*2023 stock* "I composed this piece in 2011 on a commission for the concert "Sonorous Solitude / Hidehiko Watase Solo Flute Recital," produced by image/air_ (Ippei Hosokoshi). The conditions were that the piece should be as long as possible and written for baritone (Homei Kamie) and flauto traverso (Hidehiko Watase), and that I could use any lyrics I liked. Simply put, the flauto traverso is an ancestor of the contemporary flute. First, Watase-san told me about the instrument's characteristics. I was very interested in its special qualities, which are quite different from those of an ordinary flute, and made a point of incorporating these merits in the composition. In particular, I made extensive use of a playing technique that causes the sound to waver slightly in a ripple-like way. (This is possible with a normal flute, too, but I think that with the traverso it produces a more direct, profound feeling.)
As for the lyrics, just when I was thinking of writing a piece with the ocean as its theme—partly because the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami had happened that year—I came across "Andersen's Swan Song," a serial tanka poem written by a young Kenji Miyazawa. This tanka was based on "Twenty-eighth Evening" in Hans Christian Andersen's "A Picture-book without Pictures." In this short story, written from the moon's point of view, a swan that seems to be tired from its journey glides down to a moonlit ocean at night, floats on the surface, and resumes its flight when the sun comes up. In the music I depicted the scene in a general way through long solo parts on flauto traverso and a song performed by the baritone in between. Another important focus was exploring the power of the actual intertwining of sound and words. I also hoped, in composing this piece, that it would create a space that deviates slightly from everyday life and produce a palpable feeling of a place seldom seen, combining repose and anxiety—just like an ocean where a swan would come down to rest.
Sadly, Homei Kamie, who sang in the premiere of this piece, passed away in 2015. This CD is dedicated to his memory." - Masamichi Kinoshita
