Mashima Toshio

Les 3 Notes Du Japon

This suite, written for the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, consists of three pieces of music that express my Japanism. It is composed in Western scale and harmony for Western musical instruments, and the title means 'three pieces of Japanism'. The first tune, 'La danse des grues', portrays the courtship of Tancho Cranes. These cranes show a beautiful contrast of white feather-covered bodies, red heads and accents of black feathers. A male bird calls 'coo', then a female answers 'coo-coo'. Descriptive flaps and calls are heard in the middle of the tune. The second tune, 'La rivière enneigée', describes a scene of a snow and a river ravine in winter. The third tune, 'La fête du feu', is a collage of summer festivals from regions of Japan. The middle part presents scenery of high summer in Japan, followed by drums sounding the rhythms of the Nebuta Festival in Aomori, hometown of my mother. This suite was premiered on April 27, 2001 by the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, conducted by Douglas Bostock, and performed in Germany and Switzerland the following month of May.