World premiere joins musical fantasies in latest GTMF Chamber Music concert – JH News&Guide
“Hojoki” in Japanese refers to a 10-square-foot hut. It is also the title of an important work of early 13th-century Buddhist literature, written by a poet-musician who retreated to such a shelter in the mountains.
Now “Hojoki” is a piece of music by clarinetist-composer José González Granero, the first work of the Grand Teton Music Festival’s “Kaleidoscope” commissioning initiative. It will receive its world premiere Thursday at this week’s Benoliel Chamber Music Concert, “Fairy Tales, Four Seasons and a World Premiere,” joining Kevin Lau’s “The Nightingale” and two sections from Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” with featured soloist Maria Ioudenitch.
Granero said he came upon the literary “Hojoki” in a library at a time when he was exploring spirituality and getting to know Buddhism. The essay meditates on the Buddhist concept of impermanence. From his hojoki, the author observed the passage of time, the turn of the seasons, as well as natural disasters and civic turmoil.
“It resembles a little bit what is going on now,” Granero said. “But also, what caught my attention was the scenery is like Jackson Hole” — a mountain refuge ideal for creative pursuits and quiet mindfulness.
Granero was born in southern Spain, where his family had an olive farm and his father, an amateur musician, was Granero’s first teacher. He went on to study at the Grenada Royal Conservatory and, later, UCLA. Today he is principal clarinetist of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and, for seven seasons, the GTMF Orchestra, though he was unable to come to Jackson this year.
“Clarinet is my first instrument,” he said, “but in the back of my mind, my favorite thing was composition.”
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