Kunstkabinett
Encyclopedia
Kunstkabinett is a chamber work by the contemporary classical composer Jeffrey Ching
. It was composed in Berlin on 05-28 June 2007, immediately after the completion of the first draft of the opera The Orphan
, with which it shares both compositional approach and musical material (see below). Like its much larger sibling, Ching's Symphony No. 5, "Kunstkammer" (2006), it is an assemblage of musical objets d'art not obviously related in any way except by the personal taste of their collector.
, in Berlin on 16 September 2007. It is scored for seven players (flute/contrabass flute, clarinet/contrabass clarinet, percussionist, piano, violin, viola, 'cello) and soprano.
in D (KV 576b), which is dissected and scrutinised in "minute" ways. The original piano piece is in two repeated halves. The first half is played straight through on the piano, alone onstage, before its "deconstruction" by the string trio, which throughout is tuned 1/4-tone higher than the piano and situated somewhere offstage. In the second half piano and strings switch roles. As a discipline, Ching tried to restrict his compositional interventions to the tonal and rhythmic limits of Mozart's already highly chromatic and dissonant language, so that the distinction between "text" and "commentary" is eventually blurred. The movement ends when the minuet is interrupted by the ostinato march rhythm on Eb-A in the piano's lowest octaves, which accompanies the procession onstage of the string trio, percussionist, and the two woodwinds, and continues throughout the following movement.
. In its original orchestral guise, the music divides into three rhythmically disparate ensembles each representing a foreign embassy to the ancient Chinese dukedom of Jin, but synchronised by a fourth ensemble which alternates the pitches Eb-A on each or every other downbeat till the end of the march. A word about the method of reduction from orchestra to sextet should reveal at a glance the contrapuntal plan of the movement:
, but here sung unadorned by the soprano onto the piano's undamped strings, and accompanied heterophonically by the violin alone, doubling the melody with various distorting effects (e.g. scratch tone, glissandi, scordatura
). The Chinese text may be translated:
Or, in the composer's paraphrase: Destruction and decay are embedded in every fragile and beautiful thing.
Jeffrey Ching
Jeffrey Ching is a British contemporary classical composer, born in the Philippines of Chinese parentage. His rich and complex musical language, irreducible to a single style, explores the correspondences and contradictions between the traditions of Europe and Asia, and between the music of past...
. It was composed in Berlin on 05-28 June 2007, immediately after the completion of the first draft of the opera The Orphan
The Orphan
This article is about the play. For the 2009 horror film, see Orphan .The Orphan, or The Unhappy Marriage is a domestic tragedy, written by Thomas Otway in 1680. It was first produced at the Dorset Garden Theatre, and starred Mrs. Barry as Monimia, Thomas Betterton as Castalio and Mr. Jo. Williams...
, with which it shares both compositional approach and musical material (see below). Like its much larger sibling, Ching's Symphony No. 5, "Kunstkammer" (2006), it is an assemblage of musical objets d'art not obviously related in any way except by the personal taste of their collector.
World premiere and instrumentation
Kunstkabinett was premiered by the Modern Art Ensemble and the composer's wife, the soprano Andión FernándezAndión Fernández
Andiòn Fernàndez is a Spanish-Philippine operatic soprano, born in Manila.A soloist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2001, she graduated with honors from the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and has studied voice with Karan Armstrong and Ira Hartmann, and contemporary music with Aribert Reimann...
, in Berlin on 16 September 2007. It is scored for seven players (flute/contrabass flute, clarinet/contrabass clarinet, percussionist, piano, violin, viola, 'cello) and soprano.
Sections of the work
The work is in three continuous movements of about fifteen minutes' duration:I. Minutiae in D
The title is a pun on Mozart's MinuetMinuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
in D (KV 576b), which is dissected and scrutinised in "minute" ways. The original piano piece is in two repeated halves. The first half is played straight through on the piano, alone onstage, before its "deconstruction" by the string trio, which throughout is tuned 1/4-tone higher than the piano and situated somewhere offstage. In the second half piano and strings switch roles. As a discipline, Ching tried to restrict his compositional interventions to the tonal and rhythmic limits of Mozart's already highly chromatic and dissonant language, so that the distinction between "text" and "commentary" is eventually blurred. The movement ends when the minuet is interrupted by the ostinato march rhythm on Eb-A in the piano's lowest octaves, which accompanies the procession onstage of the string trio, percussionist, and the two woodwinds, and continues throughout the following movement.
II. March of the Ambassadors
This an arrangement of the symphonic entr'acte preceding the final scene of The OrphanThe Orphan
This article is about the play. For the 2009 horror film, see Orphan .The Orphan, or The Unhappy Marriage is a domestic tragedy, written by Thomas Otway in 1680. It was first produced at the Dorset Garden Theatre, and starred Mrs. Barry as Monimia, Thomas Betterton as Castalio and Mr. Jo. Williams...
. In its original orchestral guise, the music divides into three rhythmically disparate ensembles each representing a foreign embassy to the ancient Chinese dukedom of Jin, but synchronised by a fourth ensemble which alternates the pitches Eb-A on each or every other downbeat till the end of the march. A word about the method of reduction from orchestra to sextet should reveal at a glance the contrapuntal plan of the movement:
- First Ensemble (representing the "ChaoxianKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
" or Korean embassy)—reduced to large temple block, guiro, whip, "fou" (a large earthenware pot played with a switch), taiko drum (or medium bass drum), and piano (r.h. upper line) - Second Ensemble (representing the "WonuWONUWONU is a FM Station broadcasting on 89.7 MHz in Kankakee, Illinois south of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is a non-profit, listener supported station owned and operated by Olivet Nazarene University from Bourbonnais, Illinois.-History:...
" or Japanese embassy)—reduced to flute, clarinet, small tam-tam, piano (r.h. lower line, l.h. upper line), violin, and viola - Third Ensemble (representing the "Tufan" or Tibetan embassy)—reduced to pedal bass drum, sizzle cymbal, hi-hat cymbals, and violoncello
- Fourth Ensemble (furnishing a steady processional rhythm)—piano (l.h. lower line—which effectively takes the place of a conductor)
III. Molihua
The brief, final movement is an arrangement of the Chinese folksong of the same title (茉莉花, meaning "Jasmine Flower"), best-known outside China through its quotation in Puccini's TurandotTurandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
, but here sung unadorned by the soprano onto the piano's undamped strings, and accompanied heterophonically by the violin alone, doubling the melody with various distorting effects (e.g. scratch tone, glissandi, scordatura
Scordatura
A scordatura , also called cross-tuning, is an alternative tuning used for the open strings of a string instrument, in which the notes indicated in the score would represent the finger position as if played in regular tuning, while the actual pitch is altered...
). The Chinese text may be translated:
Here is a beautiful jasmine flower;
Here is a beautiful jasmine flower.
Perfumed blossoms fill the branch,
Fragrant and white for everyone's delight.
Let me come and pick a blossom
To give to someone,
Jasmine flower, oh jasmine flower.
Or, in the composer's paraphrase: Destruction and decay are embedded in every fragile and beautiful thing.