Jordan Alexander Key (b. 1990): " 森林浴 : The Dance of Shinrinyoku and the Cuckoo Bird" from "Verses from the Scroll of Sondering" after the hand scroll of Taihaku Ishiyama

Written for the Bold City Contemporary Ensemble
First performance: Sarah Jane Young (flute), Boja Kragulj (clarinet), Philip Pan (violin), Lina Minke (cello), Galen Dean Peiskee (piano), Charlotte Mabrey (percussion)

For the complete score of all verses see: https://www.academia.edu/43400454/Verses_from_the_Scroll_of_Sondering_Six_Verses_after_the_Hand_Scroll_of_Taihaku_Ishiyama_for_Pierrot_Ensemble_Percussion_Commissioned_by_the_Harn_Museum_of_Art_Spring_2020_

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Verse Program Note:

The verse, " 森林浴: The Dance of Shinrinyoku and the Cuckoo Bird," follows again the abrupt shifts in aesthetic between the verses, this verse being perhaps the first ebullient piece of the collection. This verse is one of two dances in this entire work, both of which feature canonic writing; this verse features a canon between the violin and cello, and thus elevates them to the primary concern of this verse. This piece is a new kind of awakening from the first verse. While The Sacrament of Kogarashi signals the onset of winter, The Dance of Shinrinyoku proclaims the arrival of Spring, a time of renewal and rebirth. Thus, the sounds of birds are transformed from austere abstractions to whimsical oscinine trills and chirps amidst a springtide festival. The Japanese word Shinrinyoku (“sheen-reen-yo-koo”), literally meaning "forest bathing," is a warm-season relaxation exercise where one ventures deep into the woods where everything is peaceful. Having been an avid hiker in my adolescence and early adulthood living in the mountains of Virginia, I would often find myself in the forests of Appalachia. While peaceful to some extent, the forests were never quiet, always full of the bird songs native to that region, the chittering of squirrels in mating season, the hum of cicadas perched in the trees, the rush of wind in the leaves and water in the mountain streams. The forest in Spring is a place of many songs, a peace not of sterile ruminative silence but organic polyphloisbic counterpoint. As we move beyond the crags opening Ishiyama’s scroll we enter woodlands, and so are taken by the artist into our own “forest bath” amid the spiring ink trees of his scroll. However, I do not imagine a serene ablution under the canopy but rather one of rejuvenated animation.

Verses From The Scroll Of Sondering - 3. The Dance Of Shinrinyoku and the Cuckoo Bird

Jordan Alexander Key