Ballade for 13-string koto

 

Title Ballade for 13-string koto
Year 2011
Composer Martin Schreiner
Instrument/s koto
Duration 5’45”
First Performance (date, performers, venue) Premiered by Yuki Yasuda at “Soundings on Ancient Strings” concert in Pierce Hall, New England Conservatory of Music on October 27, 2011
Contact for Sheets https://www.jwpepper.com/Ballade/10388983.item#.YgYW-C_vLfY
CD, Digital Audio https://mmschreiner.instantencore.com/web/music_details.aspx?ItemId=726602
Notes Ballade for 13-string koto
Ballade presents an ABA shape with a coda and a predominant 5/4 meter. I had in mind the piano Ballades of Brahms and Chopin when I composed this work. I took advantage of the pitch bending techniques of the koto. At particular moments I brought out the more percussive nature of the koto’s own technical possibilities. [Martin Schreiner]