Compositions - 作曲
秋のゆふぐれ (AKI NO YUUGURE)
[English: Autumn Dusk; Romanian: Amurg de toamna]
Work for shakuhachi solo composed in November 2012
First interpreted by me on November 17, 2012 at the KINSHUU NO ONGAKUKAI concert at GANGYOUJI temple
Video recording from the event (sorry for the poor quality)
Based on a WAKA poem by Fujiwara no Teika (Fujiwara no Sada'ie)
Japanese: 見わたせば 花も紅葉(もみじ)も なかりけり 浦の苫屋(とまや)の 秋のゆふぐれ
English: Looking out / There are neither blossoms nor crimson leaves / Just an old hut by the seashore / In the autumn dusk
Romanian: Privind in jur / Nici flori nu sunt / Nici frunze moarte / Ci doar coliba de pe tzarm / In amurgul toamnei
竹取物語 (TAKETORI MONOGATARI)
[English: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter]
Work for shakuhachi and guitar composed together with guitarist Masayo Ota in September 2013
1st movement: Princess Kaguya - Portrays the main character of the folktale, Kaguya Hime
2nd movement: Impossible Trials - Evokes the insurmountable hardships encountered by the princess’ suitors as they try to fulfill her requests
3rd movement: Return to the Moon - Depicts the scene in which the princess must return to the Moon, her true home, accompanied by heavenly beings
First interpreted by me together with Masayo Ota on September 13, 2013 at our Moon-themed concert that took place at MATTO FURUSATO KAN
Based on a Japanese folktale considered to be the oldest known Japanese narrative
Currently three versions of this piece exist
#1 for shakuhachi and guitar (computer-generated audio using MuseScore): Original version from September 2013
#2 for flute and koto: Transcription done in May 2015
#3 for flute, koto and piano: Transcription done in July 2015 for the trio HIGURASHI
うぐいすの里 (UGUISU NO SATO)
[English: The Village of the Nightingale]
Work for flute/shakuhachi, koto and piano composed in September 2016 for the trio HIGURASHI
1st movement: Mysterious Encounter - Portrays the encounter between a man who had lost his way in the mountains and a beautiful girl
2nd movement: Forbidden Rooms - The man spends the night at the girl's house, but he breaks his promise and enters a series of forbidden rooms that evoke the four seasons; in the last room he accidentally drops some bird eggs, revealing that the girl was in fact a nightingale
3rd movement: Pitiful Nightingale - The nightingale mourns the death of her children, then the house and everything else disappear, and the man is left standing all alone in the middle of the woods
First interpreted by HIGURASHI at their concert that took place on October 2016 in Nonoichi City
Based on a Japanese folktale that uses the motif of forbidden rooms encountered in some Western folktales as well
Computer-generated audio using MuseScore