“Both surface allure and exquisite detail”
– John Chowning
The first CD devoted exclusively to the music of Kotoka Suzuki, “Shimmer, Tree” presents seven works, six of which are premiere recordings. The music ranges from purely electronic to purely acoustic.
Suzuki’s “personal aesthetic sense imbues her work with both surface allure and exquisite detail, resulting in subtle, but intricately-constructed structures” (John Chowning).
Commenting on Minyo, performed by the Spektral Quartet, Suzuki explains: “Minyo consists of five short movements influenced by Japanese folk music. The rawness and authenticity of these melodies make me feel more connected to the place of my birth.”
Regarding the heartbreaking Reservoir, Suzuki notes the text “is taken directly from an anonymous post on a suicide blog I stumbled across, which asked for suggestions for the most effective ways and best location to drown oneself. Several members had responded with disturbingly detailed descriptions, others with notes of encouragement.”
The title piece, for piano and electronics, is a touching tribute to Jonathan Harvey, Suzuki’s teacher and mentor. The carefully assembled sounds create an elegiac atmosphere, and “the writing for piano is beautifully sonorous and virtuosic throughout” (John Chowning).
The delicately shaped sounds of In Praise of Shadows emerge from handmade instruments made from paper and designed by Suzuki. The work mourns society’s loss of the tangible, as modern life shifts from the material world into a digital domain.
Automata presents a delightful, slyly witty potpourri of rattles, squeaks, quacks, bells, and more. With subdued, wavering pitches, the miniature Sagisō was composed as a retirement gift for Ingrid Beirer, the former Music Director of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program.
Epiphyllum Oxypetalum was inspired by the composer’s dreams of flying through imaginary landscapes, and the resulting highly-refined sonic palette reflects Suzuki’s command of the electronic music studio.
The CD’s minutely detailed sound results from Suzuki’s immaculate, high-resolution studio recordings that were mastered by Grammy-winner Silas Brown.
ABOUT KOTOKA SUZUKI:
Inspired by the synthesis of technology and music, Kotoka Suzuki composes for a wide range of media, including acoustic instruments, electronics, video, dance, and multimedia, often presented spatially with multiple speakers. Her work has been featured internationally by performers such as the Arditti String Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, Pacifica Quartet, and Continuum, and has been presented at numerous venues and by broadcasters such as Deutschland Radio, BBC Radio3, ISCM World Music Days, John Zorn’s The Stone, and Germany’s ZKM Media Museum. Suzuki has received the Bourges First Prize in Multimedia, First Prize in the International Electro-Acoustic Musica Nova Competition, and a George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Fellowship among other awards.
Inspired by the synthesis of technology and music, Kotoka Suzuki composes for a wide range of media,
including acoustic
instruments, electronics, video, dance, and multimedia, often presented spatially with
multiple speakers. Her work has been featured internationally by performers such as the Arditti String
Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, Pacifica Quartet, and Continuum....more
supported by 7 fans who also own “Kotoka Suzuki: Shimmer, Tree”
This record at times is the sum of its parts and the strength of its parts. At times, you can plainly tell the player from 100 yards away with your eyes closed, but then you can hear them echoing the ghosts of those who came before them. An incredibly brilliant record from 3 master blasters! pjnewman-364
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