Ensemble

Work comissioned by Plural Ensemble.

https://www.universaledition.com/com-un-nuvol-lleuger-guix-josep-maria-uesd103393-000

Nota de programa:

Un antic poema xinès de Li Ho (791-817), en la interpretació catalana de Marià Manent, ha estat el punt de partença d’aquesta breu composició. Si una primera lectura dels versos palesa la presència d’elements naturals (el so de l’aigua o del vent, el cant dels ocells, la vegetació, els núvols), una aproximació més pregona revela l’extinció d’un món: d’allò que va ser, però ja no és. La contemplació dels vestigis desperta una certa nostàlgia davant de la decadència des de la que parla el poeta i, alhora, adverteix del pas del temps, de l’aparent futilitat de la vida humana -al capdavall, la natura sembla recuperar allò que li va pertànyer en un primer moment.

La música comença amb una referència al darrer vers –“com un núvol lleuger que s’endú l’aire”-, i va explorant paisatges de la memòria, amb elements onírics i reminiscències de cants, danses o indumentària. La forma fusiona aquests materials en un tot que, per la presència de passatges recurrents, tramet a l’estructura del rondó.

Nota de programa:

Un antiguo poema chino de Li Ho (791-817), en la interpretación catalana de Marià Manent, ha sido el desencadenante de esta breve obra. Si bien es cierto que una primera aproximación a los versos revela la presencia de múltiples elementos naturales (el sonido del agua y del viento, el canto de los pájaros, la vegetación, las nubes), una lectura más profunda deja entrever la desaparición de todo un mundo: aquello que fue y ya no es. Esa contemplación de los vestigios despierta una cierta nostalgia ante la decadencia del presente del poeta y, a la vez, advierte del paso del tiempo, de la aparente futilidad de la vida humana -la naturaleza recupera, al cabo, aquello que le perteneció en origen.

La música parte del último verso –“com un núvol lleuger que s’endú l’aire” (como una leve nube que el aire barre)- y va explorando paisajes de la memoria ante lo ausente, mezclando elementos oníricos con reminiscencias de cantos, danzas o indumentarias. La forma funde esos materiales en un todo que, a causa de su recurrencia, alude a la estructura del rondó.

https://www.universaledition.com/josep-maria-guix-8296/works/jardin-seco-36078

This composition is based on a canvas by Fernando Zóbel, Jardín seco (Dry garden), placed at the Spanish Abstract Art Museum of Cuenca. It was also inspired by a few short Japanese poems (haikus). The work intends to be a musical translation of these poetic images and emotions.

Three non stop movements build the whole structure. The music refers to natural elements (water, wind) with a subtle use of dynamics and timbre. The audience should be placed in the middle of the ensemble in order to listen to the direction of the sound carefully displayed into the space, as well as to be able to enhance the resonances and the different levels of proximity and distance.

This work (Evening Wind) was gradually connceived while reading haikus, zen passages and also, thanks to the slow revision of ancient engravings and drawings from Japanese artists. At the same time, in this ritual trip, the music of Toru Takemitsu has accompanied me, closer every time, as well as the ancient Renaissance polyphony –specially the rich Brumel textures (the Et ecce terre motus Mass) and the Lassus spirituality (the Requiem for four voices). All this knowledge was crucial to awake in me a sense of self-restraint and refinement and, most of all, a specific state of mind.

I don’t know if it’s due to age, to the evolution of personal style, or to an increasingly intolerant attitude towards anything incidental, but the final result has been a concentrated music, apparently simple and –at least, that’s what I intended- quite suggestive. A music in which the feeling comes from the contemplation of nature elements (air, water) that change, like us, with the seasons, even though they remain essentially the same.

I worked as a sculptor that models clay, undoing and reshaping, again and again, before completing –permanently?- the work. The main difficulty was to extract, not to add, matter. I have never identified with the artist that works with marble and sees the finished work before carving it. I coexisted with this project –and my closest family, to whom I dedicate the work, has suffered a great deal- for over more than a year. And I learned a lot. Now it’s my time to thank the Caixa Catalunya’s Social Work, my professional peers, my friends, my family, for being the driving force behind my work. To all of them, thanks from the bottom of my heart.

Evening wind.
Water strings the leg
of a blue heron.
YOSA BUSON

Nightfall cool:
the floating herbs in the lake
they all move.
TAKAHAMA KYOSHI

On the snow covered
mountain peaks,
¡echoes crawl!
IIDA DAKOTSU

The autumn wind
also moves the heart, with the
curtain strings.
HATTORI RANSETSU