Score
Commissioned 2023 by the Matsue Nishi High School Wind Ensemble. Responding to a request for a composition themed around Noh, I chose "Tomoe" as the subject.
The story begins with a monk from Kiso's mountain villages arriving at Awazu Plain near Lake Biwa in Omi Province (Shiga Prefecture, Japan) during his travels. There, in front of a pine tree shrine, he finds a woman weeping. When he inquires about her sorrow, she reveals that this is the place where Kiso no Yoshinaka is worshipped as a deity, and she herself is a ghost, before vanishing from sight. Later, the villagers explain to the monk that the weeping spirit must have been Tomoe, a female warrior who served Yoshinaka.
As the monk offers prayers, the spirit of Tomoe appears in full armor. She recounts the last battle at Awazu Plain and laments her inability to die in battle alongside Yoshinaka simply because she was a woman. She pleads for a memorial service and then disappears.
In composing this piece, I aimed to capture Tomoe's affection for Yoshinaka, the bravery in battle, their final parting, the sorrow of not being able to die together despite Yoshinaka's kindness, and ultimately, the purification of her spirit. I hope that the performance will reflect the delicacy unique to a small ensemble.
(Tomohito Matsushita)
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