Output details

Kalachakra

Concert work for thirteen instruments

Kalachakra is a compositional concept, a realisation and a recording and this project investigated the process whereby the complex pre-constructed Kalachakra form could be realised in a studio recording in such a way that the performers could make real-time creative contributions within such a complex structure.

Kalachakra is a large-scale work, lasting almost 25 minutes, and is the opening track on Wiegold’s 2010 NMC portrait CD ‘Earth and Stars’. It is his most ambitious composition to date, involving complex tempo relationships, formal proportions and pitch structures drawn from Tibetan astrology. Numerical relationships from Tibetan magic squares (based on 9:12:15) were used as the basis of harmonic and thematic transformation to create elaborate layers of cantus. These were aligned with the characteristic features of the animals and elements of the astrological sequence.

The performers’ contributions were made possible in various ways: as decorations around given melodic lines and musical figures, as expansions of given ensemble textures, and through the improvised realisation – directly from underlying chordal structures – of several key passages. The research process tested the extent to which improvisation within sophisticated through-composed forms can enhance musicians’ creativity, encouraging them to reach new levels of imagination in performance. It also examined ways in which the discipline and virtuosity of classically-trained musicians can be engaged as a vehicle for enhanced creative music-making.

A version of the same compositional concept was originally commissioned for performance as part of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s ‘Sharp Edge’ in 2002. For this new realisation the work was stripped back to its underlying formal constructs and completely re-composed as part of Wiegold’s longstanding research interest in new ways of considering work identity. The current project was the recipient of an £16,425 AHRC award to examine ‘the integration of through-composition with player collaboration’.