"Azalea" is a commissioned work for the Unzen City Omura Junior High School Wind Orchestra, composed in 2023.
The sight of flowers illuminated by the moon, or a mountain under the moonlit night, the scenes nature creates are truly artistic. With a sense of mystical force, it is named "Moonlit Flower", imagining the "dawn." In composing, the beautiful nature of Unzen has been consciously incorporated as elements of the music. This piece consists of three movements, with clear content: "In the silence, a ray of light shines through, eventually illuminating the flower. And the flower, bathed in the moonlight, sways in the wind, eventually blossoming into a large flower, conveying a message of 'dawn for the future.'"
The Unzen Azalea, also known as Miyama Kirishima, is the prefectural flower of Nagasaki, Japan. In Unzen, it thrives in the natural environment of the region, growing in clusters at elevations above 700 meters. The impression of the beautiful azaleas by Sakamoto Ryoma during his visit to Kirishima, conveyed in a letter, remains a valuable record of the aesthetic impact and memories plants can offer people, blooming beautifully across the Kyushu region. In the 17th century, it is said that tens of thousands of Christians were martyred on the Shimabara Peninsula (Unzen), Nagasaki. Tied to the traditions of Shinto and Buddhism, from locals to lords converted. However, they faced severe persecution by the Tokugawa shogunate. Their steadfast faith, enduring torture without succumbing, is commemorated by the beautiful Miyama Kirishima flowers in the Unzen area, narrating their suffering and strength of belief.
With a focus on Japan, the piece employs spacing, traditional scales, and innovative orchestration, the result of my own musical experiments.
This piece was performed as a selection at the 2023 All-Japan Band Competition by the same wind orchestra, under the baton of Reiya Terada in his first year as musical advisor. Competing amongst large ensembles of 50 members, it represented Nagasaki Prefecture and achieved a gold medal at the Kyushu regional competition.
(Daisuke Ehara)
