Benjamin Pochi MA
The composer's motivations to compose are :
(1) he wants to express his soul truly and completely through music
(2) in his dreams, new music always comes up to his mind that urges him to compose.
Ma's music always seeks to communicate his ideas, emotions and feelings with the audience (including the performers) through the pursuit of " the True, the Good & the Beautiful ". His compositions are all tonal, melodious, harmonious, well structured, non-programmed, universal and comprehensible.
This recording is the first collection of Ma's works consisting such a wide genre as, prelude and fugue for piano, sonata for violin and piano, string trio, chamber music for clarinet, violin, cello and piano, piano with two clarinets and two cellos, and symphony, etc.
1 "Destiny " Sonata for Violin & Piano (1995) demands the violin and especially the piano extremely virtuoso playing. It consists of one single movement that starts with a cantabile style theme in the piano and then a reply from the violin, where the piano gradually introduces a more romantic 2nd theme in g minor that leads smoothly to a more modern passionate "con fuoco" development; Coda section leaves again to the piano solo, this time is in free rubato nocturne style.
2 "Septuple in Melancholy" (septuple means 7 meters) for Piano (1988), originally entitled "Passione in d minor", is one of the formats that the composer created to convey very passionate emotions but in a simple structured music. It is written in d minor at 7/8 in simple 2 parts that ultimately leaves almost only one single part with less and less notes till the end, suggesting the idea of lost, loneliness and despair.
3 "Fantasia on Alberti Bass" for String Trio (1996) is a very interesting composition that employs the most common and basic "Do Sol Mi Sol" broken chords " Alberti bass". The C major work demonstrates almost all possibilities that consist of canon, 3 parts imitation, variations, 3 parts strict Fugue at parallel minor and major, etc. It may be performed by other combinations of instruments, but in any case it always demands 3 performers' excellent tacit collaboration to balance and stand out each other. Unsurprisingly, this is one of the most loved and enjoyed pieces of everyone in our team.
4 "Consolation" in F major for Piano & Chamber Orchestra (1998) is one of the works from the " Song without words" series, denoting very lyrical composition, like a song for instruments. It was composed in a dream of the composer for piano, clarinet, violin section and cello section (for both small and large scale), that resembles an adagio of a piano concerto. It is the way that each part interweaves with the piano harmoniously, the beauty of each answering flows, the expression of hearts not the technique that make the piece a very touching and romantic one.
5 "Pastorale" for Piano in F major (1988) was composed during a stroll in the countryside. The work was based on a traditional I-IV harmonic progression that creates a sense of purity and natural touch of Nature. It may be proper to say that the Italian instruction in the Score " La Grande Natura mi sempre dona pace" (the great nature always gives me peace) could best describe the composer's love of nature.
6 "Ali in Libertà" for Violin & Piano (1997) was also composed in a dream and was dedicated to the composer's fiancee; Constance .The Italian title literally means "Wings of Freedom". Tonality wise speaking, the violin main theme was written in natural a minor while the piano accompaniment was in C major, that creates a new music atmosphere. It also adopts a very surprising unfinished, imperfect cadence to end.
7 "Conzia Carissima" (1995) is an Italian title which means "Dearest Conzia" where Conzia is the diminutive created by the composer for his fiancee, Constance. This is another composition for the "Song without words" series written in B-flat for piano, 2 clarinets and cello solo that also characterizes lyrical and sentimental melodies with interweaving parts answering. It is specially noted for the clarinets that split and throw the melodies right & left between themselves creating a lingering feeling that submerges the whole.
8 "Tarantella" for Piano in a minor (1989) "Tarantella" is an Italian old dance form where the name originally derived from a specie of poison snake, believed in the 17th century Italy, that it bites to kill by driving the victim to dance fiercely till death. It is the rhythm inspiring the composer to write the 4- bars allegro con fuoco theme in 2/4 with strong accent at the 4th bar, creating a fierce dancing rhythm to the whole work that demands not only extreme virtuoso performance for the great dynamic changes and fast tempo (original tempo marked as " Presto che sia possibile," meaning as fast as possible), but also the great sonority capacity of a modern concert piano for the wide range of register employed, especially noted at the last bar 2 hands " a minor full chord" playing with the lowest note of the instrument .
9 "Canon for Cecily" for String Trio (1990), originally entitled as "Canon for String Trio", was dedicated to the composer's sister Cecily and was written for 2 Violins & 1 Cello in C major. It is also possible to be performed by other combinations of instruments. The work is not strictly a 'canone all'ottavia', but rather to say a 3 parts in canonic imitation with freely constructed counterpoint melodies that generates a warm atmosphere recalling the composer's childhood memories with his beloved sister. The whole composition is based on a 2-bars motive in descending broken Tetrachord pattern firstly introduced by the cello and followed by an "answer" of 4 notes, also a Tetrachord, borrowed from the famous "Pachebel Canon in D" specially included to pay homage to the original Baroque Master.
10 "Two Parts Invention" in D major for Piano (1995) was inspired by the French Baroque style that consisted of two equally important themes in different rhythm fused in a mirror counterpoint imitation interchanging themselves between the two hands. The second theme (the answer) introduces firstly by the left hand at the bass. It was inspired by four notes of the famous theme of " La Petit Rien" by the great French Baroque composer Francois Couperin. The form is Classical Variation that includes a d minor (parallel minor of D major) middle variation section and the Coda returning to D major.
11 "Tempest" Prelude & Fugue in c minor for Piano, (1998) consists of 2 attacca sections both in c minor. The prelude was composed in free fantasia form with 2 themes in extreme dynamic and tempo contrast, generating a rather emotional and eccentric feeling; while the attacca fugue section followed with a new theme in c minor again, that the composer utilized to demonstrate almost all possibilities in fugal writing without transposing entry, including reverse mirroring the Subject, diminutive answering, elongated subject writing, that developed in 2 parts fugue, 3 parts fugue, 4 parts fugue and free counterpoint imitation, etc. The name "Tempest" refers not only to the use of forte palm cluster (i.e.: to play all notes in an octave by the palm loudly) at the low register of the piano, but also the general eccentric feeling of the whole piece.
12 "Requiem Ohne Worte" Symphony in g minor (1995) was heard in a nightmare of the composer whilst the "God of Death" rising from the stair of hell, knocking profoundly his door. It consists of one Grave movement instead of the traditional 4-movement format, as the composer thinks such duration is more suitable for modern audience. The title, literally means "Requiem without words", has no religious meaning that the composer refers it as a symphony for " the mysterious force that dominates the Life & Death". Starting with a sostenuto 4-bars passacaglia motive in the bass, it not only interweaves the whole work, but also acts as an important medium to introduce each new theme and motive, including a motive in the notes "B-A-C-H". The middle part is a 4-parts fugue at strict imitation canon parts, while the coda section is a variation that concludes all that leads to the end of a more freely developed contrapuntal composition.
Dear audience,
Whenever I compose, I always have exactly the position and sequence of each instrument in mind, which come together with the music. Hence, when making this recording, one of the most important issues to consider is how to reflect the performance as true and natural as possible. After quite a lengthy research on different recording methods, our team finally decided to adopt the "Single point source stereo direct mastering method", utilizing one pair of superb microphones "B & K 2002". The purpose is to capture the sound source as direct as possible. This is just like recording a live performance in a studio. The result is a vivid and natural soundstage with accurate positioning of instruments, which reveals the tacit interactions among performers. On the other hand, it inherits enormous difficulties in production, such as minimal editing possibilities and complicated noise control problems, that in turn demands more preparation, rehearsal and recording versions which are costly, risky and unwise from the view point of production. However, such obstacles should never refrain us from the pursuit of " the True, the Good and the Beautiful".
We sincerely hope you enjoy the recording as we do, and we thank you for purchasing the CD that is definitely a direct encouragement to us.
Benjamin Pochi Ma, 1999
Recording Details
Recording Venue : Shanghai Radio, Film & TV Bureau Technical Centre, China
Recording Mode : Single point source stereo, direct DAT mastering, Microphones B&K 2002
Piano : Steinway & Sons, Orchester-Konzertfuegel, Model D-274 (157x274 cm)
Recording date: 1999-1-25 & 3-15
Cover : Benjamin Pochi MA at work (1999), background with Symphony "Requiem Ohne Worte" manuscript (bar 39-41)