Two Japanese Folksongs

Two Japanese Folksongs arranges, quotes and improvises upon two traditional tunes and styles of performance.

“Water: a meditation on Saitaro Bushi” is based on a traditional Japanese fishing song “Saitaro Bushi” from the area of Sendai that was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Using mutes and extended techniques from the brass, and percussion based on Japanese instruments and musical traditions, the piece meditates on aspects of water as both the giver and the taker of life.

“Parting: a meditation on Tsugaru Jongara Bushi” freely improvises upon the melodic and rhythmic motives of the song Jongara Bushi in the “Tsugaru” style of shamisen banjo playing- a vigorous style in which the shamisen plectrum strikes the head of the instrument with each pluck of the string producing a loud percussion crack. The lyrics sing of the strong song and dance of Jongara, the northernmost province of Japan’s big island, and promise never to forget one’s home, though one travels a thousand miles.