related works
Xing : for 2 conductors and ensemble / Adam Łukawski
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Large ensemble (12 or more players)
Scoring:
fl/picc ob cl/cl-b fg 2h 2tpt trb tb 4perc hp acc 2vn vla vc db
Sgraffito : voor ensemble, 1991 / Annette Kruisbrink
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Large ensemble (12 or more players)
Scoring:
fl ob cl cl-b fg sax-a perc hp pf 2vl vla vc cb
De profundis I : for wind instruments, double-bass and piano, 1986 / Henk van der Meulen
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Large ensemble (12 or more players)
Scoring:
1000 sax-s 2sax-a 1330 pf cb
Drift : for percussion, piano and string orchestra / Ludmila Yurina
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Large ensemble (12 or more players)
Scoring:
perc pf str
composition
Xing : for 2 conductors and ensemble / Adam Łukawski
Other authors:
Lukawski, Adam
(Composer)
Description:
In Chinese philosophy, before the beginning of matter, there is just nothingness - such emptiness that for a human being it is not possible to imagine it. From emptiness, borders are created (Xing) to make a form for a perceivable emptiness (Wu). Some of the other meanings of Xing are: "new beginning", "to wake up", "to conduct".
The form of the piece was inspired by the physical string theory in which collisions of gigantic string-shaped structures give birth to the new universes operating with different dimensions and physical rules. In the piece, conductors deciding tempi of separate structures causes their meetings and beginnings of new small soundscapes.
The concept of an idea of connecting different elements to create something new in a secular ritual of logic and rhetoric reminds me of the one from the last novel by Hermann Hesse - The Glass Bead Game. As this concept is very important to me, I decided to translate his poem with the same title into the rhythmical code and further incorporate it into the musical structure as a symbol in the last 90 seconds of music.
Adam Łukawski