Kuru was a steam ship that sank in a storm in 7.9.1929 in Näsijärvi lake near Tampere, Finland. This disaster is the biggest accident ever happened in Finland in the inland waters: there were 162 people on board an only  22 people survived. Like Titanic, this ship had been advertised as being unsinkable. However, whereas the passangers on Titanic were mostly well-off  people on leisure, Kuru`s passangers were merely ordinary people going home from work. My grandfather was also supposed to get on board that day but he was late and missed the boat. It`s not always good to be punctual. I have dedicated  this work to the passengers of the ship "Kuru". The work was commissioned by Festival 'Crashkurs', Hannover 2011 and the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony.

Kuru

An Ebow (brand name for "Electric Bow" or "Energy Bow") is a small, handheld electronic device.  Normally used on guitar, these battery powered devices create an electromagnetic field that causes strings to vibrate.  When placed on the strings inside of a piano, they create a sound reminiscent of a sustained sine tone, yet can be used to create a variety of audio effects when multiple Ebows are triggering different frequencies.  

Deviations is to be performed with six Ebows color-coded red, orange, pink, green, blue, and purple.  The color of each e-bow corresponds to the color of each note on the score.  Ebows should be placed on the strings of the piano within 10 inches of the hammers.  The performer should use the fundamental setting on each Ebow, however if the tone is not being produced adequately, the harmonic setting can also be utilized.  Black notes should be played by plucking the strings inside the piano.  The tempo on the black notes is relative to the pace the performer chooses.  


Deviations (for piano and six ebows)

Marco Lucchi : mellotron
Henrik Meierkord : cello

music by Marco Lucchi and Henrik Meierkord

***

"I was smelling flowers in the yard, and when I stood up I took a deep breath and the blood all rushed to my brain and I woke up dead on my back in the grass. I had apparently fainted, or died, for about sixty seconds. My neighbor saw me but he thought I had just suddenly thrown myself on the grass to enjoy the sun. During that timeless moment of unconsciousness I saw the golden eternity. I saw heaven. In it nothing had ever happened, the events of a million years ago were just as phantom and ungraspable as the events of now, or the events of the next ten minutes. It was perfect, the golden solitude, the golden emptiness, Something-Or- Other, something surely humble. There was a rapturous ring of silence abiding perfectly. There was no question of being alive or not being alive, of likes and dislikes, of near or far, no question of giving or gratitude, no question of mercy or judgment, or of suffering or its opposite or anything. It was the womb itself, aloneness, alaya vijnana the universal store, the Great Free Treasure, the Great Victory, infinite completion, the joyful mysterious essence of Arrangement. It seemed like one smiling smile, one adorable adoration, one gracious and adorable charity, everlasting safety, refreshing afternoon, roses, infinite brilliant immaterial gold ash, the Golden Age. The "golden" came from the sun in my eyelids, and the "eternity" from my sudden instant realization as I woke up that I had just been where it all came from and where it was all returning, the everlasting So, and so never coming or going; therefore I call it the golden eternity but you can call it anything you want. As I regained consciousness I felt so sorry I had a body and a mind suddenly realizing I didn't even have a body and a mind and nothing had ever happened and everything is alright forever and forever and forever, O thank you thank you thank you."

Jack Kerouac

***

settembre 2023

Marco Lucchi & Henrik Meierkord - The Golden Eternity

北海道札幌北高等学校 彩風館 by Takao Hyakutome

Sleep A Near Tree

I'm working with a score that was kindly given to me by Maria Kallionpää, I've just started working with Maria on a joint opera project, more details to come soon. Vocals inspired by Jussi Björling's early recordings played on a gramophone, with some slight distortion on the voice.

Title: Forest Suicide
From: The opera "Croak" by Kallionpää & Klami

"Croak"  is a puppet opera for adults with human sized puppets that have been manufactured specifically for this project in St. Petersburg.
It will have it´s premiere in Finland in March 2018.
Read more about the work here: http://poike.fi/puppetopera/
Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.fi/search/?keyword=Croak

Forest Suicide, from the opera "Croak"

The piece portrays the scenario of the factory which is operating at night. No one knows what the factory is producing……

This piece is composed by improvisation, which requires two people to play piano extended techniques and one person to sing the specific chord notes. Each unique sound represents different machines in the factory.

Factory

Performed by Members of Contemporary Music Workshop
CHAN Ka Wing Karen, piano
LEE His Yi Joyce, piano
LO Tsz To, piano
TONG Cheuk Yan, violin
Simon WONG, percussion
Tim CHAN, percussion

Link to YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGBH_VPyJh0&t=124s

The Journey With Nathan (2019) by Winfred Man

Soundscape by Lauryn Vania KURNIAWAN

https://laurynvania5200.wixsite.com/music

Kuru

Maria Kallionpaa

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