Urijin-quêna

Digital Score ONLY (currently this is only for participants of the 6th Tokyo International Choir Competition)

Composer：Naoko Zukeran

Words from composer

Urijin (Urizun) is an old Okinawan word for early summer. The original meaning is “moisten and soak(Uruoi Shimu).” In the season, when the earth is moistened, and everything is nurtured by its water, the thread is made by extracting the fiber from the soft ramie(Choma) stalks. This piece is a song of such beauty. Quêna is a song for praying to God for wishes, and it was sung in Shuri during the Ryukyu era. The original song, with 27 lines of lyrics, details how women weave cloth for their brothers and husbands and make them into kimonos, but it has also been passed down as a song of prayer for their safe voyage. So weaving is also a woman’s “form of prayer.” Please sing while imagining the scene of producing thread with a spinning wheel and weaving fabric. I would be happy if you could freely express and sing the many melismatic parts.