~La prova d'estate~

"A sign of summer-
In the evening hush by the brook where oak leaves stir,
only the rite of purification marks the lingering trace of the season."
-Fujiwara no Ietaka, Hyakunin Isshu No. 98
"Where summer and autumn pass each other in the sky,
along that shared celestial path,
does the wind not already blow cool from autumn's side?"
-Ki no Tsurayuki, Kokin Wakashū No. 168

In the summer of 2016, I took part in an opera masterclass in Novafeltria, a town nestled in northern Italy. There, I had the rare opportunity to share Japanese art songs with local audiences, including a performance of one of my own compositions. I also made pilgrimage to a Shinto shrine located within the Republic of San Marino, where I offered this very song as a sacred dedication. Its premiere in such a distant land-so far from the shores of Japan-resonated deeply within me. The sound of my own voice, echoing across foreign hills, seemed to shift the very direction of my life's course. Thus, Natsu no Shirushi ("A Sign of Summer") remains indelibly etched in my heart.

The composition unfolds in a tranquil tempo, evoking the solemn atmosphere of the ancient misogi purification rite. Yet, in its central section, the sudden swiftness of the passing breeze carries with it the breath of seasonal change. It is a moment where time seems to yield, and the boundary between summer and autumn grows faint-marked only by the sacred gesture that lingers in the air, a fleeting trace of the season now departing.