Article
Three Dances
John Cage(1945)
Ar by Sawai Kazuei1989j
@SOUNDDATA/28sec/ô338K
John Cage@@Sawai Kazue
THE NEW YORK TIMES, MONDAY, MAY 3, 1999
MUSIC REVIEW
Asian Effects Blend With Western, Proving They Are Part of One World
By BERNARD HOLLAND
Listeners who leaped up from Sofia Gubaidulinafs new piece at Carnegie Hall on Thursday night and hurried across Central Park in time to hear Ms. Gubaidulinafs new piece at the New York Philharmonic must have experienced something of a culture shock. g In the Shadow of the Tree,h as played by the NHK symphony under Charles Dutoit, and g Two Paths,h a Philharmonic commission, ask different questions of the composerfs art and occupy vastly separated worlds of style.
Such is the music of this 67-year-old original, a woman who follows many paths with unquenchable curiosity and conviction. Ms. Gubaidulinafs experience is vaguely reminiscent of Haydnfs. Both worked long years in comparative isolation and experimented with little fear of censure: Haydn at the country palace of the Esterhazys, Ms. Gubaidulina in the Tatar regions of the former Soviet Union.
The first had only his princely master to please. The message of Soviet-style political correctness had weakened by the time it reached Central Asia, and Ms. Gubaidulina found it relatively easy to sidestep.
She likes to describe her music in spiritual terms, but both these pieces pursue specific problems of concerto writing, gIn the Shadow of the Treeh is another attempt at East-West dialogue, an activity so often compromised by two incompatible sets of instruments and the tunings they represent. Her solutions are cunning.
With hyper-enthusiasm, Kazue Sawai attacked three plucked and stroked zitherlike instruments: two Japanese kotos, one a bass, and a Chinese equivalent. The kotos, with their splayed tones and intervals, live outside the Western notion of pitch relationships, but introduced also is the Chinese element of five-note melody, which acts as a kind of broker between traditions.
The uneasiness of Asian solo instruments against the European orchestra is further mitigated by subtle doctoring of the latter. Strings are tuned at half-step differences. Walls of tuned and untuned percussion join the indeterminacy. So clever are the solutions that the sounds of bleed naturally into the drifting orchestral sonorities. Somehow Western music becomes less a combatant than one more part of a larger world.
In both pieces Ms. Gubaidulina showed herself an absolute master of orchestration. At Carnegie Hall the swoops of muted strings and their dying downward glissandos were breathtakingly beautiful. In gTwo Path,h a dialogue between two violas and orchestra, the shrieks, groans and chatterings seemed to take the human voice as model.
The Philharmonic piece, as heard at Fridayfs repeat performance, was conducted by Fridayfs repeat performance, was conducted by Kurt Masur and featured two soloists from the orchestra, Cynthia Phelps and Rebecca Young. gTwo Pathsh has the dark, troubled rhetoric of modern Europe. Lower strings, brass and bass clarinet create a nightscape of sorts; played against them are agonizingly high harmonic tones on the solo instruments.
gTwo Pathsh operates as question-an-answer: orchestra as interrogator, often hectoring; the violists more placatory. Separating solo instruments by nature not that resonant from their larger partners resolves the uneven balance of power. It helps that both Ms. Phelps and Ms. Young have the high-powered techniques necessary to fill Avery Fisher Hall. The same kind of muscularity was applied to Bachfs two-viola gBrandenburg Concertoh at the start of the evening.
The Philharmonic surrounded gTwo Pathsh with foolproof favorites: the Schubert gUnfinishedh and Mendelssohn gItalianh symphonies. At Carnegie Hall Mr. Dutoit and his Japanese players used the presence of Itzhak Perlman and Prokofievfs Fifth Symphony as bait. In both venues restive, shuffling and coughing audiences transmitted a subversive impatience with Ms. Gubaidulinafs music.
In the Philharmonicfs Schubert, the sum of the parts was greater than the whole. The cellos sang the famous tunes with unearthly elegance; the wind solos were beautiful. Yet Mr. Masurfs slow tempos made the heavy accents sound self-conscious and the well-played individual sections isolated one from the other. With a certain kind of spirituality in play, low-speed enterprises like this can flourish. It didnft happen here.
As one would expect from a fastidious culture, the NHK symphony created a lovely sound, the strings with a genteel, almost covered quality. Mr. Perlmanfs piece was the Barber Violin Concerto: direct, gentle and songful music (excepting the whirlwind finale), which these players treated with exquisite courtesy. It was nice to hear Mr. Perlman playing so well and venturing outside the fame-and-fortune repertory.
River Citiesf Reader
THE ULTIMATE KOTO DUO
BY Jeff Wichmann
Survival, thatfs what its all about. In order to survive one must change. The Japanese string instrument, koto, is one that has changed and adapted through time.
Most people are familiar with the more traditional gprettyh sounds generated by this six foot long Asian zither. A popular image of the koto is that of a kimono clad female kneeling down behind the instrument daintily plucking its thirteen strings. But closer inspection into the world of koto (and a reality check in 1990s) reveals a 1,100 year old instruments taking contemporary music by the throat. Look a little closer and discover a Japanese husband and wife team that has molded a new world of koto within the later third of the 20th century. Meet Tadao and Kazue Sawai.
The Sawais have worked, together and separately, to revitalize the koto in Japan and bring to the world a new form of music ------- Japanese contemporary music. For the past 30 years these musicians have redefined what was tradition. Now, they oversee one of the largest koto schools in Japan. They have taken steps in new directions with their music, but their steps have been different. This team works well together, because, like all successful relationships, they are opposite in nature, but at the same time, share a common goal ----- the advancement of koto.
TADAO
On any given morning Tadao will sit and relax with a cigarette and a cup of coffee calmly reading the daily newspaper. When he is on stage, he still appears to be reading the paper. During a performance he moves with simple grace and subtle fluidity. His hands fly over the strings at tremendous speeds with acute accuracy not unlike Robert Frippfs work on guitar. Tadao is always in calm control, the kind of control that makes audiences say, gMy! Doesnft that look easy!h
Tadao Sawai is considered to be one of the leading contemporary Japanese composers for koto. His professional career spans over the past 30 years since he graduated from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music. His compositions have been more influenced by European music than Japanese. He takes chances but they are educated chances.
Tadao has written approximately 80 pieces that have had a huge impact playing techniques with fresh sounds and rhythms. Some of his ensemble compositions have the full-scale intensity of a Barton symphony. Others incorporate drumsticks and atonal tunings that wash the air with scratchy vibrations and psychedelic wave. Though he considers traditional music an important aspect of koto plying, he sees the koto as something more than just a traditional Japanese instrument. It is an instrument through which a musician can explore new realms of sound.
One of Sawaifs more famous works, gHomura,h was written for his wife, Kazue. Her energetic performance style and creative interpretation has made it a Sawai anthem ------ one that has received standing ovations whenever played.
KAZUE
In Japan, people wait patiently at intersections for the walk symbol to appear before crossing the street. Kazue doesnft like to wait. She runs across busy streets in the middle of a block on her own accord. She takes just as many chances in her music. On a given night, one can find her literally tearing apart a koto (ala early Pete Townsend) in a small Tokyo bar while improvising with other musicians.
She has performed throughout Europe, India, and America wowing audiences with her high energy shows. In Japan, where the koto is still considered by many to be a gtraditionalh instrument, she is one woman entourage breaking down barriers in a conservative country. Her small stature (4 ft 9 inches) is deceiving. When she plays the 17 string bass koto, the music rolls forth in a mighty roar. She bounces around in constant motion, throwing her whole body into the instrument, hitting, pulling, and snapping the strings with bullet shot intensity.
As a teacher she encourages her students to break from tradition in their playing; at the same time respecting it. She says the koto should be respected as an instrument on itfs own merit. According to Kazue, the music should be played because it is good, not because itfs Japanese or because it is old or new. The music and the instrument will only survive if it is played as art.
THE DUO
The Sawais are leaders in making the koto popular and respected in Japan. Tadaofs compositions are regarded as modern classics, as are Kazuefs interpretations. Both are rebels. They simply go about reveling differently. Something incredible happens when they perform together. It is natural that they make a great duet and it is by nature, and their will to push the boundaries of music, that they insure the survival of the koto and its music.
The Sawais will be performing together at Augustana College in Rock Island on Tuesday April 18 at 8 p.m. Although they have performed in the United States before, this will be the first time by Elizabeth Falconer and the Chusei Koto ensemble lead by Dr. Jesse Evans will be performing with them on selected pieces. Following their Augustana concert, the Sawais will perform in Chicago, New York and San Diego.