Pan-lom
Christopher Adler
About this work:
Essays on Architecture I: Pan-lom. Ph.D. Thesis Composition, Duke University.
Pan-lom is the first in a series of compositions exploring the metaphorical relationship between music and architecture. "Pan-lom" is the term for the bargeboard of a traditional Thai house. It is often elaborately carved, one of the only sites on the traditional house to feature non-functional decoration. The Thai house is elevated above ground and topped with a steeply-angled roof to allow heat to escape and breeze to pass through the house. The name "pan-lom" means "to sculpt the wind," a literal reference to this motion of wind through the house and an allusion to the position of the bargeboard at the boundary between the stability of the architectural structure and the transience of the natural environment. The elaboration of the pan-lom is an expression of the balance between structure and nature, between stability and impermanence. This expression of the place of architecture in the natural world seems to me an apt metaphor for the balance between compositional structure and compositional fancy, and between the stability of compositional text and the ephemerality of performance. Furthermore, this attention to the aesthetic of the boundary parallels my composing on the boundary between Thai and Western classical musics, of which this piece is my most extensive example to date.
Year composed: 1998
Duration: 00:23:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Unknown
Instrumentation: 1 Oboe, 1 Soprano Saxophone, 7 Percussion (General), 1 Violin, 1 Viola, 1 Cello, 1 Double bass
Instrumentation notes: 7 percussionists: ranaat ek (Thai xylophone), khong wong yai (Thai gong cicle), ching (Thai handbell), thone-rammana (Thai drums), mong (Thai gong), marimba+glockenspiel+crotales, hammer dulcimer. The ranaat ek and khong wong yai parts require performers experienced with Thai classical music.