SOLITUDE
An evening of music and contemplation
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Held on Totensonntag, the Sunday of the Dead, this evening is dedicated to the contemplation of solitude, death and remembrance.
Solitude can be a space of stillness and introspection, but also a way of approaching what lies beyond our everyday experience. It brings us closer to questions of presence and absence, of life and death, and of the traces that remain when someone is gone. Across different cultures and spiritual traditions, silence has long been understood as a way of listening to what cannot always be expressed in words.
The Chinese guqin and the Japanese shakuhachi carry distinct yet related traditions of meditative music. Rooted in Confucian, Daoist and Zen Buddhist thought, both instruments embody an understanding of music shaped by simplicity, restraint and attentiveness.
Wolfgang Schwabe (guqin) and Vincent Laju (shakuhachi) present traditional compositions and improvisations, exploring the delicate relationship between sound and silence.
The evening takes place in the quiet atmosphere of s h i z u k u . , with candlelight, water and salt as its only elements. A setting for stillness, reflection and a shared awareness of the invisible presence of those who are no longer among us.
program
Wolfgang Schwabe – Guqin Solo
Ji Kang (3rd century): Xuanmo 玄默 (Dark Silence)
A traditional guqin melody attributed to Ji Kang, preserved in Shenqi Mipu (1492), the earliest surviving comprehensive collection of guqin music.
Improvisation on Xuanmo (Dark Silence)
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Vincent Laju – Shakuhachi Solo
Hon Shirabe (Fundamental Melody)
Hon Shirabe means literally “fundamental melody”. Its technical and meditative approaches form the foundations of shakuhachi honkyoku, the traditional repertoire of the instrument. It is said that some Buddhist monks practised this piece throughout their entire lives as part of their spiritual training, continually exploring its possibilities and deepening their understanding of both the music and themselves.
Improvisation based on Hon Shirabe
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Wolfgang Schwabe is a guqin player, improviser and scholar. He studied in Taiwan with guqin master Ge Hancong. Active in the contemporary music scenes of Taipei and Berlin, he brings together the aesthetics of classical qin music and contemporary improvisation.
Vincent Laju's musical beginnings were in punk, followed by studies in jazz and classical music. He received First Prize at the Conservatory of Aix-en-Provence. His work focuses on improvised and experimental music, and he performs regularly in Berlin and the Aix-Marseille region, as well as touring internationally throughout Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
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