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Neuf ecarts vers le defi (Nine Gaps toward Challenge), composed in 1993 for MIDI piano and the IRCAM Signal-Processing Workstation, is a new version of an older piece, Quatorze (fourteen) ecarts vers le defi (for MIDI piano and eight strings---three violins, two altos, two cellos and a double bass), which was commissioned by IRCAM for the "4X" (the real- time processor that preceded the Signal-Processing Workstation) and realized in 1990--1991.
Quatorze ecarts vers le defi used several types of signal-processing algorithms---a harmonizer, frequency shifters, a noise generator, samplers and reverberation---placed under the control of a program written in MAX, an interactive software environment developed by Miller Puckette. Cort Lippe wrote the MAX patches for both versions.
Neuf ecarts vers le defi (a portion of which is presented on this CD) is a reduced version of the older composition, and results from the enormous possibilities of the IRCAM Signal-Processing Workstation. The new piece is therefore an adaptation to a new environment: the sections where the strings were prominent have been suppressed and a new approach to the projection of the sounds into space has been developed. In addition, some new possibilities have been exploited, such as the real-time capture and storage of the piano sounds, which are later submitted to processes that slow them down and speed them up in such a way that the listener's perception of the musical time is blurred.
The nine sections express a metamorphosis in nine phases of a sonic flux of nine notes. Permutations and interpolations of this pattern-- -the basic material of the piece---run throughout the composition. The pattern resembles a river that flows through the piece but cannot be perceived at all times. The computer looks for the maximum deviation from this basic material, moving toward transformation beyond recognition; in so doing, it chooses freely from a series of automated procedures. These endless transformations, temptations before an ideal never to be reached, are an allegory of the very act of creation.
This piece is based on a situation that fosters a dialogue of contrasting characters between the pianist and the computer: constant and plentiful, it is complex but continuous, sometimes apparent, sometimes virtual. It is also a representation of how space is a musical material. Taken together, these ideas are on the path toward a future form of opera.
Ichiro Nodaira (born Tokyo, 1953), composer and concert pianist, studied composition at the School of Music of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. In 1978, he was awarded a scholarship by the French Government and continued his studies in composition at the Conservatoire national superieur de musique et de danse de Paris with instructors such as Henriette Puig-Roget, Betsy Jolas, Serge Nigg, Michel Philippot, Guy Reibel and Jean Koerner. At the conservatory, he received first prizes in Piano Accompaniment (1981), Musical Analysis (1982) and Composition (1983). During this time, he also studied composition at Darmstadt, Aix-en-Provence (with Gyorgy Ligeti), Siena (with Franco Donatoni) and at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris.
To date, Nodaira has composed over 30 works for orchestra, chamber-music ensembles and solo instruments on commissions from the French Ministry of Culture; the Ensemble InterContemporain, associated with IRCAM; the Paris-based ensemble 2E2M; and the Arditti Quartet. His works, performed and broadcast extensively in Europe, the United States and Japan, are published by Editions Henry Lemoine (Paris), Editions Heugel (Paris) and Ongaku-no-Tomo- Sha Editions (Tokyo).
As a concert pianist, Ichiro Nodaira has given numerous world premieres under the direction of conductors such as Peter Eitvos, Arturs Tamayo, Marius Constant, Paul Mefano, Mark Foster and Yves Prin, and with formations such as the Ensemble InterContemporain, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, London Sinfonietta, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Basel, Ensemble 2E2M, Ensemble Ars-Nova and Ensemble Forum of Lyons. He was invited by IRCAM to premiere Philippe Manoury's Pluton within the framework of IRCAM's research in real-time interaction between the piano and the 4X (mentioned above). Nodaira appears in recital in Europe and Japan with colleagues such as Michel Debost, Alain Mario, Pierre-Yves Artaud, Pierre Thibaud and William Bennett. He has been invited both as soloist and accompanist at the major European festivals and performs frequently on the BBC, Radio France, RAI and NHK in Tokyo.
Nodaira teaches at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and lectures at the Toho School of Music in Tokyo. He was a member of the invited jury of the ISCM's "World Music Days '89."
Excerpted from the CD Companion section of Leonardo Music Journal Volume 5, available together with the compact disc Innovation in Contemporary Japanese Composition in late December 1995 through the MIT Press (journals-orders@mit.edu).