Category:

Although the Wind

$2.15

Haunting setting of this introspective text by renowned Japanese poet, Izumi Shikibu

SSAA, a cappella

Text: Izumi Shikibu, translated by Jane Hirshfield

Moderate

Commissioned and Premiered by: The College of Musical Arts for the Bowling Green State University Women’s Chorus, Sandra Frey Stegman, conductor

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Text

Although the Wind

Although the wind
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house.

Izumi Shikibu
translated by Jane Hirshfield

From “Women in Praise of the Sacred,” Edited by Jane Hirshfield, © 1994 HarperCollinsPublishers

Program Notes

Jane Hirshfield, in Nine Gates, states that in Japanese poetry the “experience of a poem is put forward, not the experiencer, and the poems do not coerce feeling, only invite it…”

“Although the Wind” is a haunting setting of this evocative text by renowned Japanese poet, Izumi Shikibu. Her poem invites us in. It tells us it’s ok to feel the weight of the world, the wholeness of our bodies and our relationships.Our “ruined houses” are seen and loved. We are invited to notice that “Although the wind blows terribly here,” the moonlight is present. In fact, the moonlight is leaking “between the roof planks.” It is as if the moonlight (love, spirit, God, spirit, that which is beyond all our understanding), that which is so very needed, is also somehow not wanted. And yet, the moonlight leaks in anyway.

Izumi Shikibu is considered the greatest woman poet of Japanese literature and was part of the only Golden Age of world literature that was created by women writers.

Performance Notes

Performances

  • *Bowling Green State University Women’s Chorus, Sandra Stegman, director (Bowling Green, OH; Hilliard, OH; Columbus, OH) – World Premiere
  •  Anoka-Ramsey Community College Women’s Chorale, Melissa Bergstrom, director
  • The Young New Yorkers’ Women’s Ensemble, Michael Kerschner, director – listen above

Critical Acclaim

“This piece is beautiful :)” – Elisa Nikoloulias, Managing Director, The Young New Yorkers’ Chorus

 

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