percussion

Mirage was written in 1971 and commissioned and premiered by Keiko Abe. Sueyoshi took the title from the French origin of the word “mirer” which means “to look at oneself in the mirror.” The variation of the piece’s introduction functions as a liaison to each section of the work. The theme consists of a polyphonic psalm. The exposition is based on the memory of the ritual of an Easter procession. The coda (ending) is based on the idea of roppo, a dramatic exiting technique used in Kabuki, the traditional Japanese theatre form. A roppo occurs at the ending of an act, when an actor performs a kind of hopping step which commences slowly but increases in tempo to elevate the excitement of the climax.

[traduction française: Eugénie Pascal]