(one)[year](later) by wojtek blecharz

Composition (one)[year](later) for Chinese instruments is a result of nearly two-year-long collaboration with Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra from Beijing. The piece is composed for counter tenor, flute, erhu, pipa, guzheng, yangqin and percussion and was composed between 2012-2014.
I must admit that learning the secrets of the traditional instruments and familiarizing myself with their sounds was a painstaking process: hours of improvisation, touching and testing the instruments, sound recording, searching for their musical identity—often without satisfying results.
During my first visit to Beijing, I developed an intense fascination for the poetic thoughts and observations of Ai Weiwei. I began to explore his philosophy and artistic strategy. I came across a text he wrote after his release from prison, where he had been detained without a proper trial, allegedly for a “tax fraud.” In that article, he asks a question that in a sense became the starting point for my piece: “If you don’t know how you lost something, how can you protect it?”
Our days pass by; life sometimes falls to such small pieces that there is nothing left to pick up—only smithereens, particles and the whirling dust that rises at the moment of breaking. In one of his most iconic works Ai Weiwei drops an ancient Chinese vase, destroying something relatively priceless—he commits an irreversible act. I used that gesture and its consequences as the motto of my piece and the main inspiration for its sound. At some places (one)[year](later) becomes a contemplation of falling apart, of permanent, recurring destruction, but also an exploration of the “forbidden places” of traditional Chinese instruments.