Noda, Ryo - Mai
Ryo Noda (b.1948) is a Japanese composer whose compositions are known for their effective melding of Japanese and Western art forms. As a young composer he studied with Arata Sakaguchi at the Osaka College of Music and was later mentored by prominent saxophonists such as Frederick Hemke and Jean-Marie Londeix. His writing for saxophone is as sophisticated as it is innovative, drawing on a range of extended techniques, but always applied in very musical contexts.
‘Mai’ can be roughly translated as ‘The Battle of the Ocean’, and is based on a poem from ‘Git de Heike’, a book chronicling the history of the Tairan warrior clan (c.1200AD). The poem speaks of death, ideologies and loss, telling the story of General Kiyotsun Taira, who faces a doomed maritime conflict. The music follows the story told in the poem:
At dusk of an Autumn evening,
As the moon reflects its silver light on the surface of the waves,
General Kiyotsun Taira plays his flute.
Standing at the bow of his ship,
He seizes his dagger and slices a braid(knot) from his head,
Places it by his feet,
And disappears into the sea.
At the threshold of his house,
The ghost of the Samurai appears.
Confronting him his wife asks:
“Why did you leave?”
“To save my army”, he answered...“Because I knew in advance that the battle was lost, and thus, I saved the lives of my men and their families”.
“And me”, she said, “Did you think of me”?
‘Mai’ can be roughly translated as ‘The Battle of the Ocean’, and is based on a poem from ‘Git de Heike’, a book chronicling the history of the Tairan warrior clan (c.1200AD). The poem speaks of death, ideologies and loss, telling the story of General Kiyotsun Taira, who faces a doomed maritime conflict. The music follows the story told in the poem:
At dusk of an Autumn evening,
As the moon reflects its silver light on the surface of the waves,
General Kiyotsun Taira plays his flute.
Standing at the bow of his ship,
He seizes his dagger and slices a braid(knot) from his head,
Places it by his feet,
And disappears into the sea.
At the threshold of his house,
The ghost of the Samurai appears.
Confronting him his wife asks:
“Why did you leave?”
“To save my army”, he answered...“Because I knew in advance that the battle was lost, and thus, I saved the lives of my men and their families”.
“And me”, she said, “Did you think of me”?