Mari Kimura - The World Below G and Beyond
(Mutable 17542-2)
(UPC: 801021754220)

Subharmonic Partita; Gemini; Vitessimo; Clone Barcarolle; Six Caprices for Subharmonics; Two Clos; Izquierda y Derecha; ALT; Bucknerian

Mari Kimura is a creative violinist carrying on the tradition of renovation and transformation of her instrument by composing for herself, using the media that is available in her lifetime. This album includes two kinds of works: solo violin works using "subharmonics", an extended bowing technique she developed, and works for violin and interactive computer.

In April 1994, at a solo recital in New York City, Kimura introduced subharmonics as a musical element to extend the range of the violin by a full octave below the open G string without changing the tuning. Playing subharmonics takes precise control of bow pressure and speed, reliably and repeatedly on demand, which is extremely hard, especially in real time performance situations. Her introduction of subharmonics was widely praised by Edward Rothstein, the chief critic of The New York Times who described it as, "revolutionary technique" for the violin.

Kimura took these obscure sounds and developed them further. She created compositions using subharmonics not for the sake of novelty but to use them as a new element for the musical language for the violin. This album contains many of her early works using subharmonics controlling different subharmonic intervals, such as subharmonic octave, third and second.

Since the early 1990s, Kimura has also been a violinist/composer specializing in interactive computer music composition and performance. She created many works for the violin using an interactive computer music program MaxMSP. On this album she includes some of her older works for violin and MaxMSP, as well as more recent compositions.

Mari Kimura is at the forefront of violinists who are extending the technical and expressive capabilities of the instrument. As a performer, composer, and researcher, she has opened up new sonic worlds for the violin. Notably, she has mastered the production of pitches that sound up to an octave below the violin's lowest string without retuning. This technique, which she calls Subharmonics, has earned Mari considerable renown in the concert music world and beyond. She is also a pioneer in the field of interactive computer music. At the same time, she has earned international acclaim as a soloist and recitalist in both standard and contemporary repertoire.

Reviews

We hear too little from violinist Mari Kimura, but The World Below G and Beyond is a great way to catch up. The lady presents a whole program of solos, mostly for “augmented violin” (violin linked to a computer). She develops the subharmonics that have become her trademark, through lively and dancing virtuoso pieces. The final track uses Thomas Buckner’s voice - through the computer - to subharmonize with the violin. - François Couture, Monsieur Délire

Since the mid-1990s, violinist Mari Kimura, a Juilliard alumna (D.M.A. ’93, violin) and member of the School’s Music Technology Center faculty, has been experimenting with phenomena known as “subharmonics.” String players create traditional harmonics by lightly resting a fingertip on the string, creating a glassy, high-pitched sound. Subharmonics, on the other hand, require a precise bowing speed and pressure to create pitches below the tuned string, and they sound earthier and scratchier. The technique Kimura has developed enables her to reach notes a full octave below the violin’s G string—without any retuning.

Opening the program is Subharmonic Partita, an homage to Bach’s E-major example, in which Kimura uses her discovery to span five octaves containing passages of staggering difficulty. These challenges reach a pinnacle in her Six Caprices for Subharmonics (1997-98), which require double-stops in which the G string is bowed to produce the subharmonics, but the D string is played normally. Another work’s title, ALT, is derived from the first letters of a comment on Kimura’s music by Mario Davidovsky, who said he had never heard “Anything Like This.” His astonished assessment could very well be applied to the entire disc.

This fascinating recording also features some of Kimura’s works for violin and computer. Vitessimo from 2007 (derived from the French word vitesse, or “speed”) and Clone Barcarolle from 2009 employ an “augmented violin” system developed at Ircam in Paris, to considerably expand the instrument’s tonal qualities. Izquierda y Derecha (“Left and Right”) uses a MIDI piano controlled by the violin to create a Nancarrow-like sonata with a Latin flavor and just a hint of Chopin’s “Revolutionary” Etude.

On Two Clos, Kimura creates a duo by overdubbing herself, improvising along with a second improvised track. Kimura ends her program with Bucknerian (2002), for voice, violin, and computer, in which singer Thomas Buckner’s voice is multiplied and processed into something resembling an unearthly, chattering choir, as the violin darts madly in and out of the mix like an equally alien hummingbird. Engineers Paul Geluso and Tom Hamilton, working at Harvestworks (in Manhattan) and Systems Two (Brooklyn) have given Kimura a pleasantly analytical soundscape, giving light and space to even the tiniest details. - Bruce Hodges, The Julliard Journal

Many of these pieces showcase Kimura’s use of subharmonics: a bowing technique that can take the violin to a whole octave below its G string. It’s not difficult to tell at which points this is being utilized. The violin cuts into guttural whirrs that sound like some sort of computer malfunction, emphasized by the slight pause that precedes each burst. Of course, there’s the chance that Kimura’s technical prowess in mastering this technique will be overlooked if it’s incorporated into these pieces as a glaring gimmick. Occasionally that’s the impression I get, but often her playing style allows for it to be integrated quite naturally.

Kimura seems to view her instrument not only as a compositional tool, but also as a sound source to be played with and pushed beyond its supposed boundaries – the “Six Caprices For Subharmonics” demonstrate this most effectively, with transitions in pitch and speed sending the music into an emotive dance, juxtaposing frenzied leaps and arpeggio flourishes with slower, more graceful movements. It’s during these pieces that the subharmonic element is less brash and frequent, and the moments at which the instrument does descend into an earthy subharmonic croak are well judged. Pieces like “Subharmonic Partita” don’t run quite as smoothly in my view, collapsing into jarring halts for the sake of incorporating notes below G.

Elsewhere, Kimura presents her compositions using violin and computer, twisting the sound of the violin into even more bizarre shapes. Glissandos are manipulated to cover unnatural pitch ranges, sliding in surreal slurps and occasionally becoming reminiscent of ghoulish, B-movie horror soundtrack (in a good way). The closing collaboration with vocalist Thomas Buckner is interesting, but perhaps a bit long at 8 minutes in length. Being a substantially more layered piece than the rest, it manages to fit in here rather effectively, though even the endlessly diverse, timbre-twisting abilities of both musicians begin to feel tiresome from 5 minutes onwards.

The compilation does well to highlight Kimura’s willingness to re-invent and experiment with her instrument, even if this can appear to descend into novelty on occasion. The World Below G And Beyond feels like a summary in a sense – a means of wiping the slate cleans before embarking on new work. I don’t know for sure whether this is the case or not, but I look forward to hearing how she chooses to stretch her instrument next. - Jack Chuter, ATTN: Magazine

The title refers to Kimura’s complete owning of a self-discovered technique which allows her to play solid notes in a gamut that, on the violin, is virtually impossible to utilize for mortal practitioners without pitch-disintegrating consequences. This collection – featuring pieces that exploit subharmonic investigations as well as computerized interactivity, such as “Izquierda Y Derecha For Violin And MIDI Piano” and “Bucknerian For Voice, Violin And Computer”, with Thomas Buckner – demonstrates that there’s no edge to be afraid of jumping from when an amazing ability is buttressed by the heart. This Japanese master explores technical difficulties head-on, the music still evoking a sense of organic pulsation; “living wood”, if you will. Genius and spirit in equal doses, also transpiring when the instrument’s tone is confronted by computational divergences. The protagonist’s strenuous dedication is practically visible, however she plays with an inside smile of awareness, turning distress – say, the anxiety before the execution of an arduous score – into radiant harmonic light generated by a lone source. Every episode causes the listener to grow richer, adding layers of acquaintance with materials entirely devoid of exhausting traits. And yet the sound remains utterly natural, flowing with ease, eliciting a gratification equalling that experienced when we look at an exceptional phenomenon. It takes many years of severe discipline to bring the violin to similar heights, but the inborn grace through which Kimura deploys all the procedures is evident. A handsome dancer on strings perfumed of enlightenment, a soul-searching virtuoso who knows that her discovery is extraordinary but, contrarily to the rule, is willing to share some of these secrets with the akin minds who perceive the untainted essence of Vibration even when it’s not apparent. - Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes