Notes by the Composer

This piece, commissioned in memory of the 2011 tsunami in Japan, was premiered by the Tenjo Hanabi Mixed Chorus in September 2013, in Osaka’s Izumi Hall. In the concert, the piece was performed first in English, with the choir’s regular accompanist, and then encored in Japanese, with me accompanying. Just as this piece combines elements of both Western and Japanese musical traditions, so, too, the whole event of the premiere was a strikingly beautiful symbol of international solidarity, amidst Japan’s continuing recovery from this horrific event. The response of the Japanese audience was overwhelming, making the whole event one of the highlights of my musical career thus far.

Tony’s incredible text uses the traditional Japanese tanka (see note) form for stanzas 1-2; this structure is then symbolically shattered in stanza 3, before then (again, symbolically), returning in stanza 4. Takako Helbig, a member of the Tenjo Hanabi choir, beautifully translated Tony’s text into Japanese while still carefully preserving both the poetic structure and the nuances of meaning of Tony’s English text. The piece may be sung in English or Japanese.

(Note: Tanka is a short lyric poem with syllables of five, seven, five, seven and seven. It is longer than haiku by the last two syllables.)