Work
Primary Structures
for shō and tenor recorder
About
This work is based around the 11 aitake (fingering/pipe configurations) used by the shō performer in gagaku music, and reflects a number of ongoing concerns—the use of existing/given materials and structures; notational and compositional concision; states of stasis and quietude—as well as a longstanding interest in Japanese musical practice and aesthetics. The piece shares its title, Primary Structures, with the seminal 1966 exhibition of materially reductive sculpture at the Jewish Museum, New York.