Takahiro Kuroda
Composer
Multi Processing II
Commission
Commissioned by Azabu Alumni Orchestra (amateur orchestra)
Performance duration
9’
Premiere
August 10, 2014, Tokyo, Nerima Culture Center Coliseum (First Hall)
Conductor: Masato Suzuki
Azabu Alumni Orchestra
Year of composition
2014
Instrumentation
2222 - 2200 - timp.perc(2) - str(1st group: 6.5.4.5 - 2nd group: 6.5.4.5 - cb: 4)
Commentary (English version)
According to "Digital Daijisen", the title, "Multi Processing," refers to "the execution of multiple programs in parallel by a single computer or computer network.
According to "ASCII.jp Dictionary of Digital Terms," it is "the use of multiple CPUs to perform processing simultaneously."
In this piece, the music is seen as a computer or CPU, and as if running multiple programs in parallel, there are many parts where multiple pre-prepared musical ideas, each with its own unique texture, are arranged in parallel as the music progresses. The quotations from the third movement of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and the third movement of Dvorak's Cello Concerto that appear in the piece are also considered as parallel programs. The reason for the quotations from these two works is simple: they were included in the program of the concert where the work was to be premiered, and since it was a concert of an amateur orchestra, the audience was not people who were familiar with contemporary music on a regular basis, so I was conscious of (or tried to be) easy to understand.
Commentary (Japanese version)
タイトルである"Multi Processing(マルチプロセッシング)“はデジタル大辞泉によると、
“1台のコンピューターやコンピューターネットワークによって、複数個のプログラムを並列に実行すること。”
ASCII.jpデジタル用語辞典によると、
“複数のCPUを使用して同時に処理を行うこと。”
と説明されています。
この作品は、音楽を一つのコンピューターやCPUと見立てて、複数のプログラムを並列に実行するかの如く、事前に用意した、それぞれテクスチュアに特徴のある複数の楽想を、音楽が進むにつれ並列に並べる部分が多く見られます。曲中に現れるチャイコフスキーの交響曲第5番第3楽章とドヴォルザークのチェロ協奏曲第3楽章からの引用も並列されるプログラムと見立てています。
この2作品から引用を行った理由は単純で、この作品が初演される演奏会のプログラムに含まれていたからであり、またアマチュアオーケストラの演奏会ということで、訪れた聴衆も現代音楽に普段から慣れ親しんでいる人たちではないので、分かりやすさを意識した（してしまった）からです。