CONCERT 5
Dall'avanguardia occidentale
all'improvvisazione
in India e Sri Lanka



1 December 2005, 9 pm
Maison Musique, Rivoli (To)

Rohan de Saram, cello and Kandyan drum
Federico Sanesi, tampoura and tablas
Xenia Ensemble
Cynthia Treggor, violin
Eilis Cranitch, violin
Michèle Minne, viola

PROGRAMME

Giacinto Scelsi
from string quartet n.3
Luciano Berio
Sequenza XIV
for cello solo
Improvisations for tabla
Improvisations for Kandyan drum
John Mayer
3 Ragamalas
for cello solo and tampoura
Improvisations for tabla and violoncello
John Mayer
String quartet
Iannis Xenakis
Kottos
for cello solo

back to complete programme

Presentation:
In the final programme of the rassegna, improvisation lies at the heart of the matter. Our special guest is the British cellist of Sri-Lankan origin, Rohan de Saram who brings to us his unique experience in the field of contemporary music, both in his capacity as soloist and as cellist of the remarkable Arditti quartet, specialists of avant-garde contemporary music with which he has played until very recently. The Greek composer Iannis Xenakis repeatedly spoke of his admiration for de Saramís interpretations of his solo pieces for cello, including Kottos, the concluding piece in this programme. Similarly Luciano Berio wrote one of his last compositions Sequenza XIV for solo cello under the impression of de Saramís playing.

In the rest of the programme hommage will be rendered to the Italian Giacinto Scelsi, (born one hundred years ago) with movements from his third quartet where de Saram will be joined by three members of Xenia. Scelsiís fascination with the music and philosophy of the East lead to a musical evolution that was unique, especially in his microtonal experiments, where the music grows from a single note. De Saram also brings us first performances in Italy of the Indian composer John Mayer. Mayer was born in Calcutta where he studied classical Indian music with Sanathan Makerjee. Later he came to London where he lived and work. There he studied Western philosophy and composition with Matthyas Seiber. Soon he evolved a style which represents a fusion of the tonality of the Indian raga with atonal serialism. Mayer founded the group "Indo-Jazz Fusions" for which he wrote many works. His friendship with Rohan de Saram resulted in the composition of a string quartet, based on Indian motifs, and "Ragamalas" for cello to the accompaniment of tampoura. Here the solo cello intones several ragas of a variety of moods (rasa). Despite the structured score, the pieces achieve an improvisatory effect.

The rest of the programme is given over to improvisation, where de Saram will be joined by Federico Sanese on tabla, and himself will play the Kandy drum, from the North of Sri-Lanka. About Sequenza XIV, Rohan de Saram wrote: I feel very honoured that Maestro Berio wrote this work for me. I feel also great sorrow that we did not have the opportunity to meet in August 2003, as planned, in order to finalise technical details. His last words to me were, "See you in August!"

Part of the inspiration for Sequenza XIV came from Luciano's interest in the Kandyan drum rhythms of Sri Lanka, Kandy being the ancient capital of Ceylon, the Sri Lanka of today. Several times after my performances of Il Ritorno degli Snovidenia, with Maestro Berio conducting, he wanted to know about the musical instruments of the country I came from, Sri Lanka, particularly the Kandyan drum which I have played myself since I was a boy.

The Kandyan drum is one of the main instruments of Sri Lanka, a country rich in rhythmic instruments. The ceremonies with which these instruments are associated date back to pre-Buddhist times. One fact about the Kandyan drum which interested Maestro Berio was that it has four sounds, two sounds on each end of this cylindrically-shaped instrument. He was amused to note that of the two instruments I played, one had four strings whilst the other had four percussion sounds! Maestro Berio later asked for tapes to be sent of the drum rhythms, together with western-style notations which I notated for him so that he could follow the rhythms on the tapes. One of the rhythms which he chose to use in the rhythmic sections of the Sequenza was a twelve-beat rhythm which he sometimes used quite freely with an added beat to make a thirteen-beat rhythm, and sometimes with one beat missing, making an eleven-beat rhythm.

In the rhythmic sections of the Sequenza, there are no two presentations of this rhythm with identical pitch in the left hand percussion on the strings of the cello. The bow is not used in these sections, the right hand playing the rhythm on the belly of the cello whilst the left hand fingers hit the strings in a percussive way, mostly simultaneously with the right hand.

The rhythmic section that opens the Sequenza in its third, final version did not exist in the version that I premiered in Witten in April 2002. The present percussive opening was introduced for the second version that I premiered in Milan in November 2002. On the other hand, the rhythmic section that occurs towards the end of the Sequenza was present in the first, second & final version. The third, final version which I premiered in Los Angeles in February 2003 differed from the second version not only in details of the percussive sections, but also in numerous additions to the melodic sections, especially towards the end of the piece. Many of the dynamic and timbre indications in the piece were added by me with the approval of the composer.