New Music Monday #9 presents Trio VII by Dieter Mack, a trio for violin, oboe and the japanese 17-string koto. The composer Dieter Mack and Peter Veale have been collaborating for a long time and especially the instrument koto captivated Peter, bringing in new sounds and possibilities. Read on to learn more about the piece’s developement.
“I first met Dieter Mack in the early 80s during my studies at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg. I remember very well recording his piece “Preret” for oboe and piano in 1983. Many further collaborations were to continue including a lengthy and fascinating tour of Indonesia in 1988 and in more recent times I have conducted and premiered works of his for Studio Musikfabrik.
Two years ago I happened to mention to Dieter my intention of extending the repertoire possibilities for oboe and bass Koto for an upcoming project. The project involved me learning how to play the bass Koto and performing a solo piece by Toshio Hosokawa on it. It also involved oboe playing together with the bass Koto player Makiko Goto and my violin colleague Hannah Weirich. Dieter was so fascinated by this idea and possibility that he spontaneously offered to compose a piece for us.
The piece that he wrote became one of the highlights of the program and for our subsequent tour to New Zealand in 2018. For me the piece creates an exquisite array of timbres and sounds that have never been produced before.”
Peter Veale