Instrumentation: shō

Duration: 6 minutes

Year composed: 2019

Performers: Chatori Shimizu

First performance: Cornell University, Ithaca (NY), USA, March 16th 2019

Program note: … sans couleurs à souffler is inspired by a haiku written by the poet Chigetsu Kawaï. The French translation caught my attention in the way that it can be interpreted in two different ways. The verse “sans couleurs à souffler” literally translated into English means “without color to blow”. The homophone of “sans” in French is “cent,” thus switching out the word in the phrase changes its meaning to “a hundred colors to blow”. The piece is based on this linguistic dichotomy. The harmonic material is minimal and its development is slow. The accent is put on the timbral aspect. The same material is treated with different techniques resulting in a variety of colors.