Listening to Lu Tzu (remote presentation)

PARTCH ENSEMBLE: PREMIERES Six World Premiere compositions created in 2020/21 as part of PARTCH Ensemble’s Commissions Project Text: Li Po (China, 701-762c.e.), trans. David Hinton Partch’s Adapted Guitar II sounds rather like an ancient Chinese ch’in, the venerated table zither strung with 7 silk strings, said to be the favorite of Confucius. Its sliding notes, harmonics, and subtleties of expression, famously inspired several millenia of evocative repertoire. In this modern setting, the large 1” plastic dowel used to stop the strings is—at one point—used as a bow to recreate the wind singing through the pines that Li Po so elegantly conjures in this medieval paean to the power of music. Text: Li Po (China, 701-762c.e.), trans. David Hinton.