Marion von Tilzer: Ten Songs of Change

(text by Thea Derks)
‘Maya and I met in the winter of 2018 and immediately got into a conversation about mysticism,’ Marion von Tilzer (b. 1968) explains enthusiastically. Shortly afterwards Fridman suggested devoting a composition for cello, piano and voice to the I Ching, the Chinese book of changes’.
She wanted to work with the Chinese author Lulu Wang, who lives in the Netherlands. That immediately struck a chord with Von Tilzer: ‘I thought it was a wonderful prospect to be able to work with two such extraordinary artists and fortunately Wang was willing to participate. Then Maya and I started brainstorming.
Both had to admit that they did not know the Chinese book of proverbs in depth. Von Tilzer: ‘Although I regularly read a translation that I had had since 1992, the book remained cryptic to me. Through the project I learned to understand it better, partly thanks to Lulu Wang’s insights and ideas. We often see the I Ching as an oracle book, but it is a classic literary work that in China has the status of our Bible. Philosophical movements such as Taoism and Confucianism come together in it.
Von Tilzer eventually decided to take inspiration from the eight trigrams that form the basis of the I Ching: ‘Each trigram has its own atmosphere and also refers to seasons, parts of the day, emotions and even sounds. I heard music in the stories behind them.’
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