Hoshi no Kage ni (In the Shadow of the Stars), played by Ekaterina Uvarova. 

This work received the 3rd prize in the II International Competition among composers "THE TIME OF THE GUITAR". 

Visit my website at maurickreuser.nl

Hoshi no kage ni (In the Shadow of the Stars), by Ekaterina Uvarova

Kobucha is a work for piano solo written in 2020, in a period when I was diving into Japanese art and culture, especially aesthetics and the influences of Zen-Buddhism. In addition, I was taking Japanese lessons from a native speaker. In one of those lessons, my teacher gave me a Japanese kelp tea to drink, Kobucha. 
Drinking this tea made a deep impression on me. I couldn’t say that the tea was delicious in the way people commonly call foods and beverages delicious – that is the antonym of tasteless. It wasn’t sweet at all and it wasn’t easy to drink. Each sip was a salty hurdle! However, the direct, impulsive and authentic taste was intense, even mind-blowing. In fact, I did like the tea. It was a pleasing experience. Not because of its questioned deliciousness, but because the tea was itself, its authentic self. Taking into account the tea’s pungent aroma, I was forced to do nothing but drinking this tea, swallowing one drop at the time.

Want to play it too? Purchase the score at https://www.sonolize.com/en/music/945/kobucha 
Visit my website at www.maurickreuser.nl

Kobucha

Autumn Colours, premiered by Chimaera Trio on 19 September 2021.

Autumn Colours is a trio for clarinet, cello and piano telling an interlaced story. On the one hand, this piece is inspired by the music and life of German composer and conductor Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and on the other hand, this piece is inspired by the woodblock prints by Japanese painter Ogata Gekkou (1859-1920). Both artists are formal contemporaries who yet lived in completely different worlds. Now they finally meet in a single (musical) work of art. 

In the first half of 2021, I was involved in a mini festival organized by the Chimaera Trio: Meervoudig Mahler (‘’Multiple Mahler’’). To this festival, a project was connected in which a few composers got assigned to write a work related to Mahler. While this was in the back of my mind, on 13th July I visited the Sieboldhuis in Leiden, which is an incredible museum dedicated to Japan. It held an exhibition about the Meiji Art of Ogata Gekkou. His prints made such a big impression on me that I purchased the art catalogue and took it with me on my summer travels. In the catalogue, I often revisited the 1896 print Autumn Colours at Takinogawa. This particular triptych not only inspired me to create the blueprint for a musical image as now presented in the score before you, but especially inspired me to design everything in triptych-like structures. One could say there are up to three triptychs in this work. Read more in the introduction.

Want to play it too? Purchase the score and parts at https://www.sonolize.com/en/music/946/autumn-colours 
Visit my website at maurickreuser.nl

Autumn Colours, by Chimaera Trio

Memory Lane, performed by Chimaera Trio.

The often improvisatory-like atmosphere and gamelan-like playing of Memory Lane tend to give the piece an oriental air. Moreover, while some moments are contemplative and feel endless, others are extremely real, dramatic or even mourning-like, while others are volatile, freely and carelessly happening in the moment. Seemingly happening without purpose, flowing in time, but still purposely created in a conspicuous organic way.  Nonetheless, all moments are structured and related to each other somehow, for example by using recurring themes, motives, colours and instrumentation.

Memory Lane, by Chimaera Trio

An ambient composition inspired on Ogata Gekko's woodblock print ''Mount Fuji Reflected in a Waterfall'' using Ableton Live. 
Be sure to listen with ear or headphones!

And Then I Saw

Sencha is a work for piano solo written in 2021, in a period when I was diving into Japanese art and culture, especially aesthetics and the influences of Zen-Buddhism. The piece is a successor to the earlier tea piece called Kobucha. Both types of teas are distinctly different, but there are many similarities too. With green tea, it’s common practise to brew multiple cups from the same portion of leaves. I could enjoy the first cup, the strongest, but also the last cup, the mildest. To me, the green tea captures both sides, which is only possible if you use the same leaves for the first and last cup.

Performed by Maurick Reuser on 10 February 2022.

Sencha

Character Pieces: An Ephemeral Hand is a solo piano piece composed by Maurick Reuser and performed by Valeria Tretiakova.

It's a collection of five small pieces for piano solo and each little piece is based on the Japanese character (kanji) of an animal. Although the print of any character is standardized and uniform, it’s written realization is more free. Of course, one can be taught the stroke order and proportions of character, but in the end, writing is a very personal thing. In calligraphy, the different possibilities (and possible differences) in performing a character are even more apparent and lifted to an art. As in calligraphy, in Character Pieces: An Ephemeral Hand, each stroke has to possess… spirit.
I. The One-Tailed Dragon
II. Turtle and Crane
III. Spotted Deer
IV. Two Frogs
V. Monkey
Performance duration: 5’
Written 2022 and dedicated to Wim Henderickx.

Character Pieces: An Ephemeral Hand, by Valeria Tretiakova

Matcha

a boro gron
watra long na mi'ai 
fadong'n mi'ati tapu'a boro gron

Recht in de grond, tranen van mijn ogen stromen langs mijn hart, recht in de grond.

a boro gron

Maurick Reuser is a pianist, composer and presentator from the Netherlands. 
https://maurickreuser.nl/

Maurick Reuser

Popular tracks