ABSTRACT
This work1 was written by the Japanese composer, Makoto Shinohara (born in 1931, currently residing in Utrecht, The Netherlands) for koto, voice, and various percussion instruments: Chinese shell chimes, Japanese bamboo chimes, urchin chimes from The Philippines, two high-pitched wooden boards or boxes and two stone plates (various pitches). The koto player, who plays the percussion part and is equipped with two sets of koto plectra, a pair of rubber, wooden and plastic sticks and one cembalom stick, is expected to perform the vocal part as well, although this work may also be performed as a duo. The duration, due to the use of visual notation, has no fixed length. A sum of the called-for time lengths is 6’20”, yet performances have lasted up to 7*20”.
