Title: Easy Pieces For Guitar Ensemble Vol. 2, World Famous Songs No. 1
Instrumentation: Guitar duos, trios, quartets
Publisher: Gendai Guitar
M.J.ヒル～伊東福雄：ハッピーバースデー／アメリカ民謡～ダン・コスリー：聖者の行進／フォスター～佐野正隆：夢見る人／メキシコ民謡～萩野谷英成： シェリトリンド（美しき空）(*)／スペイン民謡～佐野正隆：愛のロマンス／アイルランド民謡～篠原正志：ロンドンデリーの歌／イングランド民謡～篠原正 志：グリーンスリーヴス(*)／イタリア民謡～伊東福雄：オーソレミオ（私の太陽）／イタリア民謡～伊東福雄：ヴェニスの謝肉祭変奏曲／ウェルナー～久保 公二：野ばら／ジャルヒャー～久保公二：ローレライ／ボヘミア民謡～大橋正子：気のいいあひる／チェコスロバキア民謡～大橋正子：おお牧場はみどり／ポー ランド民謡～中島晴美：Sto Lato～森へ行きましょう／ロシア民謡～加藤繁雄：ロシア民謡メドレー（カチューシャ、トロイカ、山のロザリア、一週間）(*)
※(*)は四重奏、その他は三重奏となります。
日本ギター合奏連盟の企画・編集による大人気シリーズ「やさしいギターアンサンブル」の第2弾は、「世界のうた」です。
世界の民謡、名曲の中より19曲を厳選して、やさしいギターアンサンブル曲としてアレンジしました。アレンジャーの個々のスタイルで自由に編曲された本曲 集は、非常にバラエティーに富んだ内容となっています。模範演奏CDとパート譜が付いているので、個人練習もCDと一緒に練習することで効率のいいものに できます。演奏は日本ギター合奏連盟有志による“アンサンブルOZ”。曲目は、アメリカ大陸から西ヨーロッパ、東ヨーロッパ、ロシアの順に並んでおりま す。本曲集で、東まわりでの世界一周旅行を体験してみてください。初心者でも充分楽しめるアンサンブル曲集です。
Title: Waltz Triptych
Instrumentation: Four guitars (or guitar ensemble)
Duration: 10'
Publisher: Les Productions d'OZ
Commissioned in 2010 by the Guitar Ensemble Association of Japan for its Annual Gala Concert.
Waltz Triptych, as the name implies, proceeds in three main sections. The outer sections combine jazz harmonies and minimalist techniques, including rhythmic augmentation and mixed meter. The central section, a chorale, gradually builds in rhythmic and contrapuntal intensity before the re-harmonized (and more conflicted) return of the first section.
Although Waltz Triptych is not overtly Japanese in style, while writing the work I was inspired by the triptychs of the ukiyoe master Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892). I intend the work as a tribute to Yoshitoshi’s floating world of images.
Waltz Triptych was premiered at Kyurian Hall in Tokyo, Japan on October 31st, 2010 by Ensemble Oz at the 22nd Japan Guitar Ensemble Festival. The performers were Shigeo Kato, Riki Takahashi, Masashi Shinohara, Koki Kusunoki, Harumi Nakajima, Hidenari Haginoya, Masako Ohashi, and Taishi Saito.
ワルツ トリプティク
日本ギター合奏連盟 2010年度委嘱作品
『ワルツ トリプティク』 （トリプティクは三部作、三連画の意味） は作品名からもわかるように、３つの主なセクションから成り立っている。 第１部と第３部の両端のセクションでは、ジャズのハーモニーに、主題のリズムを拡大したり混合拍子を用いるなどのミニマリズムの技巧とを融合させている。 中央部はコラール（賛美歌）で、次第にリズム、対位的な力強さを増しながら、第１部の主題が新しいハーモニーで（より複雑な形になって）戻ってくる。
『ワルツ トリプティク』 は、はっきりとした日本的スタイルの作品ではないものの、浮世絵師 月岡芳年（1839-1892）の三連画作品に影響を受けて書いたものである。 そのため、この作品は浮世を描いた月岡芳年への賛辞を呈するものである。
2010年10月31日 第22回日本ギター合奏フェスティバルにて、アンサンブル“OZ” により初演（東京・きゅりあんホール）。 演奏者：加藤 繁雄、 高橋 力、 篠原 正志、 楠 幸樹、中島 晴美、 萩野谷 英成、 大橋 正子、 斉藤 泰士
Instrumentation: Two guitars
Duration: 7'30"
Publisher: Les Productions d'OZ
Ensō (円相) is a form of Zen Buddhist painting in which the artist draws a circle with a single motion of the brush. As there is no possibility of modification, the process of creating an ensō is believed to reveal the artist’s true spirit at the moment of creation.
Some artists paint their ensō with an opening in the circle. This lack of completion implies that imperfection is an inherent and essential aspect of existence.
The composition at hand proceeds without the emphasis on hard-lined symmetry and metric regularity characteristic of much Western art music. Cyclical, even ruminative, Ensō places dynamics and timbre above formal discourse.
Instrumentation: Four guitars (or guitar ensemble)
Duration: 7'
Publisher: Les Productions d'OZ
As a child in rural Iowa, I often visited a nature preserve which had, running through its rolling hills and prairies, a small stream. The stream was home to a great variety of creatures, and though I usually went with the hopes of catching fish, it was another, smaller being that captured my imagination. On the dark, glassy surface of the calm pools of water, small insects, water striders, skated about effortlessly. I could watch them endlessly, my thoughts focused on the delicate world they inhabited. I have attempted to capture the feeling of these scenes in the present work, Water Strider. Though the music is not always descriptive, it does aim to suggest the tranquility and brutality of nature, and the existence of the infinite within the miniature.
From a technical point of view, Water Strider attempts to bypass several musical limitations peculiar to guitar ensembles. The guitar cannot sustain a long melody and has limited range and dynamic capabilities. Therefore, realizing musical thoughts through the voice of the guitar ensemble can easily inhibit a composer’s imagination. I decided, rather than struggle with the constraints of the medium, to indulge in the beauty of its indigenous qualities. Thus, Water Strider is a step towards a style of orchestration which takes the unique attributes of the guitar into account. For example, accompaniment figures are often set in translucent natural harmonics, ensuring that the dynamic hierarchy of the homophonic texture remains intact. The instrument’s timbral variety is also exploited, highlighting the interplay of voices and implying more than 4 individual parts. Water Strider proceeds in ternary form, with dynamics intentionally producing an ambiguous beginning and ending.
Water Strider was premiered by the Tokyo M Group on November 9th, 2008 at the 20th Anniversary Gala Concert of The Guitar Ensemble Association of Japan. The performers were Dan Cosley, Harumi Nakajima, Nozomi Takahashi, Manami Hatano, Noriyuki Awato and Yuka Nakamura.
Roland Dyens, present at the performance, remarked:
“Water Strider - Homage to Roland Dyens, far from any collage taken from my music, just reflects Cosley’s own feelings towards my musical style but using his personal language for this purpose, as I believe any homage should do. I trust Daniel Cosley's artistry.”