1. IZUMI : Fountain
2. A Piece on Salad Days 1983
3. Norfolk Wind
4. A Dancer Unknown
In Greek mythology, "Europa", the first queen of Mediterranean Crete, is the birthplace of Western music and the etymology of Europe. Among my previous compositions, I collected four pieces of Western music suitable for a saxophone ensemble and made them into a suite. The source works include piano solo songs and piano trio styles with violin and cello, and all of the pieces have been transposed "semitone-up" for the saxophone. It is undeniable that all the pieces are influenced by the scents of European countries and the style of nationalists, but there are some that do not have a concrete image of which country it is. I would be grateful if you could understand each song as if you were traveling Eurasia based in Europe.
Because it is a suite with such a character, you can choose each individually. The style also has dance and popular music elements, so I believe you can have bold interpretations of tempo and dynamics.
1. IZUMI (Fountain) - Andante con amore
This is a piano work born from my fingertips like a fountain the moment I first touched FAZIOLI in Italy. Music that changes the color of the sound like the surface of the water swaying in the breeze by moving the inner voice little by little, which is likely to be found in Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Borodin, and Glazunov. Therefore, although it is a kind of chorale, I have another interpretation that the beat is 2/2 and the tempo is raised sharply. In that case, the tempo should be Allegretto or Moderato. An image can be of music echoing in the deep forest in the morning mist.
2. A Piece on Salad Days 1983 - Andante capriccioso
This is a small piece with the framework of a classical dance, which should have been written in 2/4. The theme is elegantly evoked as if a music box is set in motion, and the middle part is in the style of Intermezzo ballet. The saxophone’s reed tone harmonizes well, leading to a musset-like sound. The title means "greenhorn" in Japanese. I composed this at the age of 16-17 with a lack of experience. It is a whimsical (capriccioso) and fun piece sometimes described as a cooking show song from public TV.
3. Norfolk Wind
Adagio nobilmente
The whole green area, the endless English countryside and rural landscape. Nostalgia. What you hear from a distance like a flashback is a Celtic-style dance. In the high sky, at sunset, a chorale is sung to pray for the happiness of people.
4. A Dancer Unknown
Allegro misterioso, quasi celtic dance
A strange dance from a strange country you don't know which’s ethnic group in Europe. A simple three-part presentation part in which A of 7/4 time signature, which occupies most of the music, and B of 4/4 time signature are sandwiched by 8 bars. In the development department, after Alto snuggles up to the soprano's improvisational solo, an oriental festival-style fanfare occurs like a noise. The version of the latter part, which was recorded on CD by COLORS Yasuto Tanaka and Orita Nobotta with transcendental technique in the high register, is written as an Ossia score. Composed with the image of a woman (Spanish professional dancer) who dances alone innocently, as if to drown out the pain of a broken heart.
(Mitsuda Kenichi)
