Contemporary PANUFNIK Zen Love Song from Wild Ways for Ji-nashi Shakuhachi (in D and A) and Double Choir
Choral Score
No. 72220 Nennen korori yo okorori yo, Bōya wa yoi ko da nenne shi na. Crimson cheeks, light-colored hair, full of compassion and love. Lost in a dream of love play, I contemplate her beauty. Her thousand eyes of great mercy look upon all but see no one beyond redemption. This goddess can even be a fi sherman’s wife by a river or sea, singing of salvation. When we parted, it broke my heart; Her powdered cheeks were more beautiful than spring fl owers. My lovely miss is now with another, Singing the same love song but to a different tune.
Ikkyū Sōyun (1394-1491) trans. John Stevenson In 2005, ji-nashi shakuhachi player Kiku Day approached me to write a piece for her, as part of her mission to increase the use of the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo fl ute) in Western classical music. When she played to me, its warmth and huskiness seemed so spookily like a human voice that I decided an a cappella double choir setting of words would best complement it. Kiku also found me the wild and wonderful poems of Ikkyū Sōyun, a 15th Century Zen master whose timeless words cover the entire gamut of human emotion and are beautifully translated by John Stevenson.
For Zen Love Song, I have used a beautiful and poignant Japanese lullaby called “Edo Komoriuta” (meaning “Lullaby from Edo”, the old name for Tokyo) as a backdrop to two of Ikkyū’s highly romantic and sensual poems. The lullaby is sung in Japanese and the words depict the loss of a little boy’s beloved nurse- maid who has gone back to her home. This chimes with how Ikkyū feels at the loss of his true love to another man.
PERFORMANCE NOTES
The shakuhachi is a relatively quiet instrument so I would recommend position- ing the choir at the very back of the performance space and the shakuhachi at the front, as close as possible to the audience. S/he can be at the side and slightly turned towards the choir and the conductor. Even more preferable would be some moderate amplifi cation – e.g. Shure SM57 mic, Joe Meek VCQ pre-amp, and a M-Audio Studiofi le BX5 speaker to output the sound into the audience. Soloists should sing with choir when not singing their solos.
Pronunciation: Kyoh Un - “Kyoh oon”
Nennen korori yo okorori yo, Nen-nen Ko-ro-ree yo o-ko-ro-ree yo (the o short as in “cot”) Bōya wa yoi ko da nenne shi na. Bo-yuh wuh o-ee ko duh nen-ne shee nuh. (the a as in French “chat”) for Kiku Day and the Nonsuch Singers Zen Love Song from Wild Ways WORDS BY IKKYŪ SŌYUN, TRANSLATED BY JOHN STEVENSON ROXANNA PANUFNIK
Gently q = 60 solo mp Soprano Solo Nen -nnnen - ko- ro - ri yo, okoro-ri- yo, ("Edo Komoriuta" - lullaby "in" mode)
Soprano 1
Alto 1
Tenor 1
Bass 1
Shakuhachi
Gently q = 60
Soprano 2
Alto 2
Tenor 2
Baritone Solo
Bass 2 Edition Peters No. 72220 © Copyright 2007 by Hinrichsen Edtion, Peters Edition Limited, London 2
6 S. Solo bō - ya wa yo- i ko da nen -ne shi na
shakuhachi in A Shak. p
10 pp S. Solo na
p S1 na
Shak. mp
10 p S2 Nen - 3
14 p S1 Nen -nnnen - ko- ro - ri yo, oko-
p A1 Nen -nnnen - ko- ro - ri yo,
mp T1 Crim-son cheeks,
Shak. mf
14 S2 nen- nn ko- ro - ri yo, okoro-ri-
p A2 Nen -nnnen - ko- ro - ri yo,
mp T2 light co- loured hair, 4
17 mf S. Solo Nen -nnnen -
p S1 -riro - yo, bō - ya wa
A1 oko-ri ro- yo,
T1 full of com- pas- sion and love.
mp B1 full of com- pas- sion and love.
mf Shak.
17 p S2 yo, bō - ya wa yo- i
A2 oko-ri ro- yo, bō - ya
T2 full of com- pas- sion and love.
mp B2 full of com- pas- sion and love. PANUFNIK Zen Love Song from Wild Ways Edition Peters No. 72220 The The (Chor Schola Powers für den für Daniel Westminster Abraham – for Daniel Hope – , a Shakespeare sonnet Westminster Mass Schola Missa de Angelis Abraham lem under Valery Gergiev; Gergiev; Valery under lem für Patricia Rozario und die City of ; das Violinkonzert , ein Zyklus Shakespeare-Sonetten von (choir of London of (choir Oratory School and brass Beastly Tales , commissioned the BBC by for Patricia Rozario ; violin concerto The Generation of Love of Generation The , written Cathedral for Westminster Choir mark to which exists also as an overture for the World Orchestra for Peace, premiered in Jerusa Roxanna Panufnik Roxanna studied Academy at the Royal 1968) of Roxanna Panufnik (b. Music, and has written opera, music ballet, theatre, choral, chamber and film works include music. Key Mass Seth’s Vikram of settings and birthday, 75th Hume’s Cardinal Beastly Tales and the City London of Sinfonia; harp concerto & Dominions Missa de Angelis and octet); cycle (MarkRichard Julius Drake). Padmore, Watkins, Roxanna Panufnik (*1968) studierte an der Academy Royal Musicof und schuf Ballett Kompositionen für und Oper, und Filmmusik. Kammer- Zu ihrenMusiktheater sowie Chor-, wichtigsten Werken gehören: die Westminster Cathedral Choir, entstanden zum 75. Geburtstag entstanden Cathedral zum 75. Westminster Choir, des Londoner Erzbischofs Kardinal Vertonungen Hume; nach Seths Vikram London Sinfonia, ein Auftragswerk das der Harfenkonzert BBC; Powers & Dominions Hope, das auch als Ouvertüre für das World Orchestra for Peace existiert und in dieser Form Valery unter Gergiev in Jerusalem uraufgeführt wurde; Love of Generation (Mark Richard Julius Drake). Padmore, Watkins, der London Oratory School und Blechbläseroktett) sowie
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