Hosokawa’s Blossoming II Premieres in Edinburgh; Music in Bloom from Schott Aktuell

The summer issue of Schott Aktuell is hot off the press, with a repertoire focus entitled Music in Bloom on the occasion of the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s Blossoming II at the Edinburgh International Festival on August 21. This issue offers a specially curated repertoire listing of orchestral works inspired by the natural beauty of flowers, their use as subjects in the world of art and literature and the never-ending cycle of growth and decay found in nature. Works are featured by Toshio Hosokawa, Tobias Picker, Percy Grainger, John Casken, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alvin Singleton, Joaquin Rodrigo and many more, providing a vast array of musical interpretations on the subject.

Conductor Robin Ticciati leads the Scottish Chamber Orchestra through the world premiere of Blossoming II, which was commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival Society. Hosokawa writes on his new piece:

The deep roots of flowers in Japanese aesthetics and spirituality led me to them as the subject of this work. The flower I’m imagining in this work is a lotus, which is the symbolic flower of Buddhism. The flower and I are one; the blossoming of the flower represents my shedding of my skin, my self-discovery.

Read the Schott Aktuell online on the Schott Music website, here.

For more on Toshio Hosokawa, visit his Composer Profile.

Toshio Hosokawa
Blossoming II (2011)
for orchestra
2(2.pic).2(2.ca).2(2.bcl).2(2.cbsn)-2.2.0.0-1perc(b.d, tam-t, tri, Japanese wind bells)-str(8.6.4.4.2)
12’