This piece is a reduced instrumentation version of "Nobunaga," which I originally wrote in 2007.

It is said that during Nobunaga's era, Western music was introduced to Japan for the first time, making him one of the first warlords to experience Western music. Although it is unclear which specific piece he heard, there is a theory suggesting it might have been Josquin des Prez's "Mille Regretz," a piece widely favored in the West at the time. As you may know, Nobunaga was a significant patron of Christianity, but as history unfolded, this support eventually led to tragic persecution, the isolationist policy of sakoku, and the relegation of Western music to an underground culture until Japan reopened to the West during the Meiji Restoration. This context inspired the concept of this piece, looking at Western music history (broadly speaking) and Japanese culture.

This theme is also carried over to my work "Chingis Khan." The piece unifies around melodic motifs derived from "Mille Regretz," based on a mix of church modes and the pentatonic scale. It aims to reflect Nobunaga's determination and the tribulations of acceptance through varying modal balance and shifts in color.

(Eiji Suzuki)