Yasuhide Ito's representative work, "Gururiyoza" is a piece of wind orchestra music that is widely known overseas. It was commissioned by the Sasebo Band of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and composed from 1989 to 1990. The original request was for the Yoshinogari Tomb in Saga, which was a hot topic at the time, to be the theme of the piece, but Ito's wish was to compose it with Nagasaki, where Sasebo is located, as the theme. Nagasaki was the center of trade with the Barbarians, and foreign culture, including Western music, and Christianity were introduced through this trade, but the shogunate adopted a policy of national isolation, and Christianity was banned. Ito decided to use the history of hidden Christians from this period as the theme of the piece. In Ikitsuki Island, Nagasaki, there is a prayer song called "Orasho (Odance)" that has been sung by hidden Christians. As it has been sung, many of them have unique tunes and melodies that have changed and the original form is no longer recognizable. One of them, "Gururiyoza," is a Spanish Gregorian chant, which was discovered by Tatsuo Minagawa. This is "O gloriosa Domina (Our Lady of Glory)," which appears as a motif throughout the songs we will be performing this time. ❝This is not a general chant, but a song that was sung only in a certain region of Spain in the 16th century and at a certain time, and it has already fallen out of use there. The song that was only sung at that time was brought to Japan by missionaries, and has been sung to the present day, overcoming the era of prohibition.❞ When Mr. Ito learned of this background in Nagasaki, he composed "Gururiyoza" as a "fantasy of a time when Japan and the West once met." 1st movement: A prayer, a variation in the style of a chaconne, or a différencias, with 13 variations. This number is a symbol of the suffering of Christ, and the Gregorian chant gradually changes and distorts with each variation. 2nd movement: Song: "Song of Samajuan", a song passed down by hidden Christians. The beginning of the movement, played by the ryuteki, has traces of the 1st movement, which gradually changes into "Song of Samajuan". 3rd movement: A variation of the melody of the festival folk song "Nagasaki Burabura Bushi" is used, and the rhythm of the percussion instruments is that of the Tsushima Mongolian drums. Traces of the 1st and 2nd movements are found throughout, and a fugue is played towards the end, and the motifs from the previous movements overlap to reproduce the chant in a chorale style. At the climax, the key changes to D minor, and the motif of "Song of Samajuan" appears. The composer himself conducted the performance of famous wind orchestra pieces. Please enjoy. ■Soka Gloria Wind Orchestra The Soka Gloria Wind Orchestra was established as the central orchestra of the Soka Gakkai Band under the name of "Music Corps No. 1 Wind Orchestra". In 1980, it was renamed "Soka Gakkai Tokyo Wind Orchestra". It first participated in the Wind Orchestra Competition in 1996. The following year, it represented Tokyo at the 45th All Japan Wind Orchestra Competition (sponsored by the All Japan Wind Orchestra Federation and Asahi Shimbun Co., Ltd.) and won the gold prize. On November 1, 1997, it was renamed "Soka Gloria Wind Orchestra". Since 2002, it has won the gold prize at the same competition for three consecutive years. Furthermore, it has won the gold prize for six consecutive competitions from 2009 to 2015 (it did not participate in 2012 due to regulations). In 2023, it will win its 16th gold prize overall. They continue to hold regular and family concerts, perform at events, and perform on a wide range of activities, including recordings, and as part of their efforts to support the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, they held the "Reconstruction Support Concert" in Asahi City, Chiba Prefecture in May 2011, and the "Fukumitsu Spring Concert" in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture in April 2013. From 2014, as a further ongoing activity, they have held concerts titled "Bonds of Hope" concerts in Iwate Prefecture (Ofunato City, Kamaishi City, Miyako City, Morioka City, Tono City), Fukushima Prefecture (Fukushima City, Sukagawa City), and Miyagi Prefecture (Tagajo City, Ishinomaki City, Natori City, Tomiya City, Sendai City, Kurihara City, Osaki City, Yamato Town, Osato Town in Kurokawa District). In 2018, the band held a concert in Kumamoto Prefecture (Kumamoto City, Uto City, and Kikuyo Town, Kikuchi District) as part of their efforts to support the recovery from the Kumamoto earthquake, and in August 2024, they also held a concert in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture as part of their efforts to support the recovery from the Noto Peninsula earthquake of 2024. The band members are made up of young members living in the Tokyo metropolitan area. ---------------------------------------------------- ■Soka Gakkai official website https://www.sokagakkai.jp/ ■SOKAnet member support https://www.sokanet.jp/kaiin/ ■SOKAnet official YouTube channel / sokanet_ch ■Soka Gakkai official Instagram / sokagakkai_official ----------------------------------------------------