The debut album from the Tokyo-based duo of Rie Takeuchi (baritone saxophone) and Gideon Juckes (tuba)
Top Ten Album of 2020 (Far Side Radio, London)
Nominated for Best Solo Album, 2020 4Bars Rest Awards
Download includes bonus artwork and photos.
Music for Isolation
"This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes."
いまは歩みを緩め
壁の傍にじっとたたずむ
厳しい雨風が通り過ぎるまで
(excerpt from Benedictus by John O'Donoghue)
↓ Liner Notes ライナーノート ↓
1. The Black Heath
Blackheath, a beautiful large open green space in the South East of London. They say that in June 1348, it was used as a mass burial pit for the victims of the Black Death pandemic. Local government dismiss this as untrue, however it is undisputed that the dead from the 1497 Battle of Blackheath are buried there. Sometimes, early in the morning, hundreds of black crows can be seen, sitting motionless on the heath.
A triple time hornpipe from the North West of England, first collected in the 18th century. Who was John of the Green?
18世紀に北西イングランドで発見された、船乗りのダンス音楽です。大きな2拍で作られることが多い中、この曲は大きな3拍。珍しいリズムが特徴です。
ところでJohn of the Greenとは一体誰なんだろう?
3. Tatlagiin Kholboo
The Mongolian composer J.Mend-Amar collected the traditional music of Western Mongolia (Tatlaga) and composed this piece in 1992.
This beautiful song is traditionally performed on the morin khuur, a Mongolian folk instrument.
Very little is known of the life of Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (circa 1640-1700). The celebrated French master of the viola da gamba perhaps led a reclusive life, but he left behind a fascinating body of work, and his influence remains great to this day.
Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (1640?-1700)の生涯についてはほとんど知られていません。この著名なフランスのヴィオラ・ダ・ガンバの父は、隠居生活…まるでstayed at home、isolationのためにひきこもり、おうち時間を過ごす私たちのような生活を送っていたと思われますが、彼は多くの魅力的な作品を遺し、今日まで数々の音楽家に影響を与え続けています。
5. Iomante Rimse
This traditional dance of the Ainu people of Northern Japan is used as part of a ceremony to send the soul of a bear on its way after death.
As a hunting people, the Ainu honour many animals, and especially bears, which are closely related to their lives. With this song, they perform a grand ceremony, helping to send its soul back to the world of God.
The “falling asleep” of Mary the Mother of God and her resurrection before ascending to Heaven. Composed by the English composer John Tavener (1944-2013).
Written by the German theologian, school principal, and hymn writer Joachim Neander (1650-1680). He wrote over 60 hymns before succumbing to tuberculosis at the age of 30.
In 17th century Japan, after the prohibition decree proclaimed by the Tokugawa Shogunate, Christians continued to practise their religion in secret.
One of the prayer songs which has been passed down to the present day is “Gururiyoza”. This is based on the Spanish chant “O Gloriosa Domina”, and is still sung to this day in the city of Nagasaki.
Naturally, the two songs have a close relationship, and are brought together here, creating a new song about the long journey from Spain to Japan.
Tokyo-based duo of Rie Takeuchi (baritone saxophone) & Gideon Juckes (tuba)
★★★★ “a
thoroughly absorbing experience…gently resolute in its dark tonality even as it releases you ever further from a tethered sense of time and place. The tracks echo with haunting thoughts of loss and faded memories…superbly realised”
(Iwan Fox, 4barsrest) ...more
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