David Leisner : ...empty mind, open heart... : Doberman – Yppan

David Leisner

Doberman – Yppan : 11 pages

I have seen other pieces by this composer/ performer a number of times before, and yet I do not remember any of them being quite like this piece. It is in 4 short movements but the main structure of this work is its absolutely modern sound.

The first movement, Empty Your Mind ,  is completely arrhythmic in the sense that you are instructed to play the various boxed notes in whatever rhythm you feel like and to time it all with your breathing, with certain boxes being marked I for inhale, and others E for exhale. I’m sure that this is a wonderful idea to some people, but I have never been able to understand how a piece can be written by someone, when the actual performer accounts for 50% of it. That doesn’t make sense to me at all. The boxed groups of notes are themselves full of tritones and intervals of a fifth, and as a result are not very nice to listen to or to play.

No2 is called It Flows Through All Things and is a constant movement of quavers in a 4/8, 5/8, 6/8, 7/8, or 8/8 which to all intents and purposes feels like a study, where all the quaver groups are ultra – modern or even atonal.

No3 The Equilibrium Crumbles  is a very rhythmic constant grouping of semi – quavers interspersed with semi-quaver rests in very unusual groups, and is marked Molto Ritmico, vertiginoso which builds from a single note theme, to two voices and then eventually three note chords alternating with various open strings and finally strummed chords leading to a loud close. Again the music is very modern, so anyone looking for major or minor harmonies will be sadly disappointed.

The final movement Open Your Heart is the slowest of the four and is perhaps the friendliest of the four pieces, although there are still many areas where harmonic clashes happen.

Sorry to be so unhappy with this piece but I really struggled to find anything that I actually liked, or enjoyed .If you do like your music modern, full of harmonic classes with no melodies that you can pick out, then this might be right up your street. Not mine!

Chris Dumigan