Tokuyama, Minako : Flying Birds
Work Overview
Genre：Various works
Total Playing Time：3 min 50 sec
Additional Notes：近日中に女声合唱版が販売予定。
Original/Related Work： Tokuyama, Minako 《Flying Birds》
Commentary (2)
Author : Sugiura, Nanako
Last Updated: March 26, 2020
[Open]
Author : Sugiura, Nanako
About the Piece
This work depicts the love of a mother bird watching over her young birds as they mature and leave the nest. It was performed as an encore at Kotaro Fukuma's recital "What the Phoenix Saw" at Suntory Hall Main Hall on October 11, 2017, and received a significant response. The score's opening bears the inscription "To My Sons," indicating that the composer, Mr. Tokuyama, wrote it for his children. The structure begins with a four-bar piano solo prelude, followed by section A, marked "Like a Journey," where a warm melody is sung alternately by clarinet and piano. After section D, "Reminiscence," which evokes a sense of inwardly replaying the past from A to C, the melody of the young birds finally takes flight in section E, "Soaring." The instrumentation includes versions for piano solo, clarinet and piano, violin and piano, and cello and piano.
Author : Sugiura, Nanako
Last Updated: March 26, 2020
[Open]
Author : Sugiura, Nanako
Performance Tips
Regarding the performance of the clarinet and piano version, the composer, Ms. Tokuyama, provided the following comments:
"Essentially, the clarinet represents the child, and the piano represents the mother. The prelude sets the atmosphere for the mother's mixed feelings of joy and loneliness after her child has left the nest. It can be played with a sense of ease and improvisation. From measure 12 to the second beat of measure 13, play in one breath. The more struggling the phrase sounds, the more it conveys the child's struggle to fly independently, making it more compelling. Around measure 26, the mother bird (piano) accompanies the flying fledgling, showing concern, but at measure 32, she stops chasing, and this is an important piano solo where she tells herself to let go of her child. From there, it leads into a reminiscence. At measure 46, she finally celebrates and rejoices with the fledgling that has made a magnificent flight, but in the mother's heart, a hint of lonely yet bright blue sky is visible."
The clarinet and piano version was arranged by the composer, Minako Tokuyama, based on the violin and piano version.
