Yuzuru (opera)
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese
opera in one act composed by Ikuma Dan
after the play of the same name by Junji Kinoshita
.
Ikuma Dan initially wrote incidental music for Kinoshita's play in 1949. Later, determined to transform the music into an opera, he approached Kinoshita who agreed to release the play under the condition that it was set to music word for word. Dan started composing the opera and finished the work a year later in 1951. The première was held at Osaka
Asahi Hall on January 30, 1952.
Dan revised the opera in 1956 and the revised version premièred at the Zurich
Music Festival on June 27, 1957.
In 1994, the 600th performance of the opera with the composer conducting the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra was recorded and released by Columbia Music Entertainment
.
The opera lasts approximately one hour and fifty minutes. The vocal score is published by Zen-On Music Company Ltd
.
The simple-minded peasant Yohyō lives with his gentle and beautiful wife, Tsū. Once, long before, he saved the life of a wounded crane by pulling an arrow from its body. Unbeknownst to Yohyō, the crane assumed human form to become his wife. Tsū loves her husband with all her body and soul. Wishing to make life easier for Yohyō, she secretly weaves a gorgeous cloth from her own feathers. Wrapped in the chaste love of his wife, the simple-hearted Yohyō has forgotten the evils of human greed.
The villagers Sōdo and Unzu learn of the valuable cloth and impress upon Yohyō that much merriment and wealth awaits them in the city if his wife were to weave more cloth for which they would be handsomely paid. Deceived by the words of his evil friends and lured by the promise of riches and pleasures, Yohyō urges the reluctant Tsū to weave more of the valuable fabric.
Tsū sadly wonders why man is never satisfied with love, always longing for riches. In response to her beloved husband's insistent demands, she resolves to weave another cloth knowing any further sacrifice could be fatal.
Overwhelmed and despondent at the thought of her tragic circumstances, Tsū falls unconscious in the snow. Yohyō carries her gently to the fireside to revive her. He does not understand her spiritual suffering. Tsū asks if he still yearns for riches, but Yohyō has become a prisoner of greed and insists that she continue weaving the cloth. Broken-hearted, Tsū enters the back room to finish her work.
Tsū returns hovering near death. She hands the magnificent cloth to her husband. Leaving her passionate heart behind, Tsū transforms back into a crane and flaps her way into the snowy twilit night on her final journey. Yohyō realizes that he has lost the priceless affection of his devoted wife. Clutching the precious cloth in his hands, he watches her disappear from sight.
s (piccolo
), 2 oboe
s, 2 clarinet
s, 2 bassoon
s, 4 horn
s, 2 trumpet
s, 3 trombone
s, 1 tuba
, percussion (tympani, cymbals, triangle, gong, snare drum, bass drum), harp
and strings
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
opera in one act composed by Ikuma Dan
Ikuma Dan
was a Japanese composer.- Biography :Dan was born in Tokyo, the descendant of a prominent family, his grandfather Baron Dan Takuma having been President of Mitsui before being assassinated in 1932. He graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1946...
after the play of the same name by Junji Kinoshita
Junji Kinoshita
was perhaps the foremost playwright of modern drama in postwar Japan. He was also a translator and scholar of the plays of Shakespeare.-Life and Career:...
.
Ikuma Dan initially wrote incidental music for Kinoshita's play in 1949. Later, determined to transform the music into an opera, he approached Kinoshita who agreed to release the play under the condition that it was set to music word for word. Dan started composing the opera and finished the work a year later in 1951. The première was held at Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
Asahi Hall on January 30, 1952.
Dan revised the opera in 1956 and the revised version premièred at the Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
Music Festival on June 27, 1957.
In 1994, the 600th performance of the opera with the composer conducting the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra was recorded and released by Columbia Music Entertainment
Columbia Music Entertainment
is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as . It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK Columbia trademarks in 1931. The company changed its name to Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. in 1946. It used the Nippon Columbia name until...
.
The opera lasts approximately one hour and fifty minutes. The vocal score is published by Zen-On Music Company Ltd
Zen-On Music Company Ltd
is a music publishing company based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in Japan. Zen-On publishes sheet music for sale and rental, including orchestral scores, band and wind ensemble music, solo works and contemporary works, such as Frederic Rzewski's "People United ..." The company was founded in 1931.Zen-On are...
.
Roles
| Japanese | English | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 1952 (Conductor: Ikuma Dan) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 与ひょう | Yohyō, a simple-minded farmer living happily with Tsū | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
|
| つう | Tsū, a crane saved by Yohyō, assumes human form to become his wife | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
|
| 運ず | Unzu, villain attempting to deceive Yohyō | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
|
| 惣ど | Sōdo, villain attempting to deceive Yohyō | bass | |
| 子供たち | The Village Children | children's chorus |
Synopsis
The story takes place in an isolated mountain village in ancient Japan. It is winter. The scene is the interior and exterior of Yohyō's snow-covered, straw-thatched hut.The simple-minded peasant Yohyō lives with his gentle and beautiful wife, Tsū. Once, long before, he saved the life of a wounded crane by pulling an arrow from its body. Unbeknownst to Yohyō, the crane assumed human form to become his wife. Tsū loves her husband with all her body and soul. Wishing to make life easier for Yohyō, she secretly weaves a gorgeous cloth from her own feathers. Wrapped in the chaste love of his wife, the simple-hearted Yohyō has forgotten the evils of human greed.
The villagers Sōdo and Unzu learn of the valuable cloth and impress upon Yohyō that much merriment and wealth awaits them in the city if his wife were to weave more cloth for which they would be handsomely paid. Deceived by the words of his evil friends and lured by the promise of riches and pleasures, Yohyō urges the reluctant Tsū to weave more of the valuable fabric.
Tsū sadly wonders why man is never satisfied with love, always longing for riches. In response to her beloved husband's insistent demands, she resolves to weave another cloth knowing any further sacrifice could be fatal.
Overwhelmed and despondent at the thought of her tragic circumstances, Tsū falls unconscious in the snow. Yohyō carries her gently to the fireside to revive her. He does not understand her spiritual suffering. Tsū asks if he still yearns for riches, but Yohyō has become a prisoner of greed and insists that she continue weaving the cloth. Broken-hearted, Tsū enters the back room to finish her work.
Tsū returns hovering near death. She hands the magnificent cloth to her husband. Leaving her passionate heart behind, Tsū transforms back into a crane and flaps her way into the snowy twilit night on her final journey. Yohyō realizes that he has lost the priceless affection of his devoted wife. Clutching the precious cloth in his hands, he watches her disappear from sight.
Orchestration
2 fluteFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s (piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
), 2 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, 2 clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, 2 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, 4 horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s, 2 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, 3 trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, 1 tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, percussion (tympani, cymbals, triangle, gong, snare drum, bass drum), harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
and strings
Discography
- 1959: Ikuma Dan conducting the Tokyo Philharmonic OrchestraTokyo Philharmonic OrchestraThe claims to be the oldest classical orchestra in Japan, having been founded in Nagoya in 1911. It moved to Tokyo in 1938 and has some 166 members as of 2005....
with the Toshiba Singing Angels, Toshiba-EMI - 1994: Ikuma Dan conducting the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, Columbia Music Entertainment (Live Recording of the 600th Performance)
- 1997: Hiroshi WakasugiHiroshi Wakasugiwas a Japanese orchestra conductor. He premiered many of the major Western operas in Japan, and was honoured with many awards for cultural achievement....
conducting the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony OrchestraYomiuri Nippon Symphony OrchestraThe is a Japanese symphony orchestra administratively based in Tokyo. The orchestra primarily performs concerts in Tokyo at the Suntory Hall, but also gives concerts at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall...
, Victor Entertainment