In this dreamlike world

Composer: Ayako Meida
Words from composer

Approximately 200 years ago, in the autumn of 1827 (the 10th year of the Bunsei era), a young Buddhist nun named Teishinni walked nearly 20 kilometers to seek guidance from the revered monk Ryokan (1758–1831), who lived as a hermit in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture. Teishinni composed a poem expressing that her long-awaited encounter with the master she so deeply admired felt like a dream come true. In response, Ryokan replied in verse — that in this world, nothing unfolds so neatly as in a dream, and all things are fleeting… yet may the dream you speak of never fade, and remain a dream forever.

These are somonka — love poems exchanged between two people — that have transcended time and endured to this day. This choral work was crafted to paint the graceful and beautiful world of Japanese waka poetry as if drawing with a brush in ink. The first section soars with the disciple’s (Teishinni’s) longing, reverence, and welling elation toward her master (Ryokan). A transitional passage (B) serves as a bridge connecting the two, leading through a key change into the latter section (C), where Ryokan’s serene, unattached state of enlightenment is given voice. The work closes not with a simple tonic chord, but with a polytonal sonority — mysterious and ethereal — evoking a sense of touching the profound depths of a realm not easily reached.

It is my sincere hope that this piece will be sung by people not only in Japan, but across many countries and regions around the world.