芥川作曲賞/Competition of Yasushi Akutagawa Suntory Award for Music Composition

酒井健治

inspired by 《Dream》(John Cage)

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor : Kosuke Tsunoda

28 May. 2023 Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall : Takemitsu Memorial

Underscore (2022)

Dancing QUEER (2022)
Comp. Wataru MUKAI

26.08.23
New Japan Philharmonic
Seitaro Ishikawa (cond.)
Ito Shiozawa (English speaker)

Prize: 
33th Akutagawa Yasushi Suntory Prize

Dancing Queer (2022) Wataru Mukai

« Antigone and Creon » (2024) for soprano, ensemble & electronics

This score was written with the strange idea of combining artificial intelligence (AI) tools with what I consider to be one of the most beautiful tragedies of all time, that of Antigone. The idea came to me by chance, but it became inevitable at a more or less conscious level, both for me and for today's society. The main dramaturgy of my score lies in the confrontation between the soprano, the voice synthesised by Creon's AI, and the electronic sounds eroded and transformed by the AI's vocal material. 

However, I don't want to limit myself to highlighting the negative aspects of technology by associating AI with a tragedy. Although the text set to music in my score is generated by Chat GPT, it nonetheless respects the dramaturgical structure of Sophocles' play and the various versions that have followed, because the AI is based on automatic learning from a large amount of data and then selects the words that it thinks are closely linked to a certain context according to probability algorithms. In other words, the dramaturgy of the text of my score is transformed and moved into a decontextualised state by the AI, creating an effect similar to that of "dépaysement" in surrealism. This effect is interesting in itself and makes it possible to add or create other theatrical situations if they are well articulated. For example, in my score I combined Japanese phrases that recall the notion of nirvana, which in Buddhism means liberation from all suffering.

Antigone's death is unfortunate in itself, but it is intrinsic to every heroine of tragedy. In other words, her death is a triumph for the human race. Whatever the progress of technology and the more or less positive evolution of our society, I still believe that human ethics and joy are not lost for the individual and human society.

Takuma Saito

Antigone and Creon (2024) for soprano, ensemble & electronics

Kento Ishikawa -  BRICOLA-JUGEMU 《ブリコラ-じゅげむ》(2023)

1-1-1-1(+S.Sax.)  1-1-1-1 Perc.1.2. Pf. Hp. Strings 1(2)-1(2)-1(2)-1-1

Date of Premiere : 2023.6.9 
Cond. Zsolt Nagy,  Students of Tokyo University of the Arts 
The 34th Akutagawa Composition Award, Japan(2024)

Contact ↓
Kento.comp@gmail.com

<PROGRAM NOTE>
　The title was coined by me by combining the French anthropologist Lévi-Strauss' concept of “bricolage” (making what you need out of what you have) and
the classic Japanese Rakugo (Japanese verbal entertainment) story “JUGEMU”.
　The story of “JUGEMU” has a comical element that everyone can easily relate to, and at the same time, it reflects the Japanese concept of “Yoseatsume
(gathering and assembling)” as represented by “Makunouchi Bento (Lunch box, containing fish, meat, stewed vegetables, pickles, etc. in one box.)” and
“Ikebana (flower arrangement)”.
　

　“JUGEMU”story is as follows : a monk is begged by a young couple who have given birth to a child to name the child. A monk thinks keenly, and then
starts to string together a long list of "auspicious words", which he then compiles from Chinese history books, Japanese myths and fables, plant names and
other sources. A young couple take a fancy to the long name and the baby grows up healthy to be the child like the name.
　
　One day, the child falls into a well and calls for help, but because of the excessively long name (Jugemu Jugemu Gokou no Surikire Kaijari Suigyo
no Suigyoumatsu Unraimatsu Fuuraimatsu Ku-u-neru tokoro ni Sumutokoro Yaburakoji no Burakoji Paipo Paipo Paipo no Shuringan
Shuringan no Gurindai Gurindai no Pompoko-pi no Pompoko-na no Chokumei no Chousuke ), it takes too long to call for help and the child
drowns and then dies.
　This “BRICOLA-JUGEMU” is a kitschy celebration piece about birth, in which the concept of “bricolage” and the world of “JUGEMU” are fused. 

　The piece is a multi-layered combination of everyday and celebratory symbols, including instruments made of materials (wood, stone, and sand) associated with
the words in the story, drums and flutes that evoke the sound of onomatopoeic names, military bugles, and cheerful chords that celebrate the birth of a child.

BRICOLA-JUGEMU for Chamber Orchestra(2023)

『The silent girl(s)』for piano and chember orchestra

Violin : Tatsuki Narita
Conductor : Yoichi Sugiyama
New Japan Philharmonic
commissioned by Suntory Foundation for Arts
use of the recording licensed by Suntory Foundation for Arts

Violin Concerto "On the G string" (2011/2015)

kenji_sakai