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Magnolia
for koto and harp, 8', 2017

Magnolia is inspired by the process of flowering - the excitement before the creation of the bud - the flowering of the bloom - and by the explosion of petals into a regular, yet organic structure. It all happens very slowly, outside of human perception of time.

A source of inspiration for this piece were also the similarities and differences between the two instruments - koto and harp, whose origins lie in two different world traditions. The instruments are similar in terms of sound production but yet still differ - especially in the expression and architecture related to the cultural origins for both instruments. Magnolia blends the influences of two musical traditions, European and Japanese, and experiments with the possibilities of contemporary composition, parametric shaping, proportional notation, and quarter-tone scale, so as to create an internal organic structure of a developing bloom (harp) with a unique surface color of petals (koto).

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