Five Sketches

Composer: Tatsuya Tanaka
Lyricist: Kazue Shinkawa

Words from composer:

This piece was commissioned by Choir Wawon (4th term female choir) and premiered at the Tokyo Spring Chorus Contest in 2014.

This work uses Kazue Shinkawa’s “Watashi wo Tabanenaide” (Don’t Bind Me) as the text, with each stanza having its own independent character. The title “Five Sketches” was inspired by the fact that these pieces are not completely independent like a choral suite (the whole piece is supposed to be performed in concert), and that they are composed for three voices without a div. The opening verse of each series, “Don’t do this to me,” is accompanied by a fourth-degree chord, which is presented as a symbol of “freedom” wishing for liberation. It is a work that can be sung by any size of choir, and I would be happy if it could be performed on various occasions.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the conductor, Mr. Sohei Miyoshi, who gave me many suggestions from the idea of the work to the conducting of the premiere performance, and the members of the Choir Wawon.