for shamisen & voice, baroque flute, baroque violin, gamba, and harpsichord
duration: 9 minutes
premiere: March 8, 2020, at Miller Theatre, Columbia University, NYC
Glories of the Japanese Music Heritage XV
Ensemble Leonarda, Susan Graham, flute; Claire Smith Bermingham, violin; Adam Young, gamba; Nancy Kito, harpsichord; with Yoko Reikano Kimura, shamisen & voice
View of the entire concert here; A Glimpse at Dawn starts at 59:50 (see dropdown menu)
Preview performance at Opera America’s National Opera Center, March 2, 2020:
program note:
A Glimpse at Dawn (暁に ほのかに) is scored for baroque flute, baroque violin, bass viola da gamba, and harpsichord, surrounding a singing shamisen player. The Japanese text is by Otomae (1085?-1169), a charismatic singer of imayō, popular songs of her time.
仏は常にいませども 現ならぬぞあ われなる ⼈人の⾳音せぬ暁に ほのかに夢⾒見見 えたまふ
They say Lord Buddha’s everywhere, always with us, here and now,
yet sadly he’ll not show himself
in real life flesh and bones.
Only in dawn’s silent hours when human sounds all cease can we catch a glimpse of him in early morning dreams.
As I was writing, I imagined the Ensemble Leonarda musicians as the small, delicate bodhisattvas on clouds from Byodo-in temple in Kyoto (completed in 1053); many of these boddhisattvas play instruments.
A Glimpse at Dawn was commissioned by IMJS: Institute for Japanese Cultural Heritage Initiatives to celebrate the 400th Birthday of composer-nun Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704). It was written for Ensemble Leonarda and Yoko Reikano Kimura.
*English translation by Barbara Ruch, courtesy of IMJS: Institute for Japanese Cultural Heritage Initiatives: The Songs of Otomae Music Restoration Project.