| Fifth Station |
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As you can see, there are only 2 instruments are on stage and the rest of
the instruments are in the auditorium. I have been interested in this
"spatial separation" idea for quite a time. Daryl Runswick, who taught me as an undergraduate at Trinity College of Music has been a major influence on my work. When I started my studies I knew no modern music. I entered the college with ambitions to be a film composer. Daryl opened my mind to the realities of modern music, in the same way that Laurence Fishburne opened Keanu Reeves' mind to the realities of life in the "Matrix". However, Daryl did not give me any pills. And we did not spend our afternoons running over ceilings doing cool karate stunts! However, despite this obvious failing (I am the only composer of my generation who cannot run on the ceiling and do karate) he taught me a great deal, although we disagreed about everything: Favourite actress (He likes Rosanna Arquette, I much prefer her sister Patricia) Favourite "Star Wars" movie (He likes the first one, I prefer "Empire Strikes Back"). He is very much into the idea of "improvisation" I am not. (as he puts it I am too control freak!) He said the one great thing about controlled-improvisation is that each performance is different but still the same piece. I quite like this idea (of course not the "improvisation" part of it) so I thought about it a lot. "Spatial separation" maybe the control freaks way of producing the above effect; because if you sit the different places in the Auditorium, the piece will sound different. I remember I tried this idea with my last orchestral piece which was performed in Japan last May. After the concert, two critics were discussing the piece. One says "I liked it, but I could hear the strings from the back of the hall, but couldn't hear harp much", the other says "I could only hear the harp!". I like this result very much. Maybe there is a little reason for this piece to be performed again... "Fifth Station" was composed during participation in the London Sinfonietta's Blue Touch Paper scheme for composers, with generous funding from the Gulbenkian Foundation, PRS Foundation and Michael Vyner Trust. Dai Fujikura (edited by Harry Ross) |