EYES ARE NOW DIM is a musical exploration of the macrocosm contained in the following haiku by Matsuo Bashō:
鷹の目も今や暮れぬと鳴く鶉
taka no me mo ima ya kurenu to naku uzura
The quails are chirping in the dusk aware the hawk’s eyes are now dim
The work, composed especially for the 2016 Shonorities’ tour in UK and Greece, was supported by Japan Foundation (Performing Arts Japan Programme for Europe 2015-16), the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, the Japanese Embassy in Greece and the Greek-Japanese Association, and was dedicated to the 81st birthday of the Greek musicologist, music critic and composer George Leotsakos.
Voice: Shie Shoji
Sho: Naomi Sato
Koto: Keiko Hisamoto
Violin: Nao Tohara
Percussion: Basil Athanasiadis
Music Recorded at Tokyo University of the Arts, Senju Campus, Studio A, 23 February 2019
Recording Engineer: Toru Kamekawa
Editing / Mixing: Basil Athanasiadis
Available on CD by Metier, ‘Book of Dreams’ (msv 28596), November 2019