Creation:
Commissionner: Les Percussions de Strasbourg
Musicians: 4 percussionnists
Duration: 10′
“The title comes from the image of the fungi’s network that establishes a mutual relationship with the tree on which it grows. Some trees carry the fungi at their roots to exchange nutrients that each tree cannot obtain on its own.
There is a hypothesis that the fungi helps communication between trees. It is very curious that we are still discovering the hidden role of a tiny living being and it is only in recent years that scientists have begun to notice the function of the fungi that lives inside the tree.
This botanical story is very inspiring to think about composing with the marimba, a wooden instrument. In this work, I first developed the musical texture from techniques that derive from the original nature of the marimba such as the percussive, virtuoso gesture and the variation with the tremolo. At the same time, I tried to unveil the potential of the marimba with an unusually varied instrumentation. I have exploited other gestures so that the marimba can be fully associated with the percussion group with its infinitely rich palette of timbre. The marimba can emit sound by playing with bamboo or wooden sticks. I have also enriched these timbres through the use of the bow. This instrumentation has allowed me to metamorphose the sound of the marimba by associating rubbing with the percussive gesture.
I have structured the musical elements of this piece starting from the marimba way but, here, the marimbist is not considered as a soloist and the three other percussionists are not considered as accompanists. »
Naoki Sakata