Book Review and 15% Discount
/Book Review:
Offerings to the Land of the Rising Sun
Kira and Billing (compilers)
May is showering us with another 15% discount, this time for the beautiful lyre music book, “Offerings to the Land of the Rising Sun” – Compositions by various composers, compiled by Hajime Kira and John Billing and published in November, 2011. Use the code “MAY15” at checkout.
As Anna Prokhovnik Cooper’s dedication informs us that this unique musical offering was published in support of those effected by the catastrophic tsunami that hit the East coast of Japan on March 11, 2011. Having befriended the many Japanese lyrists who have attended our lyre conferences over the years, a group of composers collaborated in putting together a collection of lyre music that could acknowledge the difficulty and pain of this tragic event as well as offer hope, strength, and love to support the process of rebuilding what had been lost.
The collection includes pieces by an international group of composers: Sachiko Ogura, Murray Wright, Dominic Poole, John Billing, Rob Van Asch, Margaret Collins, Christof-Andreas Lindenberg, Gerhard Beilharz, Flavia Betti, Ruud Quax, Anna P. Cooper, Petra Rosenberg, Mechthild Laier, Pervez Mirza, Peter Rebbe, Kayak Matsubara, and Bernhard Lindour.
Several pieces were especially composed for this collection, including A Place to Rest by Murray Wright for soprano and alto lyre. River Flowing Into, by Nami Miyashita, is a piece for voice(s) and lyre accompaniment with arpeggiated accompaniment flowing beneath picturesque lyrics: “River flows swing slowly and reflect cherry blossoms on the bank….” John Billing composed a special piece for soprano and alto lyres or solo concert lyre entitled Tanabata Wish for Tohoku. There are two book-end pieces by R. Van Asch, the first called Evening, for soprano, alto lyre, and voice(s), is based on the Prologue to the Gospel of John. In the second, Morning, Rudolf Steiner’s words are sung between 2 lyre voices: “In thine I, in the heart of thy being, may there live the word….”. Christof Andreas Lindenberg’s contribution presents a soundscape of the experience of the earthquake played on chime bars and drums, followed by an “ether surround; three vowels, music to eurythmic movement.”
The collection also includes a lyre trio, Air Printanier by Rudolf Quax, as well as his Sarabande for 2 lyres and violin. From Petra Rosenberg is Little Suite in Six Parts, a piece for solo lyre. Additionally, there is an arrangement by Kayak Matsubara of Chopin’s Etude Op. 10, No. 3. The collection ends with an arrangement of Sakura for lyre and voice by Bernhard Lindour.
Overall, this is a collection of beautiful pieces of varying musical textures and moods, with scoring ranging from solo lyre, to lyre and voice, to trios and ensembles. On average, the music would be appropriate for intermediate to advanced lyrists. Many of the pieces would make for beautiful community sharing.
Shop for this specially discounted collection and much more music in our LANA music store!