Minoru Miki Selected Works I

Miki Minoru
Camerata - 32CM-54
1988

Pista	Título	Kanji	Longitud	Artista
1	Dance Konserutanto Dai Ichiban Shiki	〈四季〉ダンス・コンセルタント I	04'49	Shakuhachi: Miyata Kōhachirō Koto: Miyamoto Sachiko Koto: Nosaka Keiko Shamisen: Sugiura Hirokazu
	Japan's seasons are rich in variety. Composer Miki's diverse sense impressions have been painted sometimes lyrically, sometimes rhythmically, in a light work well-suited to the enthusiastic amateur. This 1973 work was put together from elements taken from dance music written between 1956 and 1972. The movements 'Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter' are followed immediately by a lively epilogue. The epilogue's rhythmic ostinato serves as backdrop for an improvised cadenza by the percussionists.
2	Dance Konserutanto Dai Ichiban Shiki	〈四季〉ダンス・コンセルタント I	03'06	Shakuhachi: Miyata Kōhachirō Koto: Miyamoto Sachiko Koto: Nosaka Keiko Shamisen: Sugiura Hirokazu
3	Dance Konserutanto Dai Ichiban Shiki	〈四季〉ダンス・コンセルタント I	03'04	Shakuhachi: Miyata Kōhachirō Koto: Miyamoto Sachiko Koto: Nosaka Keiko Shamisen: Sugiura Hirokazu
4	Dance Konserutanto Dai Ichiban Shiki	〈四季〉ダンス・コンセルタント I	10'41	Shakuhachi: Miyata Kōhachirō Koto: Miyamoto Sachiko Koto: Nosaka Keiko Shamisen: Sugiura Hirokazu
5	Hote	巨火	29'32	Shakuhachi: Miyata Kōhachirō Koto: Miyamoto Sachiko Koto: Nosaka Keiko Shamisen: Sugiura Hirokazu
	This 1976 composition by Minoru Miki represents the grandest work yet produced for Nihon Ongaku Shudan (The Nipponia), both in length and instrumentation. Four percussionists are surrounded on stage by sixteen - nineteen string and wind players, with the downstage-leftmost drummer serving as conductor. There are solo sections for twenty-string koto, percussion. The first part of the work aims to capture the feeling of the ceremonials surrounding ancestor worship, while the concluding part depicts a wild festival. In this concluding (third) section, the exciting drum rhythms of the festivals of the Chichibu region form the backdrop against which the other players must exert all of their physical and technical resources, now singly now in groups, to bring the flame to a full blaze.
6	Wa	わ	17'41	Shakuhachi: Miyata Kōhachirō Koto: Miyamoto Sachiko Koto: Nosaka Keiko Shamisen: Sugiura Hirokazu
	This work was written in 1976 especially for the US-Canada tour by the Shudan Nipponia which took place from February 16th to March 19th of this year. Premier performance was given at 16 different places including Carnegie Hall. Performers included: Kohachiro Miyata/shakuhachi, Hirokazu Sugiura/sangen, Ayako Handa/biwa, Kelko Nosaka/20-string koto, Sachiko Miyamoto/17-string bass koto, Minoru Miki/ percussion. Every Japanese syllable has many possible meanings, depending on the context in which the word is used the Chinese characters actually employed. The title, "Wa" likewise is an agglomeration of various meanings associated with this sound. These include: 1. peace, harmony, totality; 2. a circle, a ring, a link, a wheel; 3. as an interjection, Oh! in the sense of one being surprised; 4. Japan. The instruments shakuhachi, shamisen, 20-string koto, percussion (shimedaiko, binzasara, kane etc.) are representative of Japanese traditional instruments. Both the prelude, where the instruments are employed at random, and the rhythmic second half have been written improvisatorially. Furthermore, despite the differences in the "atmosphere" between the two, the style of the joint performance, based on heterophyony is consistent throughout the entire work.