Pa Qua is based on the trigrams found in the I Ching, also known as the Book of Changes, an ancient Chinese text on divination and philosophy. There are eight trigrams, each representing an element and a related attribute. These trigrams are composed of three lines which are solid, yang, or broken, yin. There are two circular arrangements of the trigrams: the first, called the Primal Arrangement, sets opposites across from each other, i.e. heaven across from earth; the second, called the King Wen Arrangement, arranges them in an order of cyclical change.

In the performance of this piece, the performer is encouraged to determine the selection and order of movements as desired. The following order is based on the King Wen arrangement, with “Thunder, the Arousing” placed as the opening movement.

“Thunder, the Arousing”: Maintaining a static nature throughout, the instruments combine different densities of notes to reflect the charged ions of the lightning that inevitably accompanies thunder. In the background, the boom of a bass drum mimics the sound of a thunderstorm far in the distance that slowly grows closer and then dissipates.

“Wind, the Gentle”: This movement was written with the intention of recreating wind effects. Fairly relaxed throughout, the irregular rhythms and polytonal relationships that expand and contract throughout the movement give the sense of the rising and falling of wind.

“Fire, the Clinging”: Using only non-pitched percussion, this movement is the most energetic and fast-paced in the suite. The use of metallic sounds outweighs the use of drum sounds, reflecting the two hard yang lines that are on either side of the softer yin line of the Fire trigram. Though based on various drumming traditions, there is a particularly strong Japanese taiko influence on the movement.

“Earth, the Receptive”: Several generative patterns are used to represent the character of growth associated with the earth. Short metallic sounds suggest the metals found in the earth as well as acting as a reference to humankind and our utilization of the earth and what it produces.

“Lake, the Joyous”: A slow movement which employs only pitched percussion, it also acts as a sort of respite in the suite when performed in its entirety in the King Wen Arrangement. The rolled textures, the simultaneously languid and fluid motion, and the bright metallic and soft wooden timbres used lend themselves to expressing the watery and reflective character of a lake.

“Heaven, the Creative”: Somewhat removed from the other movements yet connecting them, this movement employs all instrumentation found in the suite and makes use of many of the motives and concepts found in other movements. A collage movement, it can be seen to represent the divine seed from which all other things are produced.

“Water, the Abysmal”: The naturally fluid timbre of marimba and the shimmering timbre of metallic keyboard instruments reflect the nature of water throughout the movement. The one word that kept coming to mind when composing this movement was “sinking.” There is a constant and insistent motion, hopelessly downward, throughout the movement as though one were swallowed in an oceanic abyss. In the context of the King Wen arrangement, this movement represents the feeling of settlement toward the end of a cycle of change, or the feeling of emptiness at the end of the creative process.

“Mountain, Keeping Still”: Non-pitched percussion, gradated in size, interact to represent the jagged contour of a mountain range while a xylophone, the only pitched instrument, elaborates on a simple, folk like melody. Though the solitary xylophone trades motives with the non-pitched percussion, it reflects a sense of human isolation within such a landscape. This movement represents the stoic period of the cycle, awaiting the next distant clap of thunder.

Pa Qua

Mountain, Keeping Still

Water, the Abysmal

Heaven, the Creative

Lake, the Joyous

Earth, the Receptive

Fire, the Clinging

Wind, the Gentle

Thunder, the Arousing

Music and lyrics by Jason Baskin

Analyst/Catalyst

Show me to me, reveal more
of what I didn’t see until now,
catalyze these changes inside of me,

find this piece of me that before
would have been unrecognizable,
disrupt the damaged and atrophied,

let this energy spark a light,
see what manifests from the undefined,
repair what was broken but never seen.

Analyst/Catalyst

I originally imagined “Sun, Rise” as a jazz chart, part of a suite tentatively called The Elements and the Seasons. “Sun, Rise” was the intersection of two themes: fire and spring. Several of the movements have inspired lyrics and compositional explorations beyond their original jazz setting. This piece draws its melodic and harmonic material from a synthetic mode with a raised fourth and a lowered seventh—sort of a combination of the lydian and mixolydian modes. To highlight the unusual character of the mode and to manage the difficulty for performers, I kept the chord progression simple and primarily step-based; to me, it is reminiscent of a plainchant.