BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
A library houses a collection of memories. Biographies sharing a person’s childhood; volumes detailing the knowledge an author spent his life accumulating. So it’s only fitting that Rafael Karlen’s new work While We Forget be performed in such a surrounding.
The composer-saxophonist’s piece explores the concept of memory through title and sound. It was commissioned for the QSOCurrent festival and will have its world premiere performance in the State Library of Queensland later this month.
Rafael, a Churchill Fellowship recipient, will team up with pianist Steve Newcomb and the QSOCurrent Chamber Orchestra to present this jazz-infused musical event. The composer talks us through the work, and why he chose to delve into the power of memory.
Hi Rafael, thanks for taking the time to chat. How are you looking forward to the festival?
I’m very excited about 2016 QSOCurrent festival. Last year, I managed to see nearly every concert and enjoyed the whole experience very much. It’s a great initiative that brings together very many exciting corners of the Australian music scene which don’t normally cross paths.
I have been working hard preparing and planning for the concert with the QSOCurrent Chamber Orchestra and am very excited to be premiering a brand new work commissioned for this festival.
So talk us through that work, While We Forget. How did it come about?
I was involved with the festival last year but as a performer in a string of pop-up performances, so working on a larger project like this has been very exciting for me.
There were discussions about which direction the project could go and I am very happy to have prepared a program featuring classical and jazz performers. The QSOCurrent Chamber Orchestra will be joined by the renowned Brisbane-based pianist Steve Newcomb and myself on saxophone and directing the program.
You chose to explore memory through this piece. Why is that an intriguing theme for you?
For some time now, I have been interested in how and what we choose to remember. What do we select to be remembered and why? What do we treasure and hold onto when things fade?
When searching through memories, I find that one memory can trigger another in very surprising ways, leading us to interesting and unexpected places and often modifying our original memories along the way.
These concepts were on my mind when I was composing While We Forget, which explores this linear aspect of memory as it weaves through contrasting episodes, creating quasi-familiar scenes as it progresses.
How do you translate memory into music?
Considering ways of representing these themes was very stimulating and I did make structural decisions to reflect these themes as the piece weaves its way through various environments, occasionally hinting at earlier fragments. The title also refers to the way in which events can be remembered very differently by different people, and how it is the prevailing memory will get recorded. This is an interesting concept in itself.
I like providing a frame for the composition and hinting at directions but leaving things a little open, too.
You composed While We Forget with the knowledge that you’ll premiere it yourself. Do you feel this has given you a stronger sense of control in knowing your own limitations, or freedom in challenging yourself to surpass them?
As a general rule, I like to know who I will be writing for so that I can write with them in mind, and fortunately for me most of the music that I compose is written for ensembles that I am involved with in some way. I can’t imagine most of the pieces in this program working very well without knowledge of the soloists as there is quite a high level of freedom in the piano and saxophone parts. They have been written with specific players in mind and explore ways in which they can respond to different environments.
I like pieces and recordings where the distinction between the written and improvised material can be hard to determine. As a composer, it’s very interesting to consider how to leave space for the soloist but still be descriptive enough to make a clear musical environment.
Experience Rafael Karlen’s While We Forget and other works at 9.30pm, April 29 in the State Library of Queensland. The concert features the QSOCurrent Chamber Orchestra and Steve Newcomb. Tickets and more info from qso.com.au.
Image supplied.
