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TRIBUTE'S MIX OF CULTURES UNLEASHES STIRRING SOUNDS FROM EAST AND WEST
Boston Globe
May 30, 2005
May 30, 2005
by Kevin Lowenthal
The concert opener, the world premiere of Ueno's “Kaze-no-Oka (Hill of the Winds)” (2005), featured Japanese masters Kifu Mitsuhashi on shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and Yukio Tanaka on biwa (Japanese lute).
The piece began with the orchestra alone. Dense, slowly shifting microtonal sound-masses — earthy rumblings against ethereal chord-clouds — painted a vast, brooding aural landscape.
The shakuhachi and biwa kept quiet until the orchestra faded. Then, like a cinematic far-shot cutting to an intimate close-up, Mitsuhashi and Tanaka began a hushed, urgent colloquy, their nuanced brush strokes stark against silence.
The piece began with the orchestra alone. Dense, slowly shifting microtonal sound-masses — earthy rumblings against ethereal chord-clouds — painted a vast, brooding aural landscape.
The shakuhachi and biwa kept quiet until the orchestra faded. Then, like a cinematic far-shot cutting to an intimate close-up, Mitsuhashi and Tanaka began a hushed, urgent colloquy, their nuanced brush strokes stark against silence.