European American Music Distributors Company is a member of the Schott Music Group

Zen-On Releases New Publications of Works by Joe Hisaishi, Daisuke Kitaguchi, Shin-ichiro Ikebe, Kenji Sakai, and Norio Fukushi

Apr. 12, 2024

On April 15, Zen-On will release six new publications by Joe Hisaishi, Daisuke Kitaguchi, Shin-ichiro Ikebe, Kenji Sakai, and Norio Fukushi.

The first two publications include Selections from The Film “Quartet” for string quartet and Five Melodies from “Nausicaä of The Valley of The Wind” for cello and piano by Joe Hisahishi. 


Five Melodies from “Nausicaä of The Valley of TheWind”/Shohei Uwamori, cello/Hiroaki Ooi, piano

Another exciting release is Daisuke Kitaguchi's transcription of J.S. Bach's Goldberg-Variations (BWV 988) for cello solo. Kitaguchi shares the inspiration behind his transcription which he undertook from 2017-2023:

"[Bach's] six unaccompanied cello suites bring together three voices — two upper voices and a bass — into one line. If so, the Goldberg Variations, which have the same structure, might also be reproduced for unaccompanied cello. This sudden idea led me to the arrangement of the piece.

Of course, it is impossible to reproduce every single note, but I aimed to arrange it in a way that all the notes would sound in our mind. When combining the three lines into one, the most crucial consideration was, "What would Bach do?"

I carefully read materials and scores, repeatedly listened to recordings, performed my arrangement in concerts, and revised it over and over. That time was not painful, but pure joy, and it was a time to immerse myself in 'being Bach.' It is no exaggeration to say that it was more a time of recreation rather than arrangement.

The articulations and slurs are fundamentally based on the facsimile of the first edition (the edition by Anne Fuzeau Productions) that Bach himself owned. It is a highly credible edition with corrections in red written by Bach."

Kitaguchi premiered his transcription on December 8, 2020 in a recital at Osaka's Muramatsu Recital Hall. To celebrate the publication, he will perform the work on tour throughout Japan: on April 16 in Tokyo, April 22 in Fukuoka, May 9 in Osaka, and May 12 in Nagoya.

Shin-ichiro Ikebe's Beyond This Wind for orchestra was commissioned by Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa who premiered it on September 8, 2018 under the baton of Hubert Soudant. Ikebe notes: 

"‘Wind’ here is not intended to refer to the meteorological phenomenon but rather to embrace a whole range of concepts bearing on the form and orientation of events. Prefacing the noun with ‘this’ refers to the specific wind blowing in the environment in which we live and to the direction in which it is blowing. In what sort of world will we be living in the future?

The eighth movement of my Symphony XI (2013) is an instrumental realization of a line from a poem by Hiroshi Osada that reads 'Kōfuku wa nan da to omou ka' (‘What is our happiness?’). The motif encapsulating this line appears also in the present work in bar 176 as well as in my Symphony X (2015) and Symphony XI (2023). It has served as a kind of leitmotif for me ever since the devastating earthquake that struck north-eastern Japan on March 11, 2011.

This work was composed for Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa to commemorate the orchestra’s thirtieth anniversary in 2018. It was first performed by them under the baton of Hubert Soudant at a memorial concert for Hiroyuki Iwaki, the great musician who founded the orchestra. It has subsequently been performed under the direction of conductors including Masaru Kumakura and again by Hubert Soudant."

Commissioned by City of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Kenji Sakai's Viola Concerto “Historia” was premiered on October 20, 2019 at Kyoto Concert Hall, under the baton of Junichi Hirokami and featuring violist Koichi Komine. Sakai explains: "My viola concerto “Historia” is a work that attempts to transcend the classical concept of the concerto as a genre featuring a solo instrument and accompaniment with the aim of expanding the expressive possibilities that can be deduced therefrom. I have striven also to reinterpret traditional musical language, with the modern-sounding viola solo at the start of the work actually being based on a four-part chorale. The manner in which the music gradually spreads from the solo to pervade the orchestra as a whole has the effect of disguising the relationship between solo and accompaniment. Glimpses of harmonic progressions in the German and French Romantic styles, the gradual transition from simple harmony to noise-orientated expression, and the use of harmony based on natural harmonics are elements of the wide-ranging musical vocabulary employed in the piece. The song delivered by the solo viola amidst a variety of styles associated with different eras has an aloof and detached character, with the instrument conveying the impression of a time machine travelling over the entire breadth of musical history."

Norio Fukushi's WHAT IS IT? for voice and piano was commissioned by Seiichiro Sato and recorded by Takashi Matsudaira and Masanobu Shinoda on August 30, 2023. Fukushi notes: "Having received a commission from the bass-baritone Seiichirō Satō in 2018, I started by writing a succession of enigmatic words. It initially seemed trivial and childlike, but the piece gained a clear orientation once I had completed the song text. The piece can be performed by either male or female voices, and there is a somewhat weird passage in the middle of the piece which calls for the use of falsetto with no indication of pitch. This is a light-hearted piece and should be enjoyed as such."

To learn more about  Joe Hisaishi, Daisuke Kitaguchi, Shin-ichiro Ikebe, Kenji Sakai, and Norio Fukushi and their works, visit: zen-on.co.jp.

Joe Hisaishi
Selections from The Film “Quartet”
  Quartet g-moll
  Black Wall
  Student Quartet
  Melody Road (Medley from My Neighbor TOTORO, HANA-BI, Kids Return)
  Beach Quartet
  Passacaglia (for solo violin)
Preview the score

Five Melodies from “Nausicaä of The Valley of The Wind”
for cello and piano
Preview the score

Daisuke Kitaguchi
Goldberg-Variations BWV 988 (J.S. Bach)
transcription for cello solo by Daisuke Kitaguchi
Preview the score

Shin-ichiro Ikebe
Beyond This Wind 
for orchestra 
2(2.pic).2.2.2-2.2.0.0-timp-2perc:tam-t/tamb/sus.cym/BD/tom-t/marac/tgl/SD/flex/vib/glock/mar-hp-str
12'
Preview the score

Kenji Sakai
Viola Concerto “Historia”
for solo viola and orchestra
2(2.pic).2(2.eh).2.2-2.2.0.0-timp-2perc-hp-str(12-10-8-6-4), solo va
14'
Preview the score

Norio Fukushi
WHAT IS IT?
for voice and piano
2.5'
Preview the score

News