In 2005, ji-nashi shakuhachi player Kiku Day approached me to write a piece for her, as part of her mission to increase the use of the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) in Western classical music. When she played to me, its warmth and huskiness seemed so spookily like a human voice that I decided an a cappella double choir setting of words would best complement it. We found a choir – the Nonsuch Singers – brave enough to enter into this project and Kiku found me the wild and wonderful poems of Ikkyu Soyun, a 15th Century Zen master whose timeless words cover the entire gamut of human emotion and are beautifully translated by John Stevenson. The poems are often very short, so each movement is a compilation of two or three of them.
For 2. Love Song, I have used a beautiful and poignant Japanese lullaby called “Edo Komoriuta” (meaning “Lullaby from Edo”, the old name for Tokyo) as a backdrop to two of Ikkyu’s highly romantic and sensual poems. The lullaby is sung in Japanese and the words depict the loss of a little boy’s beloved nursemaid who has gone back to her home. This chimes with how Ikkyu feels at the loss of his true love to another man.
There are many people without whom this piece would not exist. I would like to thank Keith Howard for pointing Kiku into my direction, Kiku for bringing me into the wonderful and extraordinary world of the shakuhachi and to David Hughes for his patient teaching of the elements of Japanese traditional music. Thanks also go to Graham Caldbeck and the Nonsuch Singers who have worked incredibly hard to get this project off the ground. We owe a huge debt of gratitude also to both the Sasakawa and PRS Foundations for their financial support of the commission.
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Roxanna Panufnik
This product is sold brand new. A manufacturer warranty applies only when the manufacturer provides one for this item.
Return requests must be submitted within 14 days of delivery and approved by our RMA department before the item is shipped back. Non-defective returns may be subject to a minimum 25% restocking fee and return shipping charges. Unauthorized returns are not eligible for credit or refund. Read the full return policy.