Toshi-kurezu

Composer's note:

Toshi kurezu is a suite of pieces inspired by Buson's Haïku cycle. With the exception of the last one, these haiku are linked by the theme of water. It is the feeling of each of the paintings evoked by the poet that I have tried to translate into music. This led me to look for important contrasts in the sequences of the pieces, such as the one found by linking the "undulating dance of the sea" to "the dew falling from the bamboos" or the evocation of the probe, the flute drowned by the sound of the waves to that of the "winter river carrying the flowers offered to Buddha".

Beyond this source of inspiration brought to me by Buson's Haïku, this composition also refers to several aspects of traditional Japanese music, among others, the use of typical modal scales, the evocation of melodies played by the shakuhachi or the use of the harmonies of the shô. Of course, this is a contemporary composition in the Western way, but it is impregnated and coloured by all kinds of elements that come from Japanese musical traditions.

Finally, of all the Haïku I selected for this composition, it is the last one that touched me the most: Buson pays homage to his colleague Bashô by writing that "without him from now on the year will have no end". Because that is what it is all about. The beauty of nature is eternal, just like the work of Bashô or Buson who continue and will always continue to enlighten our human existence.