Norio Fukushi: Seigai-Ha
Norio Fukushi (b. 1945) studied at Tokyo University of the Arts and in France, where his composition teachers included Tomojiro Ikenouchi and Olivier Messiaen. Writing for both Western and traditional Japanese instruments, his compositions comprise orchestral, chamber, and solo vocal and instrumental music. He has had major works performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, and many are available on disc, including Radiant Starlight Pouring Down in Autumn Season (Fontec, 2005), and Dancing Flower Leaves in a Forest (Camerata, 2007). His honors include the Award of Excellence in the National Art Festival held by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (1972), the first Nakajima Contemporary Music Prize (1983), and the Third Saji Keizo Prize (2003). Fukushi has served as President of the Japan Society of Contemporary Music (the Japanese branch of ISCM), as Vice President of the Japan Federation of Authors and Composers Associations, and as a judge for the Music Competition of Japan. He currently teaches at Tokyo University of the Arts, Toho Gakuen School of Music, and Tokyo College of Music.
About Seigai-Ha for 6 Percussionists (2015), the composer writes:
The remains of the Greek era, a temple against the backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea near Naples, which I visited while studying abroad–the huge group of stone pillars of Paestum that remains is greatly involved in the idea of the work. The sound that echoes on the vertical axis. It is struck like a stake according to a certain number of rules, and the gaps sound like a different rule than that number.Fragments are sprinkled, but they are gradually combined and swell like waves to form layers, starting from the point of each grain. The gradation that spreads to the surface covers space-time, and the existence of the stakes is the background. It accepts the appearance, but its role does not change. The stake is the backbone of the work. In 2011, The Sound of a Bell Crossing the Sea for eight percussion instruments was a requiem for those who died in the earthquake. This work is a support message for those who are left behind.