Creation : 1993
Duration : 12′
Musicians : 1 percussionnist
“Sen VI was commissioned by and is dedicated to Isao Nakamura for his solo recital in Berliner Festwochen 1993. The word sen of the title generally means “line” in Japanese, but is here used to mean the strokes of the brush seen in Eastern calligraphy and India ink paintings. This work for percussion is sixth in a series for solo instruments, which I began in 1984, entitled Sen. The others are Sen I for flute (1984), Sen II for violoncello (1986), Sen III for sangen (1989), Sen IV for organ (1990), and Sen V for accordion (1992). Brushstrokes gain strength from the empty space behind them. The calligrapher of necessity strokes for balance with this empty space as he applies his brush. This empty space suggests a world that cannot be drawn, a world that cannot be seen, and a world where sounds do not reach our ears. It suggests a world of unreality, of dreams, the unconscious which conceals the unlimited potential hidden within the human being. This blank space is a hidden womb of natural energy, concealing our deepest potential. The blank spaces of music are the worlds of silence and pianissimo. In Sen VI I have tried to open up new sound space by portraying the diverse, never before heard, barely noticeable changes in the world of pianissimo which occur at the very edge of our sense of hearing.” Toshio Hosokawa