it's distance that makes mountains mountains
for ensemble (2022)
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This piece was commissioned by Tangram, premiered by Tangram artists and Ligeti
Quartet at LSO St. Luke’s on 28th August 2022.
It’s distance that makes mountains mountains.
Looked at closely, they start to resemble me.
Vast panoramas stop people in their tracks and
make them conscious of the engulfing distances.’
Shuntaro Tanikawa
There are many definitions and interpretations of silence.
One of them, which we celebrate today on its 70th anniversary, is John Cage's 4’33”.
In the early stages of writing this piece, I kept asking myself if I could show a different
interpretation of silence through music.
I soon realized that silence could not be defined. In the process of exploration and
discussion, has the true sense of silence already been lost? Is silence just a state? Is
silence just another form of sound?
Perhaps, in this piece of music, silence is a moment of perspective shift and
suspension. It is the very moment between inhaling and exhaling, speaking and
listening, moving and motionless, chaos and void.
Silence has both - it is fluid and inconstant.
It’s distance that makes mountains mountains;
it’s silence that makes music music.
The moment of silence is formed when the speaker becomes the listener, when the
performer becomes the audience, when ‘our silence is your silence.’
Performance notes
Ensemble
Flute
Clarinet in bB
Piano
Percussion
Tam-tam, Bass Drum/Chinese bass drum, 3 Tom-toms (mid-low range), Chinese cymbal, small gong, opera gong,
triangle, tambourine, 3 woodblocks, 1 Chinese low pai gu (low)
2 Violins
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
Staging
Voile fabric screen is required.
Stage should be set up as musicians are performing on the stage (with score stand and seats).
Percussionist and pianist are behind the screen.
The rest of ensemble is behind the audience in outer circle.
Lightings are required.
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