programme

Once a year in Chichibu, near Tokyo, there is a famous night festival, where huge carts adorned with lanterns are pulled through the streets, accompanied by the distinctive rhythms of the taiko drums. Inside the small carts the taiko drummers play a driving rhythm using a difficult body-position which challenges the back and stomach – an extremely difficult piece to play!

Gezan
Bayashi

A traditional song from Aomori prefecture in the north of Japan. After a Shinto purification ceremony at a shrine on the summit of a sacred mountain, the pilgrims descend the mountain light of heart, playing this joyful flute and drum melody.

 

One of our own compositions, featuring the “bachi sabaki” graceful bachi drumstick movements, with individual solos played over the mitsu-uchi rhythm, typical of festival music of the west coast of Japan.

 

Gojinjo

Demons emerge from the swirling mists to frighten away evil spirits. This piece was inspired by the Gojinjo demon drummers from the Noto Hanto peninsula, using mask and movement to recreate this energetic and visual drumming legend.

A hard-hitting fast-paced taiko piece. For a fleeting moment the shooting star shines brightly, with a brilliant but ephemeral luminescence lighting the night sky – exciting, bright, short-lived and memorable.

 

Gekko

A stunning piece on the “gekko” huge skin drum, the fluid and graceful movements combined with muscular power, building to a rhythmic crescendo, and culminating in a thunderous finale.

Hibiki
(Reverberation)

A piece written in honour of our teacher’s group, Hibiki Daiko, from whom we learnt the spectacular “tsubame-kaeshi” style from Fukui prefecture, where three drummers play four drums, arms crossing over each other in an intricate configuration. An exciting style rarely seen outside this area of Japan.

Shichisan Stomp

A modern piece using the groovy shichisan rhythm, and featuring the hand-held “uchiwa” fan drums moving in unison in a vibrant choreographed taiko stomper!