Kuniko Kuniko

Home , Iannis Xenakis, James Wood (musician)

IANNIS XENAKIS KUNIKO KUNIKO

Iannis Xenakis (1922–2001)

Pléïades 1. Mélanges (Mixtures) ...... 8:51 2. Métaux (Metals) ...... 13:56 3. Claviers (Keyboards) ...... 10:31 4. Peaux (Skins) ...... 11:25

Rebonds 5. A ...... 8:07 6. B ...... 6:21

Total Running Time: 60 minutes

Watch Kuniko perform ‘Peaux’ from Pléïades at http://lin.mn/kunikoix Recorded at Lake Sagami Hall, Kanagawa, Japan 15–18 December 2013, 11–15 January 2014, 2–4 and 30 September 2014 and 1 October 2014

All tracks are recorded at 192kHz / 24-bit Produced by Yuji Sagae Recording and engineering by Kazuya Nagae and Yuji Sagae Executive producing by Philip Hobbs Mastering by Bastiaan Kuijt Cover image and photography by Michiyuki Ohba Technical support by Adams, Pearl, Sukit Musical Co. Ltd, Synthax Japan (RME) and Sennheiser Japan (Neumann) Design by gmtoucari.com Production coordination by Kim Campbell and Heather North Special thanks: Seiji Murai, Yuki Sakamoto, Takeshi Mitsuhashi, Michio Akiyama, Anna Suzuki, Yoichi Toishi, Natsuki Urushibata, Misaki Gunji, Kazuyuki Inomaki, Hiroyoshi Takishima, Takafumi Oike, Mitsuru Sato, Yukinori Machida, Andy Ito, Masaki Furukawa at Linn Japan, Cathy Hogg at Linn Records, Adams, Pearl, Sukit Musical Co. Ltd, Synthax Japan (RME), MI-7 Japan, Sennheiser Japan (Neumann), Rock On Pro, Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten and Luca Veggetti IX IANNIS XENAKIS

Iannis Xenakis was a Greek-French composer whose name and work has had a huge impact within the world of music, and thankfully in particular on percussion repertoire. Not only was he a composer, he was also an experienced music theorist and an architect-engineer. Xenakis mastered his own way of composition by pioneering the use of mathematical models within his compositions. Amongst his catalogue of compositions, he has left us great music for orchestra, solo instruments and various ensembles that are greatly appreciated. Xenakis’ music is very profound and some think it is impossible to play. Each composition is perfectly constructed and every note is the result of a calculated decision to eliminate any ambiguity and prevent the wastage of any single note. Each marking is significant and of value.

Xenakis was influential in the development of electronic and computer music. He liked to experiment with combining music with architecture and different spaces; he sought to find the perfect composition or performance opportunity for existing spaces in addition to composing music with a specific space in mind.

4 Today, it is very easy for us to type all of our compositions perfectly into a computer, that is, if you’re good with computers; but why is it that Xanakis chose to write everything down by hand and present it to us this way?

Humans are not machines. Even if you tried to play perfectly like a machine, there would most likely be a natural rhythm within our bodies that would cause various fluctuations during performance. Working with the finest percussionists, such as Sylvio Gualda amongst others, I believe Xenakis experienced these human fluctuations; the physical limitations of performers, the equipment and performance spaces, and sometimes, even miracles and excitement too. These beliefs have led me to think that Xenakis created not just simple pulse combinations, but instead captured these misalignments in his music based on his experiences and understanding of human natural tendencies.

The most interesting and fascinating aspect of Xenakis’ music for me is that no matter how many times or how thoroughly I’ve read through one of his scores, I am always able to find something new to explore with each reading. I have been surprised by unusual harmonies, unique combinations of complex rhythms and I have discovered beautiful melodies in unexpected parts of the score. This pleasant phenomenon occurs both when one delves straight into his scores and plays the music faithfully, without showing any personal taste in one’s approach,

5 but most surprisingly, I was able to find even more from his music after hours of studying Xenakis’ works. This dedication has allowed me to see the spectrum of imaginative ideas he had, his interests and even his hopeful expectations for percussion through his various experiments within the scores. His grand ambition for the construction of each composition has become clearer to me with each reading. Additionally, there is a vibrant sense of fun in his detailed phrases and rhythms which I also enjoyed discovering. Xenakis’ limitless ideas must have been overflowing whilst he was composing, and from these discoveries, I believe it’s safe to assume he thoroughly enjoyed himself in the process.

After many hours with these compositions, deciphering each note and analysing the enormous amount of care that went into his hand- written scores, Xenakis’ music has become a part of my body and soul. As a musician, I have tried to express all of the observations I’ve discovered as faithfully to the score as possible, and to the best of my ability. I hope that the insight and emotion I’ve created through sound is released into space and reaches the ears of you the listener. I am so happy to be able to share this special music with the world.

6 PLÉÏADES (1978)

This great piece is constructed of four sequences. It was originally composed in 1978 and commissioned by Rhin Opera. Its world premiere was performed by Les Percussions de Strasbourg.

Pléïades is very popular and famous within the percussion community as an ensemble piece and has become a standard part of the repertoire. It’s not a well-known fact, but this piece was originally written for dance. Coincidentally, the original motivation that led me to this work was a dance project I was involved in premiering in 2014.

Xenakis suggests that the six percussionists, with mostly the same instruments, are to be positioned in the centre, either in a circle or horizontally lined from right as A-B-C-D-E-F towards the audience. He then left some freedom for the players to determine which sequences are to be played and in which order, although he does suggest four orders. His suggested orders experiment with different combinations of basic rhythm and complex polyrhythm (multi-rhythm), as well as low to high pitches, with accents being an important tool in each sequence.

Mélanges ‘Mélanges’ means mixtures and as the title describes, it is the mixture of all the instruments coming together in order to prepare for the following sequences.

7 Phrases are taken from each of the sequences and are combined with different timbres to expand the musical theme as if it was a completely different sound-world.

This sequence makes me imagine walking through the twinkling lights of a street market at night with shops lined up one after the other. And as I continue walking through the streets, wondering where I am going next, I am suddenly surprised to hear a commotion akin to a toy box tipping over. This display of sound is full of humour with a strong sense of fun.

Métaux A SIXXEN, a specially crafted instrument for this composition appears within this sequence (see image of SIXXEN on pages 2, 3 and back cover of the booklet). SIXXEN is named after SIX percussionists and XENakis. It is made up of nineteen metal bars with irregularly distributed pitches. The six SIXXEN are tuned slightly differently in an attempt to avoid unisons in the music. This instrument is played with a metal hammer. I can feel Xenakis’ imagination and his desire to create a beautiful metal sound through the SIXXEN.

After many experiments with various materials (aluminium, steel and brass), the sizes and the shapes (such as open end, closed end, etc.) of the metal bars, I finally decided on steel square tubes of a certain thickness. Nineteen bars multiplied by six instruments equals 114 metal bars (plus

8 some spares!), which meant I had to choose over 120 steel bars of varying sizes for different pitches. This in itself was a full day’s work. Choosing these 120 bars felt and sounded like someone sorting through scraps at a metal shop, however once they are laid out on the custom SIXXEN frame made by Adams it looks like a complete instrument.

The first note of this sequence starts as a single atom, and one by one, more sounds and polyrhythms are combined from the six parts, creating an overtone from the six SIXXEN that starts filling out the sound-space like a myriad of bell crickets singing at the same time. Or quite possibly like the initial atom into molecules from which the universe was born and burst, releasing a variety of shapes and colours.

Claviers As the title describes, this is the sequence for marimba, vibraphone, xylophone and xylo-marimba (or xylorimba, which is the occasional term that appears in French compositions, as it is an instrument between marimba and xylophone). One of each instrument is assigned to each of the six performers, which creates a unique acoustic structure. I personally find the effect of using six vibraphones absolutely fantastic. Xenakis takes the music through what seems like every sound combination possible, almost as if he was trying to recall the universe’s constellations. It is more an experiment on a mathematical fusion than an emotional one. The last coda section has an unexpected, yet amazing, tutti like gamelan section.

9 Peaux This sequence is probably the most popular and most frequently performed in live performances. It is mostly made up of a variety of combinations of rhythms based on eighth, sixteenth and thirty-second notes as well as polyrhythms. Somehow, through these combinations of rhythms, together with the accents, a variety of melodies and uplifting rhythms unfold. Finally we arrive at the universe’s ‘Big Bang’; this sequence is the real highlight of Xenakis’ drumming world.

The title Pléïades does not seem to directly relate to the Pléïades star cluster and its Greek mythology, however Xenakis’ works are a sort of magnificent universe to me. When I play his work, I always feel the scale of his music and I am pulled in to his universe as if something was drawing me in. To understand this fantastic music, I spent an enormous amount of time reading the scores, creating the SIXXEN and selecting the other instruments, along with the mallets and heads. Throughout my preparation and performance of each note, to me, there always seemed to be a myriad of stars which appeared, sparkled and scattered as each note of the music was created.

Despite this challenge, Xenakis’ intentions are always extremely clear – what he intended to do and how he wanted to construct the music. There will always be things that we as humans can’t completely perform. Perhaps every percussionist has experienced this at some point.

10 Xenakis’ intended fluctuations on the time axis and various timbres, pitches and rhythms allowed me to create an even more powerful sound and energy. Even if everything was written to be perfectly aligned, it can never be perfect and nothing can be repeated exactly the same, which is how he intended to generate more energy. He has demanding expectations for each of the percussion instruments he’s chosen throughout the music.

Sometimes I wonder what kind of thoughts Xenakis had when writing this music. Leaving Greece to live in Paris on his way to exile in the USA, what did he see and find there? There were many genres of arts, many artists full of passion coming and going, and it was a very active and vibrant era to develop new things. I like to believe that he must have been inspired and self-motivated from this part of the world.

After I finished recordingPléïades, I went to Étretat, France where I felt the ocean breeze while overlooking the English Channel from the quay. As I pondered over the past year of dedicated hard work, I reflected on what a truly great composer Xenakis was and how music is full of mysterious charm. And with this reflection, I found myself ready for my next challenge.

11 REBONDS (1988)

As a percussion soloist, this is a piece that I have been playing and performing throughout my entire career. This is my second recording of Rebonds. This piece is perhaps the most popular percussion solo repertoire that there is, and I remember it being performed at many festivals, concerts and masterclasses when I started travelling to Europe in the early nineties. Rebonds, written by Xenakis in 1988, was the follow up to his first piece for solo percussionPsappha , composed in 1975. Rebonds was written as a standard score, unlike Psappha which was written as a graph notation. The instrumentation for Rebonds is more realistic and feasible for every percussionist to play, which is one of the reasons why I prefer to play Rebonds over Psappha.

At the time of publication, it was very difficult to find out about solo percussion repertoire in Japan. I was very curious to see what was going on in Europe and how these pieces were being played, so I made the decision to travel to Europe. In those days I could barely follow the score, and after playing through them I was out of breath. Since then, I have played this piece numerous times; developing my technique, physicality and interpretation of the piece over the years. However, for this recording, I wanted to take time to re-study the whole piece and start my interpretation from scratch once again. As I revisited this composition, I was constantly surprised at how many new discoveries I made and how my understanding of this familiar piece was able to evolve. 12 When speaking about Xenakis, I need to mention a certain percussionist, Sylvio Gualda, who is one of my all-time favourite, and a highly respected, percussionist. During my studies I listened to his recordings in the library and was amazed. It had always been my dream to see him perform and in 2010, I was fortunate enough to see him in Brisbane, Australia for the very first time. When he listened to my performance ofRebonds , he gave me a great compliment with the following message:

Finally, I would like to send my sincere thanks to all who supported this year-long project. I am very fortunate to have had a chance to record the great works of this amazing twentieth-century composer, Iannis Xenakis.

13 COMPOSER’S NOTE PLÉÏADES

Pléïades: [pluralities] [several], there are six percussionists and four sequences. The primordial element is rhythm, in other words the ordering in time of events, the combination of durations, intensities and timbres. It is constructed in several parallel fields but with transverse circulations, i.e. figures are simultaneously deformed or not, as the case may be. Some of the fields are made manifest by accents which superpose rhythms onto the normal beat. The timbres of the membranes are also functional, being subject to rhythmic fields.

The sole source of this polyrhythm is the idea of periodicity, repetition, duplication, recurrence, copy, faithfulness, pseudo-faithfulness and unfaithfulness. For example: a beat incessantly repeated with the same pattern represents a faithful copy of a rhythmic atom (of course a metre in ancient music is already a repeating rhythmic molecule). In this way, small variations in the pattern produce internal rhythmic activity without damaging the fundamental period. Greater and more complex variations of initial period create a disfiguration which may lead to immediate non-recognition. More diverse variations, of still greater complexity or (which often comes to the same thing) resulting from the chance distribution of a particular stochastic procedure leads to total

14 rhythm, to a knowledge through mass of events, to notions of clouds, nebulae, dust galaxies of rhythmically organized beats. Moreover, the speeds of these transformations create new disfiguration superposed upon the preceding, ranging from little continuous accelerations to rapid, not to say exponential transformations (still continuous) which sweep the listener along like a whirlwind, dragging him as though to inevitable catastrophe or to a contorted universe. Again infinitely great speeds, corresponding to brutal breaking-up of transformations, move instantaneously from one kind of evolution to another of an essentially different type.

An axiomatization together with formalization, as represented by theory of pitch-series envelopes a certain number of such problems of transformation in all domain, spaces or ordered ensembles.

In Pléïades this basic idea of duplication (recurrence) in time of event or of a state of being which our physical but human universe is submerged is also taken up in another musical [dimension], that of pitch. In this dimension European (Western) music has remained immobile since Greek antiquity. The system of the diatonic scale still holds away, even indeed especially, in those kinds of music (such as serial music) in which total chromaticism is the basis for the choice of notes. Moreover its extension to a scale in which the unit would be the comma would not change the [climate], the force-field of the melodic lines or the pitch-clouds.

15 This is why I have undertaken this double endeavour. The first, as was already the case in Jonchaies for orchestra, being to construct a frankly non-Western scale of sufficient firmness and character, but capable of being played on diatonic keyboard instruments such as marimba, xylophone and vibraphone. The second essay was to have a new metallic instrument built, called the SIXXEN, comprising nineteen irregularly distributed pitches with steps of quarter-tones or thirds of tones or their multiples. In addition the six copies of the instruments taken as a whole should never produce unisons. As far as the first question is concerned, after a long trial I constructed a series (scale) which with surprise, was similar to the ancient Greece, of the Near East or Indonesia. However my scale, unlike these traditional scales, is not based on the octave; it possesses internal symmetries and manages to cover the total chromatic space in three consecutive copies (periods), thus enabling it to create by itself, without any transpositions, supplementary harmonic fields when polyphonic superpositions are made.

16 COMPOSER’S NOTE REBONDS

Rebonds is in two parts, A and B. The order of play is not fixed: either AB or BA but without a break. The metronomic indications are approximate. Part A only uses skinned instruments: two bongos, three tom-toms and two bass drums. Part B uses two bongos, one tumba, one tom-tom, bass drums and a set of five wood blocks. The tuning of the skins and the wood blocks should extend over a very wide range.

KUNIKO

Kuniko is one of the most gifted and significant percussionists of her generation. Her astonishing virtuosity, exquisite musical insight and expressive yet elegant performance style continues to attract not only audiences, but established conductors and composers too. She is renowned for her flawless technique when playing both keyboard and percussion instruments, which blends seamlessly with her profound musical intelligence.

Kuniko studied under the legendary marimba player Keiko Abe at Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Japan and advanced her studies under Robert Van Sice at Rotterdam Conservatorium in the Netherlands. She graduated with the highest honour (summa cum laude) as the first percussionist in the institution’s history. Whilst studying, Kuniko continued to develop her professional career, playing various concertos and solo recitals including the Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra by Akira Miyoshi.

After graduation she was based in Europe for over ten years, winning major awards including the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis from the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt in 1996 and second prize at the International Leigh Howard Stevens Marimba competition in

19 1996. In 1997, Kuniko recorded James Wood’s Marimba Concerto in London where her performance was highly complimented by the BBC. In addition, Kuniko was a guest soloist at the James Wood Portrait concert at the 2001 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. In 1999, Kuniko released her first solo album To The Earth.

Career highlights for Kuniko include the Japanese premiere of the music theatre production of The Pure Land (Jodo) in 2005 by James Wood; a story based on Yukio Mishima’s novel The Priest of Shiga Temple and His Love. In May 2006, Kuniko revived the legendary percussion concerto Cassiopeia by Toru Takemitsu as a part of the Takemitsu Memorial Concert at Tokyo Opera City in Japan. The performance was recorded live and is available on a limited edition CD. During 2008-9 Kuniko showcased a solo recital at Sao Paulo University as part of the first International Percussion Festival, appeared at the historic Monday Evening Concert series in Los Angeles, performed a solo recital at Vancouver New Music Society and gave the Japanese premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Double Concerto at the Suntory Summer Festival.

In March 2009 Kuniko created a new live performance Sound Space Experiment – Steel Drum Works in Tokyo, Japan. At this performance she gave the world-premiere of Electric Counterpoint, transcribed for

20 steel pans, marimba and vibraphone by Steve Reich. In 2010 she was invited to perform concerts and masterclasses in Canada, Australia, Portugal, Congo and South Africa. Kuniko also performed Steel Drum Works in Vancouver, Canada, Saitama and Itami, Japan, and at the international music festival Les Flâneries Musicales de Reims in France in 2011. Kuniko’s critically acclaimed recording kuniko plays reich was released on Linn in 2011 and was its bestselling album of the year. kuniko plays reich features unique multi-tracked arrangements of classic minimalist works from the 1980s by Steve Reich, personally endorsed by the composer. Kuniko performed her Reich arrangements live in Tokyo, New York, Modena, Reims and at the Cheltenham Festival in England in 2011. She conducted a world tour in 2012 including multiple performances in Japan, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona and Köln, a major residency in Armenia and a tour of Australia. ‘Kuniko plays Reich in Kyoto’ concert which was presented at Kyoto Arts Centre in 2012, received the prestigious 12th Keizo Saji Award by Suntory Arts Foundations.

In 2013 her eagerly awaited second album from Linn was globally released, featuring the premiere percussion arrangements of four of the great Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s signature works. The album is entitled CANTUS and was in the UK’s Top 10 Specialist Classical Chart. This album also received the ‘Best Recording’ Award at Japan’s Music Pen Club’s 26th Music Awards.

21 Kuniko continues to perform and collaborate with internationally renowned composers, conductors and orchestras including Franco Donatoni, James Wood, Toru Takemitsu, Seiji Ozawa, Steve Reich and Unsuk Chin. In addition to her solo performances in Asia, Europe and the USA, she has been a member of various orchestras and chamber groups such as the Saito Kinen Orchestra (Japan), Ensemble ICTUS (Belgium) and Ensemble NOMAD (Japan). An extremely versatile musician, Kuniko has been actively involved in various creative art scenes and has collaborated with prominent artists including Netherlands Dance Theatre dancer Megumi Nakamura, theatre director Satoshi Miyagi, and Za Ondecoza, a Japanese taiko drumming group. Kuniko also produces commercial music, including theme music for the television programme NHK Art Theatre.

Kuniko is strongly committed to music education through percussion workshops, masterclasses and open rehearsals whenever possible in conjunction with her solo recitals. She has been working with learning- disabled children in Japan since 2004, including a series of log drum (slit drum) workshops.

Kuniko is endorsed globally by Adams and Pearl. She currently resides in USA.

ALSO AVAILABLE ON LINN CKD 495

Kuniko Kuniko Kuniko CANTUS kuniko plays reich Reich: Counterpoint LP

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