Ashkan Layegh, Duet

in response to Rachel Kneebone, Soho Books, 2006

A composition for piano and saxophone

Ashkan Layegh’s composition Duet is written in response to Rachel Kneebone’s Soho Books (2006), a white porcelain sculpture of indeterminate creatures entangled with vegetal forms. In her work, Kneebone investigates human experience, touching on themes like rebirth, the cycles of life and the body. Using porcelain as her medium, she stretches the material's limits by bringing out its natural responses, resulting in cracks, fissures and occasional collapses which serves as tangible signs of her process.

I find it fascinating, mysterious and exciting to have my work responded to this way. After all, my work is a response to stuff that is hard for me to articulate in any other way, then to hear Ashkan’s retort it's more like whispering into the wind to each other! Things are lost as other aspects overlap while feelings collide. To me, there is something magical in the process of reaching out, making sound and sculpture from our 'parallel horizons’. — Rachel Kneebone

Q&A with Ashkan Layegh

What initially drew you to the artwork you selected as the departure point for your composition?

Artistic representation of collective pain and grief.


What was the process of translating visual art into musical expression?

I would not call it translating, since I believe each medium has its own ways of dealing with syntax, form and structure. Inspiration for me has very much been about parallel horizons, as in seeing what I have been trying to represent but from different an aspect — and in this case through a different medium.

Thus, conceptually, Rachel’s piece was not far from my routine. However, there are many details in her work that define the very specific structural systems of limitation and reductionism for me to compose.


How did conversations with the artist influence your compositions?

Very much focused on discovering and developing parallel horizons, we discussed our process of creation and the very specifically indeterminate nature of our practice; her precise modelling and the unpredictable product of the kiln resonates strongly with the notions of live-action interplay in highly-detailed scores — ultimately self-reflecting the presence of chance and the loss of sectional control.


Were there any particular themes or moods from the artwork that resonated strongly with you?

The cyclical nature of history and the abysmal era of suffering and struggle.


Could you share any specific techniques or musical elements you used to capture the essence of the artwork?

There are many elements; from the instrumentation itself — Duet for Alto Saxophone and Piano — to highly-ornamented melodic patterns and the lengthy unison opening with huge spectrum contrasts.

However, most importantly I would say asynchronous repetition of two different structural sequences, which aims to articulate the nature of these fundamental unresolved issues presented in Rachel’s work.