PROGRAM

• Hibiki Mukai: Shirayuri
• Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, arranged by Joel Merah.

(In case of rain, the concert will take place in the chapel. Address: Westeinde 101, 2512 GW The Hague)

PROGRAM EXPLANATION

Ensemble Orochi will perform a concert in the monumental Kloostertuin on 16 June 2024 at 17:00.
The concert will feature 'Shirayuri' a composition by award-winning Japanese composer Hibiki
Mukai and a new arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition', arranged by
Basque composer Joel Merah.

'Shirayuri' (white lily) features two poems by Japanese poet Yamakawa Tomiko, who died in 1909
at the age of 29. They are written in the Tanka form: 31 syllables in five lines, divided into 5,7,5,7
and 7 syllables each. The Tanka can be seen as the forerunner of the Haiku, and was a popular
form of communication between friends and lovers. In both poems, the white lily plays a starring
role.

"I was born and grew up as a young girl with thick black hair, and as I bowed my forehead to a
white lily and breathed in its scent, I was deeply in love with you, who is no one else"

The second poem is her swan song:

"I just realized that fur seals also know happiness: they too sleep on the ice. I am a white lily
sleeping on the ice."

Tomiko suffered from tuberculosis, and spent the last months of her life alone in her cold room in
order not to infect anyone. She died shortly after writing the last poem. Mukai aims to pay tribute
to Tomiko's poetry and courage to be a poet during a time when women were not allowed to be
writers or poets. The Japanese text, including translations and commentary written by Mukai you
can find Shirayuri-text.pdf.

Merah's arrangement features mezzo-soprano lyrics based on Russian poems by poets such as
Pushkin and Akhmatova, as well as some French poems by Aloysius Bertrant, Colette and Merah
that have been translated into Russian. The selected poems are thematically closely linked to the
paintings that inspired Mussorgky to compose 'Pictures at an Exhibition', a unique approach to
the famous work. The instrumentation is an adaptation for the intimate setting of the chamber
music ensemble. You can read further commentary on this work, written by Joel Merah Joel Merah on his arrangement.pdf, and the song lyrics and translations can be found Pictures at an Exhibition lyrics&translations.pdf.

If the weather is good, the concert will take place in the monastery garden, accessible via piano
studio Kecskés. Address: Westeinde 175G, 2512 GX The Hague.