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Zen-On Releases Six New Publications by Akira Nishimura, Mino Kabasawa, Junnosuke Yamamoto, and Tsung-hsien Yang

Jun. 30, 2025

This month, Zen-On released six new publications spanning a variety of musical genres.

Akira Nishimura’sTriple Concerto ‘The Butterfly Dream’for violin, harp, clarinet and orchestra was co-commissioned by the Izumi Sinfonietta Osaka and the Tokyo Sinfonietta. The concerto was premiered on July 8, 2023 at Sumitomolife Izumi Hall by the Izumi Sinfonietta Osaka and conductor Norichika Iimori, with violinist Machie Oguri, harpist Kazuko Shinozaki, and clarinettist Nozomi Ueda.


Yasuaki Itakura leads the Tokyo Sinfonietta and soloists Tomoko Yoshinari, Mari Kimura, and Wakako Sato in a
performance of Nishimura's Triple Concerto 'The Butterfly Dream'

Nishimura noted: "The Butterfly Dream’ is a well-known tale that appears in Zhuangzi (c.369-286 BC), the honorific name of the Chinese Daoist philosopher Zhang Zhou who lived during the Warring States period.
On one occasion Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was butterfly. He completely forgot he was Zhang Zhou and spent the time happily flitting about among the beautiful flowers. He suddenly awoke from his dream and was astonished to find that he was Zhang Zhou. But he was unable to tell whether it was Zhang Zhou who had dreamt he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming that he was Zhuang Zhou.

For a long time I regarded this as a rather infantile tale, but as I grew older I became aware of its profundity and today I find it strikes a resonant chord within me. I decided to write a piece based on this tale as I approached my seventieth birthday.

Of the three soloists, the violin and the clarinet might be thought of as representing the butterfly and the human being respectively, while the harp is a manifestation of reality as neither the butterfly nor the human being. The orchestra amplifies the soloists, sometimes enveloping them supernaturally. It might regarded as the foundation of true identity.

I originally intended to integrate the three soloists at the end of the work, but I eventually decided to end the piece with the violin dying away in its uppermost register, the clarinet fading away in its lowest register, and the harp disappearing with isolated notes in the middle register, representing the dissolution of the work’s dream."

Akira Nishimura's Azure Dragon for String Quartet was commissioned by the Jasper String Quartet who gave the world premiere performance in April 2019 in Washington, D.C.

Nishimura noted: "The theme of this work is “spring”, and the piece is composed as a hymn to spring. The title Azure Dragon is a magical sacred symbol of spring in East Asia. It is also a symbol of the eastward orientation of the rising sun. (The other symbols of the seasons are Vermillion Bird in summer, White Tiger in autumn, and Black Tortoise in winter.) The azure color represents the blue of the sky as well as the greenery of the plants that cover the earth.

Azure Dragon awakens from winter sleep, saturates its vitality, rises to heaven, and dances in the spring sky. Dragon is also a symbol of springs and the powerful flow of water and is said to have the power to evoke spring storms. This song is also a hymn to Azure Dragon, the holy spring beast.

Part of the song depicts a row of cherry blossoms in full bloom, a symbol of Japan's spring, shining in the spring sunlight."


The Jasper Quartet performs Akira Nishimura's Azure Dragon

Mino Kabasawa'sGreen Breeze for violin and piano was first performed in April 2004 on the NHK-FM radio programme Masterpiece Recital by violinist Kiichi Watanabe with the composer at the piano.

Kabasawa notes: "There’s a regular program entitled "Masterpiece Recital" broadcast on NHK’s FM radio channel in which I’m entrusted with a monthly spot called "Musical Encounters." This gives me the opportunity to present a piece to each month’s guest.

I composed this particular piece in April 2004. The score bears the hand-written marking ‘NHK op.4’, indicating that I created it at around the time I first began to appear on this program.

The guest on that occasion was the violinist Kiichi Watanabe, and it was this encounter that gave rise to this piece. The score I initially created was little more than a sketch, but my guest provided a wonderful rendition of it. The piece has subsequently been performed by many violinists, although always with recourse to my original hasty sketch.

The broken chords in the piano are intended to suggest a fresh breeze blowing through young green leaves in spring and early summer, while the violin melody evokes the image of beautiful girl standing erect as she’s wafted by the breeze.

It’s a simple piece, but I hope that violinists will enjoy playing it with the addition of their own personal flavoring."

Junnosuke Yamamoto's Symphony No. 4 ‘Commemorating the 1,250th Anniversary of the Death of Ganjin’ was premiered in October 2013 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Concert Hall by conductor Michiyoshi Inoue and the New Japan Philharmonic.

Regarding his 2006 orchestral work, Grieving the Evanescing for orchestra, Tsung-hsien Yang notes: "Wu He, the pre-eminent Taiwanese writer, in his writings constantly conveys a sense of sadness towards the passing and disappearing of people and things.  Sadness as such is the prototype of human feeling: not only do we miss these people and things, but understandably also grieve the part of ourselves that went together with them.  

As a Taiwanese composer, I write this work in 2006 as a personal homage to W. A. Mozart, whose brilliant mind has inspired generations of musicians ever since his birth two hundred and fifty years ago, and also as my grief towards the disappearing tradition of Taiwanese arts.

As I was working on this piece, my father was gradually losing his battle against cancer and eventually passed away at almost exactly the same time I finished the score.  Father’s death took away a part of my life while stripping me of his ever attentive listening.  I lovingly dedicate this work to the memory of my dear father."

Grieving the Evanescing was premiered in March 2006 at the National Center for Traditional Arts in Taiwan by YinQi Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Amy Chang.

Finally, Tsung-hsien Yang's Concertino Pianissimo for piano and orchestra was premiered in December 1999 at the National Concert Hall inTaiwan pianist Hsing-Chwen Giselle Hsin and the Contemporary Chamber Orchestra Taipei under the baton of Chun-Fung Lee. The composer notes:

"The nightly silence is the domain for contemplation in which life is no longer about the questions and answers of the daytime, it simply becomes a song that should be sung.  My Concertino Pianissimo, which consists of two movements, has its emotional and expressive roots in the following two poems, by Rabindranath Tagore."

I know that at the dim end of some day the sun will bid me its last farewell.
Shepherds will play their pipes beneath the banyan trees, and cattle graze on the slope by the
river, while my days will pass into the dark.

This is my prayer that I may know before I leave why the earth called me to her arms.
Why her night’s silence spoke to me of stars, and her daylight kissed my thoughts into flower.

Before I go may I linger over my last strophe, completing its music, may the lamp be lit to see your
face and the wreath woven to crown you.

・　・　・　・　・

The pain was great when the strings were being tuned, my Lord!
Begin your music, and let me forget the pain; let me feel in beauty what you and in your mind
though those pitiless days. 

The waning night lingers at my door, let her take her leave in songs.
Pour your heart into my life-strings, my Lord, in tunes that descend from your stars."

To learn more about Akira Nishimura, Mino Kabasawa, Junnosuke Yamamoto, and Tsung-hsien Yang, visit zen-on.co.jp.

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