VIKARALA，for 12 Players and Strings（2020）

This piece is written for twelve players (a flute，an oboe，a clarinet a bassoon，a horn，a trumpet，a trombone，a tuba，a piano/celesta，a harp and two percussionists) and strings. Each of the twelve players is assigned individual soloistic parts. Therefore，the whole work is a kind of Concerto for Orchestra.

Shin-Yakushi-Ji in Nara prefecture，the buddhist temple built in the middle of the eighth century，owns a famous national treasure，statues of the Twelve Heavenly Generals. In the center of the dim hall，Yakushi Nyorai (principal image，a national treasure) with ample curves is sitting on the center of a large round pedestal. Surrounding Yakushi Nyorai，a row of full-size statues of the Twelve Heavenly Generals are standing on the periphery of the pedestal，posing menacingly and gloweringly to protect Nyorai from external enemies. Its surreal and horrific scene never fails to impress viewers. More than ten years ago，when by chance I visited the hall all alone for the first time，my mind and body really trembled and I experienced auditory hallucination in the frozen time. I felt something horrible，which severely echoed through my flesh and bones.
Yakushi Nyorai is a protector of people’s health and a symbol or an incarnation of lives and souls of all living things. The tremendous attitudes of the Twelve Heavenly Generals reflect how dedicatedly people in the eighth century prayed to and relied on the Buddha. The ultimate earnestness I could felt made me sense intensely the true meaning of life. I joined my hands in prayer for a while. I would say that after over a decade the memory of prayer led to the composition of this work. I wonder if，as I got older，my current thoughts and feelings toward the life brought me to the inside of the hall of Shin-Yakushi-Ji at that day.
The work consists of five sections which continuously performed.
〈I〉 Introducion: It is played by percussion，celesta/piano，and strings.
〈II〉 Scene I: It begins with solo oboe. Wind instruments play the main role.
〈III〉 Scene II: A string ensemble
〈IV〉 Scene III: Tutti. Scherzolike Presto with staccatos.
〈V〉 Scene IV: Finale. It begins with solo harp. It contains full of variations and，at the end，disappears with
echo of murmur.

The title VIKARALA means one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals，Vikar?la，who is said to be the incarnation of Shaka Nyorai and a protector of the year and direction of the Rat. As the Rat is the head of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs，Vikar?la tends to be at the head of the list of the Twelve Heavenly Generals. Each of the twelve players is not specifically related to each of the Twelve Heavenly Generals.