Hypsotony

Jo Kondo

Hypsotony has been performed in Aarau, Berlin, Borås, Montréal, Ottawa, Tokyo and Vancouver…

The rather pedantic title of this piece is of my coinage, made from the Greek words for height and tone, although I am not so sure whether such a neologism conveys the meaning of ’raising sounds’ as was my intention.

This short piece for string quartet is characterized by an intentional limitation in the use of its sound materials. The performers are instructed to play every sound in such a way that, after beginning each note at the stated pitch, they have immediately to start raising it gradually, until they reach a pitch one quarter-tone higher by the end of its notated duration. This pitch raising in each individual glissando should be an interval of a quarter-tone or a little more, but in any case less than a half a tone.


Hypsotony was written in 1989, under a commission from the Almeida Festival (London, UK) and premiered in 1989 by the Arditti Quartet in one of the festival concerts.

Premiere

Hypsotony

  • Composer(s): Jo Kondo
  • Year of composition: 1989
  • Duration: 7:42
  • Instrumentation: string quartet
  • Commission: Almeida Festival
Video
On disc
Concerts
8 Marc 2006
7:30 pm
JenningsKondoSzlavnics
In person
Aarau (Switzerland)
18 Marc 2006
4:00 pm
KondoSzlavnicsTenney
In person
Berlin (Germany)
14 Octo 2006
KondoSkempton
In person
Borås (Sweden)
20 Octo 2006
8:00 pm
Série QB
KondoSchubertSzlavnics
In person
Montréal (Québec)
5 Augu 2008
2:00 pm
ButterfieldFargionKondoStiegler
In person
Ottawa (Ontario, Canada)
27 Febr 2010
2:30 pm
GoldsteinKondoTenney
In person
Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada)
23 Apri 2010
8:00 pm
Série QB
III
KondoPalacio-QuintinTremblay
In person Free admission
Montréal (Québec)
25 Apri 2014
8:00 pm
Série QB
GougeonKondoMcKinleyRuo
In person Free admission
Montréal (Québec)
7 Sept 2014
6:00 pm
ArnoldFreyKondo
In person
Tokyo (Japan)
30 Apri 2018
7:00 pm
Série QB
CageDicksonFujiiHoshiyaJamiesonKondo
In person
Montréal (Québec)