A FLOWER IS NOT A FLOWER (Cover)

This piece was originally composed in the late 1990s by Ryuichi Sakamoto for the Taiwanese erhu player Kenny Wen (Wen Jin-Long). The title, A Flower Is Not a Flower, is taken from a poem by Bai Juyi (also known as Bai Letian), which opens with the line: "A flower is not a flower, mist is not mist."
The piano solo version can be heard on albums such as 05 and UTAU, as well as on Sakamoto's own live recordings. Like the poem itself, the piece is widely known as a masterpiece distinguished by its profound sense of "silence" and "resonance."

At Studio M, we had long hoped to produce this supremely beautiful piano work ourselves. While our productions usually focus on piano music within the realm of so-called classical music, Sakamoto's albums 05 and BTTB are, from the perspective of piano music history, truly historic collections.
For this project, we used the score from 05 and performed the piece with the virtual instrument una corda, in an attempt to bring out the uniquely "quiet world" inherent in this composition. We hope you enjoy listening.