LAUGHING HARMONICA，BOILING HARMONICA，for Solo Harmonica（2019）

Every February，I organize a concert called “Musical Tales of Early Spring” in Uozu City，Toyama Prefecture. Each year，I choose a different instrument to focus on and ask a talented musician to share their expertise.

After our 17th concert in 2019，I was talking with Mr. K，the chairman of the executive committee and also a local businessman. He said that he had just recently started to learn to play the harmonica. And then it dawned on me: we should do the harmonica next year! But，though I always include one of my works in the concert each year，I had written nothing for the harmonica.

“So，I’ll compose something，” I thought. “And if I do，I want to make it a solo work.” My motivation for that was that I knew of the virtuoso harmonica player Yasuo Watani. I received a lecture from Watani and began to compose in June and July，2019. Working on that startled me with the unbelievable breadth of possibilities of this musical instrument called the harmonica. Of course，like any other instrument，there are some things that one can’t do with the harmonica. But that is actually what makes the instrument so attractive and leads to creativity.

Ever since “A Horn Gets Angry，Yet He Chants” in 2003，we have continued the series with the clarinet，flute，snare drum，guitar，timpani and bassoon. After we held the harmonica premiere，we had the concert in Uozu on February 16，2020，as planned.