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Zen-On Releases New Publications by Somei Satoh and Vaja Azarashvili and Adds Orchestral Works by Akira Miyoshi and Yasushi Akutagawa

Oct. 11, 2022

Zen-On Releases New Publications by Somei Satoh and Vaja Azarashvili and Adds Orchestral Works by Akira Miyoshi and Yasushi Akutagawa

Zen-On will relase three new publications on October 15. These include Somei Satoh's Bridges for piano and two works by Vaja Azarashvili: Dancing Piecesfor violin and piano, and Nocturne for string orchestra.

Somei Satoh's Bridges was commissioned by Aki Takahashi who premiered the five movement work. The composer noted:

"I remember hearing a strange folk tale from the Miyagi prefecture when I was still a child. I’ve forgotten the story itself, but I can recall one of its details: the presence of a bridge linking this world with the next to enable the spirits of the dead to cross. It was formed by innumerable magpies joined by their linked beaks. The spirits are only able to cross the bridge if they are light in weight. If they are too heavy, the bridge will collapse and the magpies will scatter and fly away. This tale may have got muddled up in my mind with the famous Tanabata myth of the Weaver Star and the Cowherd Star, but the image of the bridge formed by magpies in a dusky, infinite world had a mysteriously powerful effect on my young mind.

Music itself serves as a bridge. Listening intently to a piece of crystalline music is likely to bring one closer to the sacred essence at the heart of all religions than listening to any number of perfunctory sermons. Music creates a world that lies outside the imagination of religious dogmatists. This is because music comes about through intuition, with the voices of the whole of creation percolating and being refined through the composer’s ears. 

It is the exclusive preserve of the artist to be able to open the doors on the mystery of the universe, to listen to the sound of the breeze blowing from other worlds, to hear silent voices, and to visualize the interplay between light and darkness. It is precisely because music is without physical form that it is able to give expression to a world of unadulterated purity.

The five pieces that constitute Bridges were composed to a commission from Aki Takahashi, to whom I dedicate this work with profound gratitude."

Vaja Azarashvili (b.1936), People's Artist of the Georgian SSR, is a representative of a generation of Georgian composers who claimed their rights in the late 1960's. Looking back at the composer's creative work, one can't help noticing a number of striking features characterizing his individuality: extreme sincerity, enthusiasm, bright imagination and freedom in expressing ideas. Vaja Azarashvili is highly sensitive both to instrumental and vocal textures, deftly combining the clear logic of compositional structure with the freedom of improvisation. 


Vaja Azarashvili/Dancing Pieces for Violin and Piano, 4. Sentimental Tango


Vaja Azarashvili/Nocturne

In addition, Akira Miyoshi’s orchestral work, Mutation Symphonique has been added to Zen-On’s rental catalog. The work was commissioned by NHK and premiered by the NHK Symphony Orchestra, led by Hiroyuki Iwaki, on March 30, 1958.

Finally, two orchestral works by Yasushi Akutagawa were also added to Zen-On's rental catalog:

Lullaby (1978), based on a folk song from the Akita Province, for violin solo and orchestra (1978) was commissioned by NHK and premiered on January 7, 1978 by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Tadaaki Otaka with violinist Tsugio Tokunaga. 

Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si DO ! (1978) was commissioned by NHK and premiered on April 8, 1978 by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Tadaaki Otaka.

To learn more about Somei Satoh, Vaja Azarashvili, Akira Miyoshi, and Yasushi Akutagawa, visit: zen-on.co.jp.

Somei Satoh
Bridges
for solo piano
I.2000 / II.2002 / III.2005 / IV.2006 / V.2008
Duration: I: ca. 13 min.  / II : ca.15 min. / III: ca. 15 min. / IV: ca. 13 min. /  V: ca. 12 min.

Vaja Azarashvili
Dancing Pieces for Violin and Piano
1. Foxtrot, 2. Blues, 3. Charleston, 4. Sentimental Tango

Nocturne for String Orchestra

Akira Miyoshi
Mutation Symphonique (1958)
for orchestra
2(pic).2(eh).2(bcl).2(dbn)-4.4.3.1-timp-perc-hp-cel-pno-str
21'

Yasushi Akutagawa
Lullaby (1978)
for violin solo and orchestra
2.2.2.2-2.0.0.0-wood block-hp-pno-str
4.5'

Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si DO ! (1978)
for orchestra
2.2.2.2-4.3.3.0-timp.2perc-chorus(audience)-str
2.5'

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