Renge-Kyo

Notes

I wrote Renge-Kyo having been inspired by the principle of causality. I was intrigued by the interaction of cause and effect taking place from the most tenuous occurrences in daily life to large-scale events that may shape the history of the world.

In Japanese Buddhism Renge (the lotus flower) symbolises the simultaneousness of Cause and Effect (the flower and the seed pod) and the ability of self-purification (the blossoms in the muddy swamps). Kyo means Sutra (teaching) and Sound as vibration; it represents the continuity of all things. I associated the Cause with the piano and the Effect with the electronics. Throughout the piece the two instruments are interrelated in an asymmetric alternation of actions and reactions taking place on two superimposed and at times altered layers of time.

Renge-Kyo was commissioned by the Konzertzyklus La Calma in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1993 and selected by the SPNM in Great Britain in 1994. The world premiere was performed by John Palmer (piano & electronics) at the Wartegg Schlössli at Lucerne, on 21st January 1994.