"Under the rose" performed by Elizabeth Brown, shakuhachi

In 2010, the wonderful shakuhachi player Riley Lee was in residence in Princeton, and I had the opportunity to study with him.  We worked on repertoire from the Chikuho school, a style which was unfamiliar to me (I am a student of the Kinko school).   Among the pieces that we worked on was So Koku.  Riley explained that this is  a "secret" piece - an idea that I found mysterious and charming.  

I was invited to compose a short shakuhachi solo for the 2013 European Shakuhachi Society festival in Barcelona.  As I started to work on the piece, I found myself haunted by a recurring major third motive from So Koku  - so I decided to honor it by having the major third be an important part of my piece.  The title is actually an homage to the secrecy of So Koku:  the term "sub rosa" was used in medieval times to indicate a secret meeting - and in fact, the rose has been a symbol of secrecy (among many, many other things) since ancient times.  As a fanatic lover of roses myself (I grow over 200 roses in my own garden), I also liked the idea of connecting the sweet magic of the major third to that of standing under the rose, inhaling its beauty, mystery,  and fragrance.

Under the rose

These three preludes for solo piano were written in 2017.  This recording is pianist Tristan McKay's beautiful performance of them from Random Access Music's concert in January 2018.

DistantDark

I am a composer particularly known for my works combining live instruments and computer-generated electronic sound spaces.

Under the rose

Frances White

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