richness beyond the silence surrounding these gorgeous miniatures becomes obvious. Yukiko Sugawara, originally from Sapporo, is a great pianist specialized in modern music. She studied with Michiko Endo, Aiko Iguchi and Aloys Kontarsky, performs at the great festivals and has lived in Stuttgart for many years. Formidable cellist and composerHans-Peter Jahn has also been working and living in Stuttgart for a long time. He is head of the new music department at Süddeutscher Rundfunk.   Palais de Mari by Morton Feldman (1926-87) was composed in 1986. The recording with pianist Sven Thomas Kiebler dates from the 240th DACAPO concert on May 3, 1992. Only 25 minutes in length, this piece is among the really short ones composed by Feldman, who loved long, slow music in which, to the inexperienced ear, nearly nothing seems to happen.Some of Feldman's pieces are longer than four hours. Piano sounds and patterns relate to their own autonomous universe of silent sounds an attentive listener becomes aware of a vegetative kind of metamorphosis. Sven-Thomas Kiebler (1964) studied piano with Jaime Padros and James Avery at the Freiburger Musikhochschule. Kiebler was member of the ensemble recherche and now works as soloist with the ensemble avance and with SurPlus. He has contributed many CD productions such as DACAPO's d'c 3 SurPlus plays Music of Solitude.   Souvenir by John Cage (191292) dates from 1983. Originally written for organ it is perfectly suited to Teodoro Anzellotti's instrument, the accordion. Anzellotti performed the piece on December 15, 1991 for the 230th DACAPO-concert. Much has been written about John Cages philosophy and concept of silence. Cage is the composer of the most silent piece of all silent pieces, the famous 4'33'' from 1952, which consists of three movements of tacet.The music is all the events that take place while the performers refrain from all action and instead listen to whatever happens on its own during the 4 minutes and 33 seconds of the piece. (On d'c 1 - Kazue Sawai Koto Ensemblethere is a wonderful version of 4'33'' for koto ensemble). The Souvenir on this record, nevertheless, is of a different nature... Teodoro Anzellotti (1959, Candela, Italy) has been living in Germany since 1966. He studied accordion with Hugo Noth and appears as accordion soloist worldwide with a repertoire from early to contemporary music. He also works with ensembles such as ensemble modern.  No.6 from the Book of Sounds by Hans Otte was written 19791982 and performed by the composer on June 26, 1991 for the audience of the 215th DACAPO-concert. In 12 most impressive piano pieces the Book of Sounds seeks to re-discover the listener as a partner of sound and silence, who in the quest for his world, wishes for once to be totally at one with the sound .... Hans Otte (1926) composer, pianist and, from 1959 to 1984, head of the music department of Radio Bremen, has won many awards in Germany, Italy and the U.S. for a wide spectrum of different compositions for large orchestras as well as chamber groups, music theatre, performances and sound environments. Hans Otte's Book of Sounds, which has been released on LP and CD, has had a worldwide resonance.  Ishi/man waxati Soundings for solo-violin and voice by Malcolm Goldstein was composed in 1987. The version you hear on this edition was played for the listeners of the 200th DACAPO concert on December 2, 1991. Ishi was the last living member of the Yahi people, who inhabited a territory in northern California until the beginning of this century. In theYahi language ishi means man (person) and man waxati stands for spring (source of water). The Yahis were completely destroyed by the intrusion of European civilization. In a metaphorical sense the re-tuned violin serves as man waxati (source) for the structured, improvisational unfolding of the music. Malcolm Goldstein (1936) has been active in the creation and presentation of new music and dance since the early 1960's. Numerous composers have collaborated with and written pieces for him, amongst them John Cage, Hans Otte, Ornette Coleman and Christian Wolff. Goldstein's violin improvisations (Soundings) have received international acclaim for having extended the sound possbilities of the violin. On our CD d'c 2 Goldstein plays Goldstein, dedicated entirely to Goldstein as a composer/violinist, we recently published a new live-version of the piece; extensive comments can be found in the CD booklet.   Für A.D.(1990) by Dietrich Eichmann belongs to the cycle New Distinction of a Bump, Oh., Katzenwiegenlied, Für A.D. which was performed for the 173rd DACAPO concert on April 20, 1990 by pianist Christoph Grund. Dietrich Eichmann (1966) studied piano and improvisation with Alexander von Schlippenbach and composition with Wolfgang Rihm and Frederic Rzewski. He lives in Berlin and Bruxelles. Christoph Grund (1961), composer and pianist, studied piano with G. Hauer and W. Genuit. He works as a soloist, with orchestras such as Michael Gielen's SWF-Sinfonieorchestra and with many chamber music groups. Ingo Ahmels 7/95 Fotos: Silvia Otte (Goldstein), Christoph Grund (Eichmann); others from nie wieder kunst.dacapo, © Bremen 1993, ISBN 3-930105-01-2. Recordings by Ingo Ahmels except: Ishi and Für A.D. by Andreas Heintzeler, courtesy Marita Emigholz, Radio Bremen dept. for new music. Thanks to Leslie Strickland for text-editing, Harald Falkenhagen for layout-improvement and d'c records gmbh for producing an English version of the textbook.  |