The piece for the Berg Orchestra, featuring Kizan Kawamura on shakuhachi, premiered at the International Shakuhachi Festival Prague in 2025, conducted by Petr Vrábel.
Text from the report by Lucia Maloveská for Klasika Plus: Kóda pro jeden festival: šakuhači znělo v Rajské zahradě
The composer managed to capture and convey the theme of sound resonance—and, metaphorically, the vibrations that continue to resonate within people and their bodies—in an understated yet evocative way. She positioned the performers along the walls; in the Rajské zahrady space with its glass roof, this created an abundance of varied reverberations. The audience was thus genuinely surrounded by the sonic events.
Even more than the spatial aspect, however, a certain dramatic quality of the work stood out in this “stage plan.” Especially at the beginning, Páchová structures the piece quite strictly into blocks, differing in expression and material. Between these blocks, the shakuhachi is heard—not virtuoso-like, but as a kind of signal; it is as if Páchová uses it to announce transitions. Gradually, the soloist enters into closer interactions with the ensemble, even into passages that are relatively demanding in terms of coordination, in the style of a kind of “hocket.”
More generally, the composer also draws naturally on the spiritual dimension associated with the shakuhachi. In this case, it was performed by Kizan Kawamura, who also had a spoken passage within the piece. Páchová does not merely gesture toward a deeper message; she shares it genuinely and authentically. This allows the work to move toward a sense of catharsis at its conclusion. The homogeneous texture created by the performers, followed by the impressive low registers of the trombone (Štěpán Janoušek) and the tam-tam (Martin Opršál), became a compelling focal point and a suggestion of the work’s resolution. An appropriate ending to the concert—and, indeed, to the entire festival.“ /Lucia Maloveská for Klasika Plus
