Philip Carlsen

Solo Khaen

Composer's Note:

This piece is a tribute to Thao Phet Sananikone, visiting artist at the University of Washington and my khaen teacher during the 1973-74 academic year. I have adapted some of the traditional Lao improvisational riffs I heard in his playing. The piece should be performed in that spirit: freely, meditatively, and expressively, perhaps with a sense, as Ajarn Phet often felt during his year in Seattle, of longing for one's faraway home.

The structure and duration of the performance is flexible. Begin with section A then follow your own path through the twelve sections, whether worked out in advance or chosen spontaneously in performance. There should be no breaks between sections. Letters at the ends of the sections indicate the options for where to go next. The ideal path moves through each section at least once and also includes returns to some of the sections you've already played. Diamond-shaped notes at the end of each section indicate the pitches that should continue to sound as you move to the next section.