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Programme Note

Composer note:


This piece is dedicated to a unique and amazing koto player named Kazue Sawai. The impressions that I received on hearing her perform for the first time, the aural and the visual appreciation of her talent and technique, were reinforced and made even more profound when I stayed in her home for a week. Getting to know her personally through the koto was an enriching experience. The whole seven days that I spent with the koto and 17-string koto were truly unforgettable. My joy transcended anything that could be described in words. I touched the strings awkward and shivering fingers, but the koto received my inexperienced touch with affection and sensitivity. I sensed the profoundness of these instruments and now have a very close bond with them, having spent days and night together. One morning I awoke and thought I could hear them conversing. I guessed they had been playing my music just before I awoke.


---Sofia Gubaidulina