Lynx Hunt
(EN)
Instrumental Music - Solo Instrument
Description :
Title Lynx Hunt
Instrumentation Va
Date 2011-2012
Duration 10'00
World Premiere 2012/09/08 @Echizen-shi Bunka Center (Fukui-ken, Japan)
Yoshiko Hannya, Va
N.B. Nominated piece for the Takefu Composition Award 2012
Technical requirements :
Program note :
About « Gauche the Celliste » : a short story by the Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933), that made me inspired to compose this piece.
- Synopsis -
Gauche is a diligent but mediocre cellist who plays for a small town orchestra and the local cinema in the early 20th century. He struggles during rehearsals and is often berated by his conductor.
Over the course of four nights, Gauche is visited at his mill house home by talking animals as he is practicing.
The first night, a tortoiseshell cat came to Gauche and asked him to play Schumann's "Träumerei." Gauche was irritated, so he berated the cat and instead played "Tiger Hunt in India." This startled the cat and made it leap up and down in astonishment. The cat ran away in fright.
The second night as he was practicing, a cuckoo came to him asking to practice scales to Gauche's cello accompaniment. Gauche repeatedly played "cuckoo, cuckoo," accompanied by the bird. Eventually, he felt that the cuckoo's song was better than his cello. Gauche chased the bird away, causing it to fly into his window, hitting its head.
The third night as he was practicing, a raccoon dog (tanuki in Japanese) came to him asking to practice the drum to Gauche's cello accompaniment. As Gauche played "The Merry Master of a Coach Station," the tanuki hit the cello with a drum stick. The tanuki pointed out to Gauche that he played slowly despite trying to play speedily. The two left on good terms as the day broke.
The fourth night as he was practicing, a mother mouse came in with her baby, asking him to heal her sick son. When Gauche told her that he wasn't a doctor, she replied that the sound of his music had already healed a number of animals. Gauche put the sick little mouse into a hole of his cello and played a rhapsody. When Gauche was finished, the little mouse was able to run around. The mother mouse cried, thanked Gauche, and left.
After a great success of the orchestra's concert, in the dressing room, the conductor asked a surprised Gauche to play an encore. Upon hearing the applauding audience, Gauche thought he was being made a fool of and again played "Tiger Hunt in India." Afterward, everybody in the dressing room congratulated him.
When he came back to his house, he opened the window where the cuckoo had hit its head and felt sorry for his actions.
When he came back to his house, he opened the window where the cuckoo had hit its head and felt sorry for his actions.
( Cf. Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauche_the_Cellist )
Gauche plays an imaginary piece called « Tiger Hunt in India » in this tale. As the viola is smaller than the cello, this work entitled « Lynx Hunt ». In addition, the main character's name “Gauche”, is a word with a double meaning as “left” and also “clumsy” in French.
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(FR)
Musique instrumentale - Solo instrumental
Description :
Titre Lynx Hunt
Effectif Va
Date 2011-2012
Durée 10'00
Création Mondiale 2012/09/08 @Echizen-shi Bunka Center (Fukui-ken, Japan)
N.B. Pièce nominée pour le Takefu Composition Award 2012
Conditions techniques requises :
Note de programme :
A propos de « Gauche le Violoncelliste » : un conte écrit par Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933), qui m'a inspiré pour composer cette pièce.
- Synopsis -
Gauche est un violoncelliste d'orchestre maladroit, toujours réprimandé par le chef d'orchestre. Il va être aidé dans la préparation de son concert par la visite d'une succession d'animaux : un chat, un coucou, un blaireau et des souris des champs, chacun lui apportant les vertus telles que la patience, le goût de la communication et la rigueur.
Le chat provocateur, insolent et chapardeur révèlera à Gauche sa faculté d'exprimer sa colère. Le coucou chantant son fameux "coucou" sur deux notes dont Gauche tentera de la précision sur les intervalles, qui finira par maîtriser les gammes. Le blaireau demandera de lui accompagner son exercise de tambours ; c'est l'apprentissage du rythme. Enfin, la souris suppliera Gauche de jouer pour la guérison de son souriceau malade ; c'est l'occasion d'exprimer sa compassion et sa générosité. Ces animaux, dans leur comportement authentique, auront tous contribué, par l'échange, à l'apprentissage intime du jeune héros. L'enseignement à en tirer, selon Verlaine, "l'art, c'est d'être absolument soi-même".
( Cf. Wikipedia : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goshu_le_violoncelliste )
Gauche joue un morceau imaginaire qui s'appelle « La Chasse au tigre en Inde » dans ce conte. Comme l'alto est plus petit par rapport au violoncelle, cette oeuvre est intitulée « Lynx Hunt (= Chasse au lynx) ».
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(JP)
プログラムノート：
『ヴィオラのためのリンクス・ハント』について : 宮沢賢治晩年の作品で、死後1934年に発表された“セロ弾きのゴーシュ”。本作品はこの童話より着想を得て作曲された。
物語に登場する架空のチェロ曲『印度の虎狩り Tinger Hunt』よりもひとまわり小さいヴィオラで演奏することから、虎→山猫（リンクス）とした。尚、主人公の名“ゴーシュ”は、フランス語の gauche 『左』、転じて『不器用な』という意味合いも持つ単語から来ているという説がある。
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