Zoon, op. 11M

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Description +
- Duration: 10½ minutes
  
  ZOON, noun {zoh-on}: any individual, or the individuals collectively, produced from a single egg.
  
  In fact, the word can have other meanings: the famous Dutch Flautist, the sound of a drone, or even an anagram of bOZNOs. The Zoon Project is unique among my oeuvre as a set of versions of the same piece for different instruments, each version of opus 11 has it’s own letter
  
  The three movements are played attacca:
  
  I. Rubix - a mathematical drone of permutations like a Rubik’s Cube; a constant shift of the equations.
  
  II. Nisia - a form of music from the Greek Islands, the ‘drone’ of water arriving to the beach in waves; a force of nature that comes in and out of our attention.
  
  III. The Glass - the drone of a mirror reflecting an empty room, of that which is both there and not there.
  
  The psychological effects of musical drones fascinates; one’s attention drifts away from the constancy, subtly floating in and out of focus, as held captive by the moving solo line. Pitches or rhythms can be drones. In Zoon, a progression of four chords unfolds over the course of the piece. A layer of polyrhythms is added creating a moiré pattern, like a pebble thrown into a pond. Layers of material from the solo part blend in with the drones, a collision of tiny rows of waves creating moments of ad hoc rippling, until new cohesive waves emerge and continue onwards. This blending acts as premonitions - echoes, to the solo parts.
  
  Performance note
  The electronic soundsare supplied as a WAV file. The synchronisation of the live duet and the electronic sounds is achieved through overall timing - press play and the file ends 10:22 later. Certain flexibility of tempo and rhythms are expected in the solo parts; when the piece is performed close enough to the printed metronome markings and fermatas, the performance will keep the intended proportions and interplay, ending very close to together.
  
  The piece may be realised simply, for example, with an computer and good portable speakers on a table close to the performers, or when possible, one could spatialise the WAV throughout the hall with the help of a sound engineer.
  
  Contact Edition Svitzer on mail@editionsvitzer.com to obtain accompaniment track
Instrumentation +
- Piccolo, Vibraphone and Electronic Sounds
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About the composer +
- A versatile musician, James Boznos has been the Principal Timpanist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 2000. James has been a soloist with the HK Phil on three occasions, having performed both of the William Kraft’s Timpani Concertos as well as his own composition Timpani Concerto Nr. 1. Prior to joining the HK Phil, Boznos worked regularly with the Chicago Symphony and the leading new music groups of Boston and Chicago. He has been a frequent guest principal with the orchestras in Asia. An advocate for his students, he teaches at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
  
  As a composer, James Boznos is creating a unique catalog of solo, chamber and orchestral works; blending instrumental, vocal, and electronic genres. Recent premieres have included: Concerto Nr. 2 “Pavilions” for extended timpani, orchestra and pre-recorded sounds, with the composer as soloist. 22.4 with Matthew Lau, Cantata Nr. 2 “Nevu’ah”, Cantata Nr.3 “Gabriel”, and Cantata Nr.4 “unseen Things” with the Hong Kong Bach Choir. The Hong Kong Philharmonic have performed Oikogeneia, Social Distancing, Go, Table-Music I, Piccolo Concerto, Dragon Factors with Jaap van Zweden, and most recently Cantata Nr. 5 “The Valley of the Bones”. His music is published by Edition Svitzer.
Credits +
- Front Cover Graphics and Layout: Nicola Lee
  Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
  Copyright © Edition SVITZER
  www.editionsvitzer.com

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