The woodcutter’s testimony as given to a police commissioner from “In a Grove”
The robber’s confession from “In a Grove”
The account of the man who became a ghost, as delivered through a shrine maiden from “In a Grove”
This was a performance of creative hogaku works by members of SOHO21 themed around Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s work “Yabu no Naka” (“In a Grove”).
Words: Tai Kaneko
Music composition: Chotatsuro Imafuji, Masaki Imafuji, Masataro Imafuji, Yoshijiro Imafuji, Eikichi Kiyomoto, Toru Fukuhara, Chuichiro Matsunaga, Toshiko Yonekawa
Cooperation on percussion accompaniment composition: Hyakunosuke Fukuhara
Performance: Masaki Imafuji (The Man Who Became a Ghost), Ryochu Miyako (The Man’s Wife), Minosuke Kineya (The Robber), Mitsujiro Kineya (The Woodcutter)
Shamisen: Yoshijiro Imafuji, Chotatsuro Imafuji, Chuichiro Matsunaga, Eikichi Kiyomoto
Koto (13-stringed Koto), 17-stringed Koto: Toshiko Yonekawa
Fue: Toru Fukuhara
Kagebayashi (“hidden orchestra”): Hyakunosuke Fukuhara, Kisaburo Katada
Chorus: Masako Imafuji, Michio Imafuji, Yuko Hagioka (recorded vocals)
SOHO21
Formed in January 1997 by aspiring creators from various genres of hogaku (traditional Japanese music) who came together with the aim of carrying on and further developing the tradition of hogaku. In March 1997, a literary division was established to proactively create important words for Japanese music along with musical composition. After organizing numerous trial performances and research sessions, in May 2000 they presented the first concert of their own works. They have given concerts almost once a year ever since. Since 2010, the members have also been holding the open class “Sousaku-no-kimo (The Heart of Creations),” in which they analyze works and suggest approaches to listening from the perspective of creators.
Kioi small hall, Chiyoda City, Tokyo
