Dragon Awakening

For two percussion (mostly marimba and vibraphone) and playback audio. Additional instruments:
Percussion 1, measures 200 to 212: The part on lower two staff lines should be preferably Chinese drums, but low toms and even a bass drum for lowest one would be appropriate. The two top lines with the “x” noteheads could be two rim shots of low and high pitch (a rim shot and a shot on the other stick resting on the rim) or two wood blocks or a combination thereof. Listen to the demo recording for ideas of what sounds in your instrument arsenal might work best.
Percussion 2, measures 174 to 228: Four small drums accurately tuned to the pitches E, F, G, A in the notated register are required. They could be small roto-toms or any small drums that can be tuned to a distinct pitch.

Commissioned by DoubleBeats [Ni Fan (China) and Lukas Böhm (Germany)]. Duration: 7:40.

Premiere performance: February 25, 2023. doubleBeats (Ni Fan and Lukas Böhm, percussion). Music Conservatory, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.

Program Note

Commissioned by the DoubleBeats duo, consisting of percussionists Ni Fan (China) and Lukas Böhm (Germany), Dragon Awakening is a musical meditation on the cosmic calling for China to play a leading role in the shaping of the 21st Century. The 21st Century promises to be the “Chinese century” in a similar way that the 20th Century was an “American” one. These cosmic callings are pregnant with hope and opportunity but also fraught with danger, depending on how the people who receive the calling answer it. Since my university years, I have been a student of the early 20th Century American mystic Edgar Cayce (he passed away in 1945), whose discourse on the destiny of nations during trance predicted the awakening of China and its transformation into an ethical and spiritual world leader. Cayce warned that such transformation was not imminent, but that it is part of a cosmic plan, perhaps after the Apocalyptic times which we are currently entering.

Transformations in world leadership are never smooth transitions and the growing fear of China in the West may seem justifiable enough but, for the spiritually minded, fear has been and constantly is the real and only enemy. My view of China’s past, present and possible future is more nuanced. The source of all spirituality is constantly calling us all to be our brother’s and sister’s keeper. The West has professed this principle throughout the past two millennia but has mostly paid lip service to it while jousting for personal, national, and colonial advantage. In contrast East Asian societies, past and present, have developed along the concept of a beehive with more collective thinking and purpose. Their people have suffered tremendously throughout the millennia, but suffering breeds nobility of character and, despite the ultra-capitalist derailment of the present, there is reserved strength in the collective will of the Chinese people which, if properly channeled, may represent hope for the rest of the world. Prayer and positive thinking are our only individual and communal recourse for inspiring China towards the right stewardship of our teetering world.

Dragon Awakening features mostly the vibraphone and the marimba with brief use of pitched and non-pitched percussion instruments decided by the performers who are also asked to briefly improvise during one of the sections. The music for the two mallet instruments follows a process of “phase optimization”: two different mostly pentatonic melodies of different speeds created in a way that the two performers always strike notes in unison (the rhythmic equivalent to audio phase optimization). The “digital” parts of the two mallet instruments are balanced by “analogue” Erhu samples in the audio. This traditional opening section is followed by an “industrial” section full of inhuman and oppressive sounds (the performers switch here to mostly non-pitch percussion instruments) which in turn is followed by a “digital” section marked by the return to the mallet instruments accompanied again by the Erhu in the background. The latter part of the composition is a minimalist pattern which repeats in cycles of seven measures. Each cycle is subdivided into two groups of three and four measures each. These numbers and many others denote the ambivalence of the present moment in Chinese numerology. The number “Seven” (七, pinyin: qī) in Mandarin) sounds like "even" (齊, pinyin: qí), so it is a good number for relationships. It also sounds like "arise" (起, pinyin: qǐ) and "life essence" (氣, pinyin: qì). Seven can also be considered an unlucky number since the 7th month (July) is a "ghost month". The number “Three” (三, pinyin: sān; cantonese Yale: sāam) sounds like 生 (pinyin: shēng; cantonese Yale: sāang), which means "to live" or "life" so it's considered a good number. It is significant since it is one of three important stages in a person's life (birth, marriage, and death). The number “Four” (四, pinyin: sì; Cantonese Yale: sei) is considered an unlucky number in Chinese because it is nearly homophonous to the word "death" (死 pinyin: sǐ; Cantonese Yale: séi). So . . . “Seven” represents China at the present crossroads, with “Three” and “Four” presented as the two starkly contrasting choices.

—Christos Hatzis