Omote - for clarinet, piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass (2023)

duration 6’

A chamber music piece inspired by the behavior of melting ice and the masks used in Japanese Noh theater. Noh masks lack concrete expressions and instead have diverse expressions, revealing various emotions depending on the viewer's perspective, context, and viewing angle. I incorporated this functionality into the score, called the 'omote score.' (shown in Figure above) This work also draws inspiration from Kitaro Nishida’s concept of "pure experience":

“To experience means to know events precisely as they are. It means to cast away completely one’s attitude of discriminative reflection and to know in accordance with the events. Since people include some reflection even when speaking of experience, the word “pure” is here used to signify a condition of true experience itself without the addition of the least thought or reflection. For example, it refers to moment of seeing a color or hearing a sound which occurs not only before one has added the judgment that this seeing or hearing relates to something external or that one is feeling this sensation, but even before one has judged what color or what sound it is. Thus, pure experience is synonymous with direct experience. When one experiences directly one’s conscious state there is as yet neither subject nor object, and knowledge and its object are completely united. This is the purest form of experience.”

During the performance, the performers watch the omote score and a video of melting ice. The length of the notes and the specific sounds in the score are determined by the dripping of the water. The ensemble's music transforms along with the melting speed of the ice, following the structure of the omote score.

September, 4th 2023 performed by Saman Reykjavik Bolzano ensemble.