for two violins and projection
circa 10 minutes
pictured in photo: Miolina Duo
 
PROGRAM NOTES by the composer:
"10 Views of Mount Fuji" was written for Miolina Duo, comprised of violinists Mioi Takeda and Lynn Bechtold.  It is a sister piece to my first composition on the same subject, "36 Views of Mount Fuji" for solo piano, as commissioned by pianist Natsuki Fukasawa.  Both of these pieces are inspired by the iconic woodblock prints of 19th-Century Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. I was drawn to these works because of their vivid implied movement (waves, workers, wheels, horses, etc.), their vibrant colors, and the stories I imagined that each picture tells. The challenge for this collection was to make a coherent composition out of 10 miniature and attacca movements, each about one minute long.  If listener cares to know any of the musical workings of the piece, one can listen for the use of open strings and how that informed the pitch language of the piece.  You will hear a smattering of various violin techniques which were meant to “draw” the woodblock prints in musical form.  Listen for the use of tapping on wood, “hammer-on” pizzicato, colegno battuto,and different placements of the bow, all of which evoke a sense of the original artwork.
 
VIDEO SAMPLE