BIVALENCE XII，for Two Harps（2017）

I composed this piece for performance in the fourteenth in a series of harp recitals presented by Ayako Shinozaki，who is an old friend of mine and a highly valued musical colleague. This is the third piece I have written for her，in succession to a solo work and a concerto，and it belongs to series of pieces for two instruments of the same kind that I have been working on since 1997. The previous eleven works in this series are for cellos，violins，violas，clarinets，oboes，double basses，percussion，saxophones，trumpets，mandolins and voices，and the present Bivalence XII for two harps has been followed by works for flutes，horns，recorders，bassoons and trombones.
Ayako Shinozaki has carved out an important creative role for herself on Japan’s contemporary music scene，and it’s astonishing that she has trained her outstandingly gifted daughter to succeed to her role. This particular work is a kind of ?tude which presents a major challenge to the fingers and the feet of skilled performers and could only have come into being under the inspiration provided by this mother and daughter duo.