Christian Mason Lahara for
Percussion Sextet
Score
Christian Mason Lahara
for Percussion Sextet
Score
Spatial Deployment
•There are five spatially separated ‘stations’ from which the percussionists play, requiring seats to be blocked out of use:
A.Front (on stage)
B.Middle: left-side (within audience)
C.Middle: right-side (within audience)
D.Back: left-side (behind audience)
E.Back: right-side (behind audience)
•Each station has an array of instruments some of which will be used by more than one player, according to the varied musical situations that arise during the piece (see list below).
•The intention of this spatialisation is to allow the audience to experience the sounds of metallic resonance up close and from a variety of spatial perspectives not possible with the traditional division of musicians and audience on- and off-stage.
•According to the auditorium in which the premiere took place (Asian Arts Theatre, Gwangju) the location of the performing stations should be as follows:
Instrumentation (by player):
•Player 1: Thai Gongs (low), Bass Drum, voice
•Player 2: Triangles (x3), Suspended Cymbals (x2), Almglocken, Marimba, Thai Gongs (high), large Tam-tam, Conch Shell, voice
•Player 3: Steel Pans, Vibraphone, Bell Plates, Spring Coils (x2), Conch Shell, Kathak Ankle Bells, voice
•Player 4: Suspended Cymbals (x2), 4 Tubular Bells, Steel Pans, Bell Plates, Medium Tam-tam, Conch Shell, Kathak Ankle Bells, voice
•Player 5: Triangles (x3), Chinese Opera Gongs (x2), Crotales, Steel Pans, Bell Plates, Conch Shell, Kathak Ankle Bells, voice
•Player 6: Spring Coils (x2), Suspended Cymbals (x2), Chinese Opera Gongs (x2), Steel Pans, Bell Plates, Small Tam-tam, Conch Shell, Kathak Ankle Bells, voice
In cases where players have multiple of the same instrument (e.g. 3 triangles) they should be varied sizes (e.g. small, medium, large) and make varied sounds (e.g. high, mid, low).
All players are required to hum/sing while playing. This will ideally be at the written octave, but when that is not possible it is acceptable at whatever octave is most comfortable.
All Steel Pans should be Low Tenor Pans (of which 6 are needed) and should sound at written pitch.
Ranges of Required Pitched Instruments:
Instrumentation (at each of the stations)
STATION A (on-stage)
Thai Gongs [player 1], Bass Drum [player 1], 3 Triangles [player 2], 2 Suspended Cymbals [player 2], Thai Gongs [player 2], Marimba [player 2], Almglocken [player 2], Large tam-tam [player 2], Vibraphone [player 3], Bell plates (G, A, B-flat) [player 3], Bell plates (F, G-flat, A-flat) [player 5], Crotales [player 5], Steel Pans (Low Tenor) [players 3 and 4], Steel Pans (Low Tenor) [players 5 and 6], Conch Shell [Player 2]
STATION B (mid-left):
Bell plates (D, E) [players 5 and 6], Steel Pans (Low Tenor Pans) [players 5 and 6]
STATION C (mid-right):
Bell plates (D-flat, E-flat) [players 3 and 4], Steel Pans (Low Tenor Pans) [players 3 and 4]
STATION D (back-left):
Bell plates (G, B) [players 5 and 6], Steel Pans (Low Tenor) [players 5 and 6], Small Tam-tam [player 6], 2 Spring Coils [player 6], 2 Suspended Cymbals [player 6], 3 Triangles [player 5], 2 Chinese Opera Gongs [players 5 and 6]
STATION E (back-right):
Bell plates (B-flat, C) [players 3 and 4], 4 Tubular Bells (G, B-flat, B, C) [player 4], Steel Pans (Low Tenor Pans) [players 3 and 4], Medium Tam-tam [player 4]
Portable Instruments:
Conch shells [players 3, 4, 5, 6], Kathak Dance Ankle Bells* [players 3, 4, 5, 6]
*These should be worn throughout by players 3 - 6. This will inevitably create some unwritten tinkling which is generally acceptable, but players should be sensitive to the musical context (for example making a special effort not to move in moments with no other sound to cover the subsidiary ankle bell resonance)
Duration: c.13 minutes
Processions
Score in C with usual octave transpositions (crotales)
•The route of the processions between stations are indicated by arrows on the hall diagram above. If the physical distance is not equal to the musical time of the procession, the musical material should continue to be performed at the arrival point until the process is completed.
Programme
Note
•For future performances in different venues the same general principle of spatial distribution should be applied to the given hall or performance space.
Processions
•In cases where the given performance space does not allow this model to be accurately replicated creative solutions from the performers are welcomed taking into account the above note on the intentions of spatialisation.
•The route of the processions between stations are indicated by arrows on the hall diagram above. If the physical distance is not equal to the musical time of the procession, the musical material should continue to be performed at the arrival point until the process is completed.
•In the case of performance in warehouse type spaces it would also be possible (indeed desirable) for the audience to walk freely between/around the performance stations.
•For future performances in different venues the same general principle of spatial distribution should be applied to the given hall or performance space.
Other Performance Notes
•The four movements are really just divisions of a single whole and should be performed continuously without a break.
•In cases where the given performance space does not allow this model to be accurately replicated creative solutions from the performers are welcomed taking into account the above note on the intentions of spatialisation.
•The piece should be performed without a conductor, however the lahara (the low melodic line played by the Thai gongs of player 1) should serve as a reference point for ensemble synchronisation.
Lahara - which literally means ‘wave’ - is a term used in Indian music to describe a repeating melodic phrase that accompanies tabla and pakhawaj solo. In such a traditional context the lahara would be played by a melodic instrument such as the sarangi, functioning as a background against which the flourishing virtuosity of the soloist could evolve. In my piece this function is also present in the form of a long line stated three times fully in the Thai gongs, however there is no virtuosic soloist. Instead, the musical evolution (if it is that) takes the form of a resonant ceremony enacted on bell plates and steel pans, situated not only on-stage but in four locations around the audience. If you want to look for it, the idea of waves can also be seen in other aspects of the piece: the slow wave of the gradual progression of players from the back of the hall to the front, which defines the form of the piece; the waves of tam-tam crescendi at the end of each statement of the lahara; maybe even in the way that the foreground melodic figurations progressively increase in density over the course of the piece until they completely dominate our perception, before suddenly disappearing… And on a more concrete note every sound is, after all, a wave.
•In the case of performance in warehouse type spaces it would also be possible (indeed desirable) for the audience to walk freely between/around the performance stations.
Other Performance Notes
Duration: c.13 minutes
•The four movements are really just divisions of a single whole and should be performed continuously without a break.
Score in C with usual octave transpositions (crotales)
Lahara was commissioned for the opening season of Asian Cultural Complex - Asian Arts Theatre, Gwangju, South Korea, and is affectionately dedicated to Unsuk Chin, Sngkn Kim and Eunsi Cho.
•The piece should be performed without a conductor, however the lahara (the low melodic line played by the Thai gongs of player 1) should serve as a reference point for ensemble synchronisation.
Programme Note
Duration: c.13 minutes
Score in C with usual octave transpositions (crotales)
Programme Note
Lahara - which literally means ‘wave’ - is a term used in Indian music to describe a repeating melodic phrase that accompanies tabla and pakhawaj solo. In such a traditional context the lahara would be played by a melodic instrument such as the sarangi, functioning as a background against which the flourishing virtuosity of the soloist could evolve. In my piece this function is also present in the form of a long line stated three times fully in the Thai gongs, however there is no virtuosic soloist. Instead, the musical evolution (if it is that) takes the form of a resonant ceremony enacted on bell plates and steel pans, situated not only on-stage but in four locations around the audience. If you want to look for it, the idea of waves can also be seen in other aspects of the piece: the slow wave of the gradual progression of players from the back of the hall to the front, which defines the form of the piece; the waves of tam-tam crescendi at the end of each statement of the lahara; maybe even in the way that the foreground melodic figurations progressively increase in density over the course of the piece until they completely dominate our perception, before suddenly disappearing… And on a more concrete note every sound is, after all, a wave.
Lahara - which literally means ‘wave’ - is a term used in Indian music to describe a repeating melodic phrase that accompanies tabla and pakhawaj solo. In such a traditional context the lahara would be played by a melodic instrument such as the sarangi, functioning as a background against which the flourishing virtuosity of the soloist could evolve. In my piece this function is also present in the form of a stated three times fully in the Thai gongs, however there is no virtuosic soloist. Instead, the musical evolution (if it is that) takes the form of a resonant ceremony enacted on bell plates and steel pans, situated not only on-stage but in four locations around the audience. If you want to look for it, the idea of waves can also be seen in other aspects of the piece: the slow wave of the gradual progression of players from the back of the hall to the front, which defines the form of the piece; the waves of tam-tam crescendi at the end of each statement of the lahara; maybe even in the way that the foreground melodic figurations progressively increase in density over the course of the piece until they completely dominate our perception, before suddenly disappearing… And on a more concrete note every sound is, after all, a wave.
Lahara was commissioned for the opening season of Asian Cultural Complex - Asian Arts Theatre, Gwangju, South Korea, and is affectionately dedicated to Unsuk Chin, Sngkn Kim and Eunsi Cho.
Lahara was commissioned for the
of
- Asian Arts Theatre, Gwangju, South Korea, and is affectionately dedicated to Unsuk Chin, Sngkn Kim and Eunsi Cho.
for Unsuk Chin, Sngkn Kim and Eunsi Cho
Unsuk Chin, Sngkn Kim and Eunsi Cho
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Lahara – which literally means ‘wave’ – is a term used in Indian music to describe a repeating melodic phrase that accompanies tabla and pakhawaj solo. In such a traditional context the lahara would be played by a melodic instrument such as the sarangi, functioning as a background against which the flourishing virtuosity of the soloist could evolve. In my piece this function is also present in the form of a long line stated three times fully in the Thai gongs, however there is no virtuosic soloist.
Instead, the musical evolution (if it is that) takes the form of a resonant ceremony enacted on bell plates and steel pans, situated not only on-stage but in four locations around the audience. If you want to look for it, the idea of waves can also be seen in other aspects of the piece: the slow wave of the gradual progression of players from the back of the hall to the front, which defines the form of the piece; the waves of tam-tam crescendi at the end of each statement of the lahara; maybe even in the way that the foreground melodic figurations progressively increase in density over the course of the piece until they completely dominate our perception, before suddenly disappearing… And on a more concrete note every sound is, after all, a wave.
(Christian Mason)