SATORU IKEDA
Water Cycle
Short instrumentation: 2 2 2 2 - 4 2 1 1, timp, perc(2), str
Duration: 17'
Instrumentation details:
piccolo
flute
cor anglais
oboe
1st clarinet in Bb
2nd clarinet in Bb
1st bassoon
2nd bassoon
1st horn
2nd horn
3rd horn
4th horn
1st trumpet in C
2nd trumpet in C
trombone
tuba
timpani
percussion (2 players)
violin I (12 players)
violin II (10 players)
viola (8 players)
violoncello (6 players)
double bass (4 players)
Water Cycle
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Work introduction
This is a cyclic work which is motivated by a harmonic series.
The first movement "Ave" is based on "String Sextet" composed in 2013. As this sextet is composed with only natural harmonics no higher than the sixth harmonic, all pitches correspond to the notes of the G major scale, C sharp, and G sharp; in total, only nine notes. For this orchestration, I applied the winds at a one octave lower series of strings. "Ave" consists of three sections: 1. Six-part (chorale style) harmonic progression, with occasional modal melodies. 2. Canon between the winds' and strings' voices. It is inverted from the middle point, after which a quotation from the Gregorian Chant "Rorate Caeli Desuper" appears. 3. Cluster-chord tremolos which accompany the solo melodies. The title "Ave" comes from "Ave Maria".
The second movement is based on an excerpt from "Parents, for violin, cello and piano" (2015). The materials of this movement are natural harmonic arpeggio, tremolo, and the roar of accord which is applied to the inversion of harmonic series.
The conclusion of the movement and the third movement (Finale) are based on "Brass Quintet" (2011) and "le Feu, l'Eau, for 23 wind instruments" (2013) which is a revision of "Brass Quintet". Before the climax, the solo contrabass, piccolo, oboe and english horn compose a chamber music.
The instrumentation expands as the movement progresses: the percussion players are tacet in the first movement, and in the Finale, the horn section was increased from the two horns of the original version to four for the revised 2024 version. That is, the first movement is, so to say, a milky-white translucent texture. As the movement progresses, the colors intensify.
The series of the second and the third movements of "Water Cycle" for orchestra was selected for the ISCM World New Music Days 2021 in Shanghai and Nanning, but that was suspended due to COVID-19.