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Harri Suilamo: Wasure-gai – Onnade Calligraphy for concert kantele and 25-stringed kotoWasure-gai continues a process whereby I have sought to create my own distinctive idiolect in the general expressive language of the kantele. My relationship to the koto at the composing stage was broadly similar to that with which I approached the kantele some fourteen years ago when, composing my first work for that instrument, I wound up devoting a substantial portion of my working time to exploring the characteristics and expressive possibilities of this instrument. This latest composition brings together the disparate traditions of the kantele and the koto together with my own musical expressive language and aesthetic. The new work is largely the outcome of friction and tension within this ménage á trois.Wasure-gai is a sibling work to my earlier kantele solo work Una goccia d'oblio (a droplet of forgetfulness) insofar as it allows the kantele to wander along the same tuning route, albeit in the opposite direction. The expression Wasure-gai means “a shell of forgetfulness” or simply “seashell” that is a recurring theme in old Japanese verse. This natural item had the ability to relieve sorrowful longing and yearning, and people sailing on distant seas might collect them on faraway beaches to console or forget a racking homesickness or the pain of love lost.I still write my manuscripts by hand for several reasons, not least of which is an interest in calligraphy. A link to Japanese culture brings its own special nuance to the work of composing Wasure-gai in this respect, and this is reflected in the subtitle to the work. There were several variations of calligraphy in existence at the time when the Japanese form began to break free of its Chinese heritage. Onnade calligraphy was writing “in a female hand” that was used for poems and journals, and represented refinement and poetic beauty. Its soft, freely formed signs could even lose their symbolic identity, whereupon they became pure art and aesthetics, in contrast with the “male hand” (otokode) that was used for official writing, using Chinese signs and straightforward angularity. This calligraphic gender-orientation was subsequently broken when men also began to practice onnade, but its intimate connection to poetry and the expression of feelings was preserved. (Harri Suilamo 2009 / translation Daryl Taylor)

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Movements

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Abbreviation	Instrument
Woodwind
acl	alto clarinet
afl	alto flute
arec	alto recorder
asax	alto saxophone
barsax	baritone saxophone
barhn	baritone horn
bcl	bass clarinet
bfl	bass flute
bob	bass oboe
bsax	bass saxophone
bsn	bassoon
cbsn	contrabassoon
cl	clarinet
ehn	English horn
fl	flute
hn	French horn
ob	oboe
pic	piccolo
rec	recorder
sax	saxophone
srec	soprano recorder
ssax	soprano saxophone
trec	tenor recorder
tsax	tenor saxophone
Brass
ahn	alto horn
atrb	altotrombone
barhn	baritone horn
btrb	bass trombone
cornet	cornet
euph	euphonium
fhn	flugelhorn
hn	French horn
tba	tuuba
thn	tenor horn
trb	trombone
trp	trumpet
Percussion
dr	drums
glock	glockenspiel
mar	marimba
perc	percussion
timp	timpani
vibr	vibraphone
xyl	xylophone
Strings
db	double bass
gamba	viola da gamba
str	strings
vla	viola
vlc	cello
vln	violin
Other
acc	accordion
cel	celesta
cemb	harpsichord
chords	chords
elbas	electric bass
elg	electric guitar
elorg	electric organ
elpno	electric piano
guit	guitar
harm	harmonium
hca	harmonica
hp	harp
instr	instrument
kantele	kantele
keyb	keyboard
live electr	live electronics
mand	mandolin
mel	melody
org	organ
pno	piano
synth	synthesizer
tape	tape
Vocal
alto	alto
baryt	baritone
basso	bass voice
ch	choir
chc	childrens choir
chf	female choir
chm	male choir
chx	mixed choir
cten	countertenor
mezzo	mezzo-soprano
sopr	soprano
speaker	speaker
ten	tenor
voc	vocal

Symphony orchestra
2222 4331 11 1, str = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, one other percussionist, harp and strings
Wind band
2252 3 423 21212 3 = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 5 clarinets, 2 bassoons - 3 saxophones - 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones - 2 cornets, alto horn, 2 tenor horns, baritone horn, 2 tubas - 3 percussionists
Big band
221 4 4, pno, guit, db, dr = 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, double bass, drums
Additional codes
+	fl+pic = flutist doubles on piccolo
/	pno/org = can be played on either piano or organ
lib	ad libitum
obl	obligato
str	str: 65432 = specified number of string players
str min	str min: 65432 = at least 65432
str max	str max: 65432 = not more than 65432
solo	vln solo = violin is the solo instrument in a work not obviously for solo violin

Wasure-Gai - Onnade Calligraphy