The Swan and the Crane

This is a rare and special day for me. Most of my work is quietly ongoing but today I have the delightful opportunity to share “The Swan and the Crane” which is released as a music video and digital audio download. This piece took 6 weeks to compose back in the Spring and many more weeks of research prior to that. Then there was the rehearsal with wonderful musicians and dancers living in Northern Ireland who brought this music to life. So all in all many weeks went into this 5 mins piece which was both a challenge and a joy to work on. The video was filmed at the Premiere performance on 9th June at the Foyle O-Bon Japanese Festival which takes place annually in Derry in Northern Ireland. Foyle O-Bon commissioned music and contemporary dance as a follow up to “Taiko Love” which I had composed the previous year and so I had the opportunity to continue my exploration of juxtaposing Irish and Japanese musical styles and stories.

In “The Swan and the Crane” I am inspired by two birds; the Swan from Ireland and the Red-Crowned Crane from Japan; both of whom share many similar myths being symbols of good luck, love and fidelity and mating for life. The music explores the vocal sounds, clicks and hisses of the birds and the words allude to a variety of legends that surround them from both cultures. I imagine them calling to each other across different lands before finding each other as kindred spirits.

The music was heavily influenced by my cultural and music research in Japan last winter including sounds of singing ticket collectors and street drumming at the Chichibu Festival, nails being hammered to skin a drum by a 70-year-old craftsman at the taiko drum factory, Edo Bayashi and other Taiko workshops, Sounds from Kabuki theatre musicians and a special private concert of music representing the cranes in Fukushima by a master Shakuhachi player. For the Irish musical elements I explored Sean Nos singing and rhythms of the Lambeg drum. All this and much more floated around my head while I wrote this music.
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If you like the music you are hearing and want to offer support for me in composing more music please consider purchasing The Swan and the Crane on iTunes or Amazon or get in touch.

Buy The Swan and the Crane on iTunes
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