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Zen-On Releases Three New Publications of Works by Akira Nishimura and Shuko Mizuno

Feb. 15, 2023

On February 15, Zen-On released a new publication by Akira Nishimura and two by Shuko Mizuno.

Akira Nishimura's Meditation Karunā for strings was commissioned by Yamagata Symphony Orchestra who premired the work on May 18, 2012 in Yamagata, under the baton of Norichika Iimori. Nishimura notes:

"I composed this work between February and April 2012 in response to a commission from the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the orchestra’s fortieth anniversary. Following Sakurabito for orchestra, this is the second work I composed in my role as composer-in-residence of this orchestra. I have composed this work for an orchestra without recourse to either winds or percussion, and it presented me with the challenge of exploring the limits of my abilities of writing for the expressive range and potential of the string ensemble. I began by drawing up a plan that involved coming to terms with and reassessing the musical language of the string ensemble, in the course of which I acquired a creative image consisting of four radically different musical ideas that came to constitute the thematic exposition with which the work begins, as follows:

1) The violas play an impassioned melody enveloped by intertwining, indistinctly wiggling metallic tremolos on the violins and cellos.

2) Monodies in an East Asian manner combining passionately in canon and at different tempi.

3) The sudden appearance of fugato fragments at an allegro tempo. (This fugato suddenly welled up in my imagination in association with a specific place, namely Ueno Station in Tokyo, and I found it impossible to get this image out of my mind. This was a somewhat weird experience).

4) A simple, expressive melodic line played in the upper register.

These musical concepts might be thought to symbolize the four ineffable emotions that we experience in our lives. String ensembles possess a mysterious expressive power not restricted to melodic expression that comes about as a result of their diverse, subtle tone coloration and texture and the wide variety of attacks and ways in which sounds can be held. I sense the distinctive potential they possess to provide a musical, acoustic portrayal of emotions intimately linked to the workings of the human psyche. The piece as a whole lasts around twelve minutes and consists of the transformation, development and fusion of the four musical concepts presented during the first two minutes or so. The stormy changes within the piece notwithstanding, the use of the word ‘meditation’ in the title is bound up with another concept present within the title, namely the Buddhist ideal which I hold in high regard, known in Sanskrit as karuṇā, denoting mercy and compassion as manifest in the wish that others be free from the suffering that is the lot of all sentient beings. The variations and waves of emotion that appear in the piece are founded in a type of meditation on life and death overlaid by my own personal experience and feelings about karunā.

A verbal commentary on this work may well give the impression that it is highly abstruse, but, leaving aside the question of performance difficulties, I feel that in reality, it on the whole expresses itself directly and sometimes indeed simply and frankly. It ends on an almost inaudible low F in the violas bearing the expressive marking 'con tristezza.'"

Shuko Mizuno's Symphony No. 2 "Sakura" was commissioned by Sakura Concert Hall and premiered by Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Naohiro Totsuka, on May 6, 1991 at Sakura City Concert Hall in Chiba. A second version, incorporating revisions to the 4th movements was premiered by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Naohiro Totsuka, on November 3, 1999 also at Sakura City Concert Hall.

Mizuno notes:

"This symphony is comprised of four movements with a central motif passing through all four. This is not program music, but it has unconsciously shadowed the landscape of Hokuso — the northern part of Chiba prefecture where I have lived for years.

The first movement is the exposition. There are the slow second movement and rhythmic third movement between the first and the finale. The last movement is also a recapitulation of the first.

In the first movement, I tried to describe the complex and dynamic transformation of orchestral sound, which could be compared to similar changes in human psychology in modern society. The second movement is characterized by its melody and harmony, which reflect the country scenery of Hokuso, especially the peaceful tranquillity and endless stretch of the “Inbanuma” lake. The third movement is full of rhythm, from jazz and rock, to polyrhythm from Africa. But it is also blended with the melody of “warabeuta," (traditional Japanese children’s songs), and blues. Any rhythmic sound of the 20th century has been more or less influenced by polyrhythm. Thus, the sound composed should represent a new rhythm or “beat” to be enjoyed by young and contemporary Japanese. In the final movement, development and expansions of the theme come to the point of explosion. The brilliant frame of the sound and shining clouds under the sun gradually fade away as first movement is recapitulated."


Shunko Mizuno's Symphony No. 2, Mvt I, performed by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
under the baton of Naohiro Totsuka

Shuko Mizuno's Symphony No. 3 was premiered by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kazufumi Yamashita on October 28, 1997 as part of “Orchestra Project’97” at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Concert Hall. The composer describes his work:

"Symphony No. 3 consists of three movements. The first movement employs two different musical ideas. One features a spectacular orchestral sound, while the other emphasizes melodies and harmonic senses. The second movement is a transfiguration of clusters and atonal polyphony. The third movement focuses on vivid rhythms. Fragmented motifs, Morse code-like elements develop through polyrhythms, into a disco-like sound with a somewhat Baroque flavor. All the elements overlap towards the chaotic climax, followed by memoirs of the first movement to the end."


Symphony No. 3, Mvt. I by Shunko Mizuno, performed by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra,
led by Kazufumi Yamashita

To learn more about Akira Nishimura and Shunko Mizuno, visit: zen-on.co.jp.

Akira Nishimura
Meditation Karunā (2012)
for strings
12'
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Shunko Mizuno
Symphony No. 2 "Sakura" (1991/1999)
for orchestra
2(2.pic).pic.2.eh.3(3.bcl).3-4.4.3.1-7perc-str
38'
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Symphony No. 3 (1997)
for orchestra
3(pic).2.eh.2,bcl.3(3.cbn)-4.4(1,ptpt).3.btbn.1-7perc-hp-pno(or Synth)/cel-str(14-12-10-10-8)
25'
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