Music

HAPPY Concert ~Everyone's Concert~

Nat 2017-01-13 No Comments

I was given the opportunity to hold a concert entitled "HAPPY Concert - Menna Musicians" at the Koganei City East Center.1

So, I had the pleasure of performing there. Thanks to the warm and welcoming audience and staff, I was able to finish the concert on a happy note.

Below are some excerpts from the program notes that were distributed.

Program

Part 1: Triple meter music in the West

  1. Faure: Sicilienne op.78
  2. JS Bach: Siciliana BWV 1031
  3. Bizet: Minuet (from Suite No. 2 of "Arlesian Woman")
  4. Satie: Je te veu (I want you)

Part 2: Let's play with musical instruments

  1. Let's blow the bottle
  2. Let's pick up the flute and play it

Part 3: Japanese songs

  1. Michio Miyagi: Spring Sea
  2. Yumi Arai: Graduation photo
  3. Nakamura Hachidai: Look Up and Keep Moving
  4. Yoko Kanno: Flowers Bloom

Song Description

Part 1: Triple meter music in the West

Siciliana (Sicilienne)

Siciliana (Italian, Sicilienne in French) is a dance in gentle 6/8 or 12/8 rhythm, characterized by leisurely, floating movements and dotted rhythms. It is part of the broader genre of pastorale. Despite its name, there is no evidence that it originated in Sicily. It first appeared around 1500.

This type of piece was written extensively up until the 18th century, and famous examples include Bach's Siciliana and the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23.

However, no famous pieces were produced until the 19th century, and it was only towards the end of the century that Faure's Il Chilienne was created.

Faure: Sicilienne op.78

Gabriel Fauré was a French composer born on May 1845, 5, and died in 12. He spent his youth during the maturity of Berlioz and Brahms, and in his later years he lived around the time when tonality collapsed and Schoenberg and others began to write so-called atonal music. Fauré's style can be divided into an early period up to the mid-1924s, a middle period from the late 1880s to the 1880s when he wrote the famous "Requiem," and a later period after that when he was plagued by sensorineural hearing loss. This piece was composed in 1900, so it belongs to his middle period.

This piece was written for the unfinished "The Nobleman of the Town" in 1893, and was already published as Opus 78 for cello and piano duo. It was rearranged as the prelude to the scene where Pelléas and Mélisande frolic by the fountain in the fifth movement, Act 5, of the incidental music for the play "Pelléas et Mélisande." It is in small rondo form in G minor and 2/6 time, and in the famous section A, the flute solo plays a distinctive melody with dotted rhythm over the broken chords of the harp. (Approximately 8 minutes)

JS Bach: Siciliana BWV 1031

JS Bach is the perfectionist of Baroque music, and in Japan he is often called the "Father of Music" or one of the "Three Great German B's." This piece is the second movement of his Flute Sonata No. 3 in E-flat major, BWV 2 (1031), Siciliana in G minor.

Since CPE Bach wrote this score as composed by J.S. Bach, it is said to be composed by JS Bach, but the authenticity of this piece has been questioned because it has characteristics of the later galant style. The galant style is a style in which a melody is sung over a relatively simple accompaniment, and was popular at the court of Frederick the Great, who adopted the French Rococo style. It was carried forward by Johann Joachim Quantz (1697 – 1773), a famous flute player, and CPE Bach (1714 – 1788), who possessed the manuscript of this piece. For this reason, there was a theory that it was composed by CPE Bach at one time, but this was rejected because if that were the case, he would have included it in his own catalog of works, and the characteristics are different from his works of the same period. It is now believed that when Father Bach was teaching his pupils, including CPE Bach, how to compose in the new style, he used Quantz's Trio Sonata (QV 2:18)2 It is said that he either wrote a duo sonata using the example of the sonata, or gave it to a pupil other than CPE Bach as an assignment. Another piece that seems to have followed a similar process is Quantz's Trio Sonata (QV 2:35).3 4There is a Sonata in G minor (BWV 1020, 1734) that seems to have been modelled on the Sonata in G minor. This clearly shows the characteristics of the young CPE Bach's compositions, but CPE Bach himself did not claim it as his own work, and it is thought to be a "composition with my father" that his wife wrote in a letter after his death.5.

Although the sonata BWV1031 as a whole gives a somewhat scattered impression, this Siciliana is a famous masterpiece that is said to be "the most beautiful melody written by Bach," and is often performed as a piano arrangement. (About XNUMX minutes)

Minuet

The minuet was the most popular ball music among the upper classes in the first half of the 18th century. It is a dance for men and women to meet while walking from the back of the room to the front in front of the ballroom, but as it is a royal court, the only parts of the dance that can be touched are the hands. The rhythm is as follows:

With this rhythm, you stretch out on the first half note, land on the third beat, then take two small steps forward, and on the third beat, bring your feet together and bend your knees slightly..

The name "Menu" means "small" and refers to these small steps. Perhaps the most famous minuet is Petzold's Minuet, previously said to be by Bach.

In the field of instrumental music, the minuet later developed into the scherzo.

Bizet: Minuet(From "Arlesian Woman" Suite No. 2)

The second suite of "Les Amours de Arles" was completed by Bizet's friend Ernest Guiraud in 1879, after his death. Guiraud was skilled in orchestration, and he also arranged other pieces in addition to "Les Amours de Arles."

The third piece, "Minuet," is so famous that it is synonymous with "Les Amours" (The Woman of Arles), but it is in fact a piece from Bizet's opera "Les Beauties of Perth," which Guiraud adapted and arranged. A beautiful melody unfolds for the flute and harp.

This is a minuet in modified rondo form in E-flat major, 2/3 time, A-A'-B-B'-CAB-A' (about XNUMX minutes).

ワルツ

Now, while the nobles were dancing the elegant minuet and the peasants were dancing the Ländler, a dance with greater closeness and greater movement. When the masters were not satisfied with the elegant minuet, they would burst into the servants' dance parties and enjoy this dance with greater closeness and greater movement. Then, the Ländler was transformed into a smoother dance by the city dwellers, which became the waltz.

By the way, weren't you taught that the waltz is performed with "boom-cha-cha, boom-cha-cha"? That's what I learned in elementary school in Japan. However, when you listen to Western musicians' performances, it sounds like the second step is longer, like "nchachacha." You can see why this is the case by looking at the steps of a waltz. The second step is longer. So you can't dance to "boom-cha-cha." I think you can see that it's important to understand the steps in order to understand the rhythm of dance.

Satie: Je te veu (I want you)

"Je te veux" (French: Je te veux) is a chanson composed by Erik Satie in 1900. It was originally one of the songs in the collection "Waltzes and Cafe Music", but is now better known for its piano solo version by Satie himself. The form is a waltz. (About 1 minutes)

Part 2: Let's play with musical instruments

Let's blow the bottle

Have you ever played with blowing bottles as a child? In fact, the principle of making a sound on a flute is the same as the principle of blowing a bottle. Today, I've brought along a variety of bottles. Let's all try blowing them together.

Let's pick up the flute and play it

Have you been able to make a sound from the bottle? If so, try playing the flute. I'm sure you'll hear a sound!

Part 3: Japanese songs

Michio Miyagi: Spring Sea

This piece is representative of new Japanese music and was composed at the end of 1930 in response to the imperial theme for the 1929 New Year's Poetry Festival, "Rocks by the Sea."

It is strongly influenced by Western music and is not traditional early modern Japanese music, but it retains a Japanese atmosphere, which is why it is still often performed today.

The melody was inspired by the beautiful scenery of Tomonoura in Fukuyama City, a scenic spot in the Seto Inland Sea where the composer lived and was raised by his grandparents before he became blind at the age of eight.

The whole song is about 7 minutes long, but today I'd like to introduce you to the most famous part of it (about 2 minutes).

Yumi Arai: Graduation photo

This hit song was released in 1975 by the chorus group "Hi-Fi Set."6However, while the girl hasn't changed at all since her graduation photo, the song contrasts her own self, swept away by the crowd and changing (probably not in a good way). The song is in 4/4 time, and the distinctive accented dotted note pattern on the second and fourth beats evokes nostalgia. (Approximately 2 minutes)

 

Nakamura Hachidai: Look Up and Keep Moving

This song was composed by Hachidai Nakamura in 1961 and sung by Kyu Sakamoto. The lyrics were written by Rokusuke Nagai, who passed away on July XNUMXth last year.

This song was a worldwide smash hit that topped the Billboard Hot 1963 chart for three consecutive weeks from June 6, 15. It remains the only song to ever top the charts, not just by a Japanese artist, but by an Asian artist. It has sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

Kyu Sakamoto's singing style was quite unique in the pop music world at the time. According to Rokusuke Nagai, the way he sings the opening line "Ue o muite" sounds like "Uhehomufuite" may be due to the influence of kouta and kiyomoto that he learned from his mother. (Approximately 3 minutes)

Yoko Kanno: Flowers Bloom

This charity song was created to support the physical and mental recovery of the areas affected by the Tohoku Pacific Ocean Earthquake (Great East Japan Earthquake) that occurred on March 2011, 3, and is used as the theme song for the "NHK Great East Japan Earthquake Project," a disaster relief project run by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) since 11. The lyrics were written by Shunji Iwai, a native of Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, and the music was composed by Yoko Kanno, also from the same city. (Approximately 2011 and a half minutes)

(Text: Natsuhiko Sakimura)

Artist Profile

Junko Sakimura

Graduated from the Department of Percussion Instruments at the Kunitachi College of Music. Studied marimba under Akiko Suzuki, Tomoko Kusakari, Shinichi Ueno, and Tomoyuki Okada. Studied cimbalom under Yasuko Kano. After graduation, she was active in performing, starting with a recital in 1990, including the Japanese premieres of Stravinsky's "The Fox" (Japanese version), Kurtág's "Stephen's Gravestone" and "Concertante", and Costello's "IL SONGO". Overseas, she represented Japan at the 3rd World Cimbalom Congress held in Slovakia (1995), appeared on Slovak TV, was featured in Pravda and other newspapers, and has performed in Germany, Switzerland, Canada, China, and other countries, receiving favorable reviews.

In addition to his collaborations with orchestras, the Saito Kinen Orchestra concert "Dutilleux/Mystery of a Moment" conducted by Seiji Ozawa was broadcast nationwide on NHK, and he has also performed with major orchestras such as the New Japan Philharmonic, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and the Nagoya Philharmonic. In addition to his activities outside of classical music, he was in charge of the background music for the Dai-ichi Life Insurance's social contribution activities TV commercial from 2008 to 2009, and participated in the album of singer-songwriter Shion Yukawa.

Home page:  https://www.cimbalom.net/

Natsuhiko Sakimura

Raised in Kenya, he studied flute at the Nairobi Conservatoire and won first place in the wind instruments category at the 1983 Kenya Music Competition.

Home page: https://www.sakimura.org/category/music/

 

footnote

  1. [Target] People who live, work, or study in the city

    [Capacity] 40 people (on a first-come, first-served basis)

    [Time] 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

    [Date] January 13th (Friday)

  2. JJ Quantz, Trio for Violin, Flute and Basso Continuo in E-flat major QV 2:18, handwritten scorehttp://hz.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/8/8d/IMSLP54821-PMLP113376-307126188.pdf> Sound sourcehttp://ml.naxos.jp/work/149860>

  3. JJ Quantz "Trio Sonata in G minor QV 2:35" (1734) handwritten scorehttp://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/2/25/IMSLP32925-PMLP75010-30666478X.pdf> Sound sourcehttp://ml.naxos.jp/work/1127518>

  4. Furthermore, QV 2:35 has a thematic similarity to JS Bach's Flute Sonata No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1030 (1736).
  5. Keiichi Kubota, CPE Bach Research (2000), Ongaku No Tomosha, p. 188
  6. There is also an interpretation that it refers to a teacher of the same sex from high school.

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