Tampopo

Tampopo is a composition with film inspired by a famous scene from an old Japanese film with the same name about love and cooking. In this scene, two secret lovers exchange an egg yolk between their mouths, in an absurd, sensual and somewhat whimsical yet erotic scene.

The composition spans various duets between viola, recorder, pan flutes and accordion. The main theme being one simple fragile melody, kept on a tight leash by the percussionist.

This work was commissioned or the ‘Kaiseki’ concert program by Black Pencil, where Japanese cuisine sets the key inspiration for a series of ‘composed meals’. Kaiseki draws inspiration from the particular features of the Japanese kaiseki cuisine and its culinary traditions: attention to detail, use of space, avoidance of repetitions, variation, symmetry, seasonal characteristics and the sound of eating itself. For this programme, the ensemble has worked with chef and culinary historian Patrick Faas, co-author of the book ‘Yamazato’ and a leading authority in his field.

In the live performance, one of the players triggers audio samples using a foot pedal as indicated in the score; the video scenes have been cut into three clips, also triggered by the same pedal. This way the musicians are free in their timing, and yet film and music stay in sync where needed.

full length preview, score and audio/visual materials available upon request.