DESCRIPTION:
Performed live at LSO St Luke's, Sunday 19 June 2016

Viola: Anna Bastow
Bass Clarinet: Ausiàs Garrigós Morant
Karateka: Simon Keegan

"In karate (and other traditional Japanese martial arts), a kata is a choreographed sequence of moves used to develop technique, strength and speed.

In essence, they are a kinetic database of punches, blocks, kicks and throws; regularly practising kata will help the karateka (karate practitioner) deal with real-life violent situations.

In competition, martial artists will perform kata, often accompanied by non-live music. The chosen music tends to be bland and unadventurous and does not resemble or re ect the meaning or movements of the kata. Consequently, the martial artist has to accept that the kata and music will not synchronise or the martial artist has to change and adapt the kata to fit the music (both unsatisfactory compromises).

In Empty Hand, Peaceful Mind I attempt to remedy this by presenting five traditional kata, accompanied by music that has been specifcally written to fit each kata. The karateka essentially acts as a conductor, directing the musicians. The final movement, ‘Jo-ha-kyü’, operates differently; here the musicians perform music derived from all the previous movements and the karateka improvises a new kata."