Ondřej Adámek: Karakuri – Poupée mécanique

Описание: Composer: Ondřej Adámek
Conducter: Duncan Ward
Soprano: Ana Beard Fernández
Ensemble: flute, clarinet, cor anglais, trumpet, trombone, 2 percussionists, harp, piano, violin, violin II, viola, violoncello, double bass.
Composed: 2011

Karakuri Ningyo are Japanese mechanical puppets, typical of The Edo period (between 1603 and 1868). This piece is particularly inspired by Karakuri from the start of the 19th century, by their natural, almost human, characteristics, and their complex and detailed internal clock mechanisms.

The piece has four movements. The first movement commences with a vision I have of Hisashige Tanaka (1799-1881), the creator of these puppets. He is in front of his mirror, trying out different poses to best emulate the movements of a young archer. The vocal line is a sonic and physical pantomime, the instrumental ensemble plays the role of the mirror. There is little text, only small snippets in French that I imagine Hisashige Tanaka would say while he was working: « gesttttte », « justtte », « tttttire », « flèche chevauche flèche », « vise la cible »…

The second movement is a detailed list in French of the segmented movements that the puppet, representing the young archer, must execute:- segment un : bras droit vers l’avant (segment one : right arm forward)
segment deux : tête tourne (segment two : head turns)
segment trois : l’avant-bras droit d’un mouvement brusque tire sur la flèche (segment three : the forward arm, with a brusque movement, draws the arrow back)
etc.

The third movement is constructed around the rapid repetition of Czech words, in diminutive form (omnipresent is the phoneme « tsch ») that describe the individual cogs in the mechanism of the puppet (kolečko kolečko kolečko kolečko, matička matička matička matička, osička osička osička osička…). This repetitive litany reflects the absolute concentration, bordering on obsession, of the creator of these puppets.

The fourth movement is very rhythmical and mechanical: it is the puppet herself walking and promenading. The text therefore is rigid and stammers, but goes on inexorably: poup-p-p-p-pé mec-canique méccanique… The sampler and instrumental ensemble accompany the puppet with various clicks and mechanical sounds.

Ondřej Adámek.
Translated by Ana Beard Fernández from http://brahms.ircam.fr/works/work/31029/