The Japan Federation of Composers Inc. Country Report
“Hourglass sand falls” by Yoshihiro Kanno (World Premiered in ''Japanese Composers 2023'' on October 10th, 2023)
~Chamber music featuring marimba: its evolution in Japan ~
On October 10th, 2023, “2023 Japanese Composers” was held by JFC (The Japan Federation of Composers Inc.) at Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall.
Six new works were world premiered by The Cepheus Quintet; a group consisting of flutist Kanako Tachikawa, clarinettist Akiko Kato (Natsuko Tsutsumi until 2020), marimbist Yoko Shinozaki, percussionist Ayano Saito, and double bassist Kotaro Tanaka.
At that concert, the work by Yoshihiro Kanno, “Hourglass sand falls” was performed. I would like to introduce this work, its consistent repetition of sound patterns reminds us of the driving force of time, just like the title.
Another reason for choosing work from this concert is the instrumentation of the "Cepheus
Quintet.” This special instrumentation has been developed and inherited over the past 50 years in Japan's contemporary music scene. Now it has become a new standard of contemporary Japan. In order to introduce this new standard, I have to start by talking about the virtuoso marimbist, Keiko Abe's achievement.
Keiko Abe gave three solo recitals in 1968,1969, and 1971, where the entire program was
commissioned by her. This was the world's first marimba recital that only consisted of world
premieres. Works premiered here include Yasuo Sueyoshi's ''Mirage'' and Akira Miyoshi's
“Concerto pour Marimba et ensemble à cordes” which are now performed around the world. In order to establish the status of marimba, which had only recently entered the classical world, she believed that a repertoire of not only solo but also chamber music and concerto were necessary. Her recital programs always included new chamber music pieces, including marimba. As a result, musicians with the same aspirations as Abe began to perform together with the marimba, then a trend of contemporary chamber music including marimba was born. In such situation, a chamber music group with a unique instrumentation was formed through interaction between musicians who share the same value. This was the birth of the Tokyo Quintet . Many new works were composed for the Tokyo Quintet(1), starting with Akira Miyoshi's “Nocturne”. The ''Tokyo Quintet'' was formed not through musical instruments but through human connections, but as the group progressed, the number of works composed for them, and the expansion of the repertoire gave rise to the second generation group. That was The Pleiades Quintet(2) , formed in 1979. Composers of the same generation as the the Pleiades Quintet, such as Teruaki Suzuki, wrote works for this instrumentation, and have further expanded their work list. The third generation is the aforementioned Cepheus Quintet.
It is extremely rare for an instrumentation formed by like-minded musicians to become an
independent classical instrumentation, much like a string quartet or piano trio. This is due to the history of attempts by our predecessors. So, what should we do, as composers working with the third-generation Cepheus Quintet, in a country with a history of developing marimba in contemporary music? The accommodation of new instrument and the search for new sounds, which has continued since the last century, continues to this day. I would like to introduce Yoshihiro Kanno's “Hourglass sand falls”, which was written to advance that path, as part of the contemporary Japanese music scene.
Mariko Endo
(1)
Tokyo Quintet: Ryu Noguchi (fl.), Motoe Miyajima (cl.), Keiko Abe (mar.), Makoto Aruga (perc.), Masahiko Tanaka (later replaced by Mitsushi Murakami) (cb.)
(2)
Pleiades Quintet: Takashi Endo (fl.), Makoto Chiba (cl.), Takayoshi Yoshioka (mar.), Masahiro Kurokawa (later replaced by Akiko Yamamoto) (perc.), Naoto Otomo (later replaced by Keizo Mizoiri, Hiroshi Ikematsu, and Minoru Yamazaki) (cb.).