Composed in March 2010, this version done in April 2011.
chamber work
Story behind the song
Originally written for flute (or shakuhachi), 2 shamisen, biwa, 6 koto, piano (synthesizer) and Japanese percussions.
Name of this work means in Japanese "transient, flowing world" which is one of basic themes of the classical Japanese art. I have tried to find similar spirit in Western art, especially Moravian folk songs, so this music is my attempt for a synthesis of Japanese and Western music as well. Despite so far distance of both cultures there are common elements and similar moods and feelings which I wanted to proof.
I have used well known Japanese song "Sakura sakura" and Moravian love ballad "Ej lasko lasko" (Oh love) - both try to express a sadness from irreversible flowing of time and from fugitiveness of all beauty (blossoming sakura trees, or feeling of love). I did structural variations using common elements of both songs found by statistical analysis of intervallic patterns. Melodies are mirrored, deformed modally, atomized to Markoff chains of different length, harmonized, interpolated, combined, their features are crossed, metrics and rhythm are changed, and more. Time flow is symbolized by "sound fog" made by minimalism diatonic patterns with rich polyrhythmics, this element returns more times as a ritornel. Piano plays in the beginning and the end also imitation of bells.