Yu Kuwabara Works

Yu Kuwabara, composer
Performed by Alarm Will Sound

Live at the 2021 Mizzou International Composers Festival, July 29, 2021
From the composer:
I have always been trying to find an answer which intermediates in-between some things or some contexts; sometimes in-between the past and the present, in-between Japan and the rest of the world, or in-between language, sound, and music. Besides, the decades of my research and collaborations on traditional Japanese arts and music brought me a great question: what time and space mean for me. Therefore, over the last years, I mainly focus on investigating how to create form or time in my personal way. Nested time is a specific time field that I have defined. Through repeated ritardandi—slowing down from a constant tempo to twice the tempo—time is structured in a nested manner.

Nested Time

桑原ゆう｜陀羅尼のまにまに (2016) for six musicians
commissioned by ensemble mise-en for MISE-EN MUSIC FESTIVAL 2016
recorded live at the cell on June 22, 2016
premiered by ensemble mise-en｜Kelley Barnett (fl), Vasko Dukovski (bcl), Mark Brochinsky (tb), Yumi Suehiro (pf), Maya Bennardo (vn), Evan Runyon (cb), Moon Young Ha (cond)
score published by Edition Gravis: https://www.editiongravis.de/verlag/product_info.php?info=p2735_Dharani-no-Manimani.html

Dharani no Manimani

Dharani no Manimani (Drifting with Dharani)(2016) for 6 musicians

桑原ゆう｜三つの聲 (2016) for violin, viola, and cello
written as part of Academy Voix Nouvelles 2016 at Fondation Royaumont
recorded live at Abbaye de Royaumont on September 9, 2016
premiered by Talea Ensemble｜Yuki Numata Resnick (violin), Elizabeth Weisser Helgeson (viola), Chris Gross (cello)
The recording+score video is available on the Score Follower channel: https://youtu.be/maphPICGEvQ

Three Voices

Three Voices (2016) for violin, viola, and cello

Yu Kuwabara｜Spiral Mandala -Wind Chant and Night Chant- (2015)(excerpt)
for Shomyo (Japanese Buddhist chant), on traditional poetry of Native Americans
commissioned by and premiered by Shomyo no Kai - Voice of a Thousand Years
recorded live at Spiral Garden, Tokyo, Japan, on January 9 and 10, 2016
I recommend listening to this recording with headphones, earbuds, or earphones!!
The whole recording+score video is available on the Score Follower channel: https://youtu.be/TiN8E2f7J5s
The whole movie of the Spiral Mandala Ceremony: https://youtu.be/pV6SBxcS4D8

桑原ゆう｜螺旋曼荼羅 ー風の歌・夜の歌ー (2015)より抜粋
ネイティヴアメリカン、ナヴァホ族の創生神話より「風の歌」「夜の歌」のテキストによる
スパイラル聲明コンサートシリーズ vol.24「千年の聲」螺旋曼荼羅海会
2016年1月9、10日 @スパイラルガーデン (スパイラルビル1F)
委嘱・出演｜声明の会・千年の聲 (迦陵頻伽聲明研究会と七聲会による)
◆迦陵頻伽聲明研究会 (真言宗豊山派)
新井弘順、平井和成、大平稔雄、川城孝道、斎藤説成、小路耕徳、塚越秀成、塚田康憲、田中康寛、沼尻憲尚、戸部憲海、孤島泰凡、多田康雄、青木亮敬、新井弘賢、中山宥義、堀内明大
◆七聲会 (天台宗) 
末廣正栄、室生述成、玉田法信、杉山幸雄、鈴木亮仁、豊田良栄、宇佐見孝昭、髙栁亮伯、小野常寛 
構成・演出｜田村博巳
録音｜エーアールアイ (ARI)
ぜひヘッドフォンやイヤフォンでお聴きください。

Spiral Mandara

Spiral Mandala (2015, expt.) for Shomyo (Japanese Buddhist chant)

桑原ゆう｜影も溜らず (2017) for solo violin and eight musicians
written for the Composer Seminar of the Lucerne Festival Academy 2017
recorded live at KKL Luzern, Lucerne Hall on August 26, 2017
© Schweizer Radio SRF
premiered by Ensemble of LUCERNE FESTIVAL ALUMNI｜Yutaka Shimoda (solo vn), Raoul Cho (fl), Tomonori Takeda (cl/bcl), Kevin Fairbairn (tb), Bill Solomon (perc), Jian Ren (vn), Alfonso Noriega (va), Simon Thompson (vc), Juan Díaz (cb), Johanna Malangré (cond)

Shadowless

Shadowless (2017) for solo violin and 8 musicians

Yu Kuwabara - Rattling Darkness live at the Lilypad

"The very model of a modern music chamber band." - The NYTimes