IN THE FLEETING SPRING for Flute and Piano（2016）

This work was born when conductor Kazuki Yamada，in 2016，commissioned me to compose “a short piece for the flute and the piano with a lyrical element that could be sung.” It was a just when spring had ended and I was reading the book “Japanese Sense: The Mechanics of a Creative Perception of the World” by Ken’ichi Sasaki (Chūkō Books). This book unravels ‘waka’ (an ancient type of Japanese poetry)，digging deeply into the mechanism of the unique sense that Japanese have. Each word was impressive and beautiful with many insights，causing me much elation.

While I was moving forward with the composition，some prose which was neither poetry nor lyrics came to mind. So I just wrote those words down at the beginning of the score.

In the title “In the Fleeting Spring,” the word “Spring” does not just mean the season but is a description of a certain stage in life—a time when life is somewhat nostalgic and bittersweet. It includes those feelings that each one of us has experienced in life. That is just what someone told me.

I would be extremely grateful if everyone who takes up this music—those who read the score，those who perform the composition and those who listen to it—would appreciate the nostalgic feeling of “Spring” in their lives.

I am very grateful to the flutist Noriko Nishida and conductor Kazuki Yamada on the piano for their wonderful heartwarming performance on that chilling spring day.