Instrumentation : 2222 - 4230 - timp.perc(3) - pf - str(12.10.8.6.4)

July 11, 2013, Tokyo, Sogakudo Concert Hall in Tokyo University of the Arts
Takuo Yuasa, Conductor; Geidai Philharmonia Orchestra

Cel (2013) for Orchestra

■Commissioned by Experiments of Piano music for handing down to the future

■January 17, 2021, Tokyo, Ryogoku Monten Hall
■Satoko Inoue, Prepared piano

◆Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

◆HP: https://takahirokuroda-composer.com
◆Score: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CyiFURf4-Y1HJ15wu7wpLasoth7RUIfZ/view?usp=sharing%22

◆Commentary 
It's a long piece of music for the title "Fragment," but musical time is proceeding only slowly by persistently repeating some of its fragment. For example, smashing a bottle is an instantaneous event for us, but when we film it and play it back, we can advance the playback time little by little by repeatedly rewinding the moment when it's smashed. The musical time of this piece is almost like a video that has undergone such an editing process.

Fragment (2020) for Prepared Piano

für Audio und Video bestehend aus den Singstimmen und den Bildern einer Soprans

Takahiro Kuroda, Komponist und Redakteur
Noriko Yakushiji, Sopran
Ten Goto,  Tontechniker, Kameramann und technischer Helfer


for Audio and video consisting of the singing voices and the images of a soprano

Takahiro Kuroda, Composer and Editor
Noriko Yakushiji, Soprano
Ten Goto, Recording engineer, Filming engineer and Technical assistant


◆Commentary (English version)
The main objective from a musical point of view in producing this piece was to find a way out of the equal temperament and try creating diverse sounds with various pitches outside the equal temperament. At the beginning of the piece, only the equal temperament pitches are heard, but gradually the equal temperament pitches are removed, and from halfway through the piece, almost exclusively the various non-equal temperament pitches are heard. On the other hand, from a visual point of view, the main objective is to create a kind of gradually changing portraits in the form of video (this is partly due to my own preference for gradually changing music and video).

◆Commentary (Japanese version)
https://note.com/daa_kuro/n/nd7d1ea70dea8

◆HP: https://takahirokuroda-composer.com

sich ablagernde graue Asche (2021)

■Commissioned by Kei Kondo
■January 23, 2021, Tokyo, Hokutopia Pegasus Hall
■Kei Kondo, Horn

■Photo by Emma Ou on Unsplash

◆HP: takahirokuroda-composer.com
◆Score: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bHfn7qT2wxxUODBJrkqrwd9hZiTWj94R/view?usp=sharing

◆Commentary
The sounds and minute changes that is difficult to perceive in the extreme silence.

I moved into my present parents' house before I was in elementary school, so I have lived here for a long time, but I recognize that the view from the balcony has basically remained the same. The old apartment building a short distance away, the elementary school I attended, and the Tanzawa Mountains and Mt. Fuji in the distance all stand tall and unchanged, and exist in my memory with the perception that this is roughly what the scenery looks like.
By the way, I'm currently studying in Graz, so I travel back and forth between Japan and Austria. When I come back to my parents' house in Japan from Graz, I look at the outside scenery from the balcony and suddenly notice that it is slightly different from what I remember. For example, there is an unfamiliar roof, or the color of the walls is different. Of course, there must have been some construction work in some houses since you lived there before, so if you look at it on a long time scale, the scenery must have changed in some way little by little. However, such changes are only a small part of the scenery, so you probably didn't notice them or forgot about them. It is also possible that the scenery in your memory is being updated subconsciously because of the gradual changes. From this, I realize that the "view from the balcony" in my mind is naturally ambiguous. At the same time, I find that there are many changes in the world that I am not aware of. This piece is based on these realizations.

Many of the pieces I wrote in 2019 were based on my interest in changes in time and space in music and the perception of those changes, and this is one of those pieces that was thought the concept in 2019, but also based on the interests I just mentioned. Also, I was negative about music during this period, so I can feel the influence of that in abundance. As time goes by in 2020 and 2021, my thoughts on music have changed since 2019, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the present me confronts the past me. (From the plagram notes of the first performance)

Der Zwischenraum Zwischen Dem Fast Transparenten Grauen Filmähnlichen Etwas (2019-2021) für Horn

■Commissioned by keikoushiryou
■December 25, 2021, Tokyo, Musica Salon FORESTA
■Ryuta Iwase, Bass clarinet; Karin Tozaki & Shiho Nakano, Percussion

◆Photo by Jo Jo on Unsplash

◆HP: takahirokuroda-composer.com
◆Score: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16JhtBybQj9L3j4nAvnzWqexI5Z-HPwVf/view?usp=sharing

◆Commentary
The main purpose of composing this piece is to put my recent compositional interest, that is the relationship between sound and silence and the transformation of time and space in compositions that emerge from those thoughts, into practice, and observe the results.

The materials used in this piece consist of soft sustained tones of various durations (some with crescendos and decrescendos), soft short tones and silences (rests) of various durations in between. Some of these are very long sustained tones and others are very long silences. In addition, there are a few repeats. Using these materials and characteristics, I put the above into practice and observed the results. How did the audience or listeners perceive time (and, in the case of live music, the transformation of space)?

The Austrian composer Klaus Lang said that sound is time made audible, that Musical material is time perceived through sound, the object of music the hearing experience of time. (excerpt from das atmen der zeit., translated). Whether listening to the sound of short notes one by one, or the acoustic changes created by the overlapping of many notes, the listener might sense time and its changes by listening to the duration (length) of various sounds, and make it their own experience. This could be what music is all about. By referring to these opinions, I wanted to consider the experience of time in music, and in addition, the transformation of space.

Eine Schlucht aus grauer Stille und Zeit (2021) für Bassklarinette und zwei Schlagzeuge

■Video: https://youtu.be/V94X3Mx5NEA

■August 10, 2022, Tokyo, KM Art Hall
■Maiko Inamura, Soprano; Shino Saito, Flute & Bass Flute

◆HP: https://www.takahirokuroda-composer.com/
◆Score preview: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yr2j6JAkDGVrd6x8Gn8DyHGiwbBQ_fjC/view?usp=sharing
◆Buy Score: https://takahirokuroda.stores.jp/items/633c5957211ac3246b09e1f6

◆Text

"Ива" Текст Анна Андріївна Ахматова

И дряхлый пук дерев.
Пушкин

А я росла в узорной тишине,
В прохладной детской молодого века.
И не был мил мне голос человека,
А голос ветра был понятен мне.
Я лопухи любила и крапиву,
Но больше всех серебряную иву.
И, благодарная, она жила
Со мной всю жизнь, плакучими ветвями
Бессонницу овеивала снами.
И – странно! – я ее пережила.
Там пень торчит, чужими голосами
Другие ивы что-то говорят
Под нашими, под теми небесами.
И я молчу... Как будто умер брат.

18 января 1940, Ленинград

Расщелина, Время И Слова, Для Сопрано И Флейты (2022)

■Video: https://youtu.be/9AegwFkfKFg

■Intersection and Response Vol.1-2 Japan × Germany -クラリネット三重奏の諸相と未来-, November 30, 2022, Tokyo, KM Art Hall
■Ryuta Iwase, Clarinet; Aki Kitajima, Violoncello; Erika Kawamura, Piano
■Recording by keikoushiryou

■Year of composition: 2022

◆HP: https://takahirokuroda-composer.com
◆Score preview: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hQspbLuXhbpjaAv3arHKzNtep--tt7LJ/view?usp=sharing

◆Commentary: https://www.takahirokuroda-composer.com/aus-der-sich-anh%C3%A4ufenden-kalten-grauen-asche

Aus der sich anhäufenden kalten grauen Asche (2022) für Klarinette, Violoncello und Klavier

◆Details: https://www.takahirokuroda-composer.com/journey-wander-haziness-fogginess

◆Commissioned by Phidias Trio

◆Premiere: Phidias Trio vol.8 “Journey, Wander…”
July 1, 2023, Tokyo, KM Art Hall
Maiko Matsuoka, Violin; Ryuta Iwase, Clarinet; Erika Kawamura, Piano

■Recorded by keikoushiryou
■Recording date: July 24, 2023, Tokyo, KM Art Hall
Maiko Matsuoka, Violin; Ryuta Iwase, Clarinet; Erika Kawamura, Piano

*Photo by Jakub Kriz on Unsplash

journey, wander; haziness, fogginess (2023) for violin, bass clarinet and piano

*This piece is overall quiet. Please raise your playback volume and, if possible, listen with good headphones or external speakers. Take care when increasing headphone volume.

◆Details (including the program note)
https://takahirokuroda-composer.com/wall-hole-opening/

◆Premiere
低音楽器アンサンブルによる演奏会「Plural Within / Relation」
July 25, 2025, Tokyo, KM Art Hall
Shino Saito, Bass Flute; Kyusang Jeong, Bass Clarinet; Ryuta Iwase, Bass Clarinet; Mano Shimojima, Violoncello; Masashi Yamamoto, Double Bass

◆Year of composition
2025

◆Instrumentation
bass flute, 2 bass clarinets, violoncello and double bass

◆Score (sample)
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/x6k37smkf9lij7sdx1c6v/sample-_score_ver1.2_wall_hole_opening_-landscape-orientation.pdf?rlkey=eejdj1eqo2emc0l171l7rpz3u&st=d1ofgw96&dl=0

wall / hole / opening (2025) for bass flute, 2 bass clarinets, cello and contrabass (live recording)

"Gradualism 1b" was commissioned by claviarea*.
The first performance given by Kazue Nakamura at Ryogoku Monten Hall on November third, 2016.

*claviarea is the group of Kazue Nakamura (Pianist) and Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Composer).

Piano : Kazue Nakamura

This piece consists of an original theme and 20 variations.

Takahiro Kuroda

Pinned to spotlight

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