Iwa Ni is a flute solo which can be performed either with electronics (fixed media) or unaccompanied. It includes some extended techniques—glissando, harmonics, two quartertones, and air sounds—that can be managed by players with or without a strong background in contemporary music. Although it is sometimes performed by professionals, Iwa Ni has been particularly popular with conservatory and university students.
I created the fixed media track from just four samples I recorded of a singing bowl, scraped and struck with different objects. I had wanted to use this instrument for some time and I wrote the first two sections fairly quickly. For the third, I knew I wanted air sounds and whispering into the flute, but I spent a long time deliberating how to organize and develop them against the meditative backdrop of the singing bowls. I was reading the work of 17th-century Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō for another project at this time, and I happened to see a poem that included the phonemes I wanted to use. It describes the sound of cicadas “permeating the rock” (iwa ni shimiiru) at the mountain temple of Risshaku-ji, and it perfectly suited the mood at the end of my piece. The poem became the basis for the air sounds in the third section, and Iwa Ni became the title.
For more information, or to purchase the score, please visit: http://www.rebekahdriscoll.com/music/iwa-ni
Watch flutist Emily Wespiser Andenmatten perform “Iwa Ni” here: https://youtu.be/j-eqCepHEAQ
Find more music by Rebekah Driscoll here: www.rebekahdriscoll.com
Perusal Score can be found HERE.