Koto

Liza LIM
Born 1966, Perth, Australia

Koto (1994)

13-string koto, flute/voice, oboe, flügelhorn, percussion/voice, viola, violoncello I, violoncello II
Commissioned by ELISION Ensemble with the assistance of the Australia Council
Published by Ricordi, catalogue 136557

In Koto, I have thought of the eight musicians as aspects of a single instrument, as if they were the incredibly complex, subtle resonances and overtones of a gigantic gong. In this way, the music could be considered to be the audible residue of a very deep (subauditory) song of fundamental sounds--the `silent heart´ from which the perceivable sound springs.

The gestural vocabulary of the piece has a calligraphic quality derived from observations of the performing techniques and aesthetics of the koto. The percussive attack of the plucked string and the lyrical, curving form of the string's vibration as it dies away provide a model of plasticity that is taken up in various ways by the other instruments.

This image of striking and singing finds its final expression in the ejaculations of syllables of a Japanese `death´ poem through the flute and the percussion at the very end of the work. The poem, written as a farewell in battle, alluding to the cuckoo's red beak and sharp call, plays on the popular saying `when the cuckoo sings, its blood flows´.

Programme note © Liza LIM