Robert Carl

Solo Shakuhachi With Flute, Clarinet, Violin, and Cello

Composer's Note:

The concept of Ma in Japanese aesthetics, and in particular music, suggests the space before and after a note sounds. It is “emptiness”, but not a void. Rather, it is a space to be filled.

I went to Japan several years ago for a few months, and part of my project was meeting with many composers, asking them the question of what is Ma. I got beautiful answers, none exactly the same.

And that seemed appropriate. Ma is something one feels; even the description I have given above hopelessly limits it.

This work evolves slowly, defining a space that the instruments inhabit, and begin to fill. A space for sounds to emerge from, and to resonate within. The shakuhachi, an instrument dear to me (that I play after a fashion), embodies the human breath as few other instruments do.

The title, with its triple-negative, suggests that silence is not necessarily "silent". It is empty but full of potential. And so I think of this ensemble becoming a slowly pulsating, breathing entity. It is a living space for meditation, moving gradually outward and upward.