裏を見せ
表を見せて
散る紅葉
ura wo mise
omote wo misete
chiru momiji
showing its back
showing its front
maple leaf falls
about
These songs were composed for a recital that also included Samuel Barber’s famous Hermit Songs. Since the Barber texts were written by medieval Irish hermits, I chose to set texts that were also written by a hermit, but in a different part of the world.
The hermit whose texts I used here was Ryōkan Taigu (良寛大愚, 1758–1831), a Japanese monk who was also a well-known haiku poet. Following Japanese tradition, I set the poems in seasonal order, ending with Ryōkan’s death poem, as follows:
Winter: 1 and 2
Spring: 3 and 4
Summer: 5 and 6
Autumn: 7–9
Fran & Flora’s waltzing traditional folk music is breathtaking in its minimalism, with guitar and violin twirling gently. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 24, 2019
Gabriel Kahane is often compared to Sufjan Stevens and Rufus Wainwright (both of whom he’s collaborated with in the past). It’s a lot to live up to, but to that already high bar I’ll add Ben Folds and Randy Newman, if only for Kahane’s similar sense of musical theatre, playful storytelling and ability to set … Continue reading Album of the Week: Where are the Arms → Bandcamp Album of the Day Dec 19, 2011