In 2020, I wrote a work called “Longing from afar” which was designed for tele-performance and was later performed live - with social distancing - by some ensembles once they were allowed to perform live. This was my reaction to the pandemic situation in early 2020.
Recently, at the beginning of 2021, I was contacted by my friend, the conductor Ulrich Pöhl, who asked if I wanted to write another kind of piece to be performed during the second pandemic year.
The pandemic situation is constantly changing and, depending on the country, how musicians can perform is different. This time I wanted to approach it in the opposite direction to “Longing from afar”.
In the UK, where I live, they started using the word “Bubbles” since the start of the pandemic. It describes the people you live with or who you can associate with.
So, depending on the infection rate at the time, the government advice can be, “members of 2 bubbles can meet inside” or “you can meet 1 person from another bubble to walk in the park” etc.
Ulrich told me there are 4 bubbles in his ensemble in Holland, which means that musicians can play from 4 different places (1 musician will be playing from her home in Finland). 2 of the bubbles are SOLO (so it is like a person living alone), and the 2 other bubbles have 3 people in each bubble (like 3 people living together), so that these musicians can play together like a chamber ensemble.
In this piece it is up to the conductor how all these bubbles are to be structured: when and how they are played simultaneously, when the parts overlap or are played separately, how to start the piece and how to end the piece.
These 4 bubbles can be connected by tele-performance, or with social distancing on one stage.
Since the pandemic started, the importance of leadership in each country or region has become very clear. The leader decides when a nation must go into lockdown, how the vaccines are given and to which groups of people. It is vitally important that each leader is in discussion with the people he/she is leading.
The goal is that one day, hopefully soon, you will be able to have physical contact with other people from outside of your bubble, even something as wild as a hug.
Dai Fujikura (edited by Alison Phillips)