European American Music Distributors Company is a member of the Schott Music Group

World Premiere of Jiva by Vijay Iyer

Oct. 01, 2018

World Premiere of <em>Jiva</em> by Vijay Iyer

On October 5, shamisen virtuoso, Hidejiro Honjoh will give the world premiere of Jiva for solo shamisen by Vijay Iyer at the Japan Society in New York City. This premiere is performed as part of a concert called "Hidejiro Honjoh X ICE" which features members of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and other contemporary works for shamisen, an ancient Japanese instrument, and ensemble. The composer describes his new work:

"'Jiva is a Sanskrit term referring to a living being or any object imbued with a 'life force', which is my impression of the shamisen. To me, this spirit lives in the Sawari, the resonator on the instrument's lowest string, which gives it a textural resonance that is related to the "buzzing" effect of a tanpura in Indian classical music. In India, this effect is called Javari or Jivari; the similarity of these terms indicates a historical link. In a tanpura, the cotton threads that produce this resonant buzzing effect are also called 'jiva.'"


in addition, on October 27, the Vermont Symphony, led by Vinay Parameswaran, will perform Vijay Iyer's Trouble, featuring violinist Jennifer Koh as soloist. The program also includes Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" and Rossini's Overture to L’Italiana in Algeri.

Listen to Vijay Iyer's Mutations I and III (2005) here:


(Mutations I and III/Vijay Iyer/The Brentano String Quartet and Vijay Iyer)

To learn more about Vijay Iyer, please visit schott-music.org.

Vijay Iyer
Jiva (2018)
for solo shamisen
10'

Trouble (2017)
for violin and chamber orchestra
1(afl, pic).1(ca).1(bcl).1-1.1.1.1-timp.2perc(gong, rain stick, s.d, b.d, cym, tub bells, glsp, xylo, mar, vib, finger cym)-pno-str
25'

News