I wrote ‘The Untouched Landscape’ for solo piano and string sextet and was very interested in exploring how I could create a dialogue between the piano and the strings in a piano concerto-like composition, but in a chamber ensemble context.
I was encapsulated by Takashi Yoshimatsu’s concerto ‘Memo Flora’, in the fluidity and beauty of the improvisatory sounding piano solos at the start of the concerto, supported by luscious orchestral chords and have experimented with similar ideas towards the beginning of The Untouched Landscape Following from my studies of Yoshimatsu, another key influence for The Untouched Landscape was Taro Umebayashi’s and Yojiro Noda’s harmonic writing, often using quartal harmony and modes scales the tuning system of the Japanese traditional Koto.
The shared prominence of 4ths and 5ths is also noticeable in the voicing of chords in the piano’s left hand in The Untouched Landscape throughout. My aim for the composition, was to capture and experiment with the delicate, elusive sound of solo strings, and complement it with the solo piano. The title, ‘The Untouched Landscape’ is a reflection of the sound-world I was attempting to capture, with each key motivic idea representing a different part in the picture.
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