Ceremony

In most of my concertos, the solo part is personified. In Ceremony, it represents a shaman who invokes the world, the universe, and nature, which are symbolized by the orchestra. The shaman creates sounds with his ‘breath’ and casts songs into the world in order to invoke supernatural forces. I believe that music once arose from the shamanistic ceremonies of animism. The Greek term for breath (‘pneúma’) means ‘wind’ and furthermore ‘spirit’. The sound of the flutist’s breath echoes like the wind of nature and becomes a song that awakens the spirits. Toshio Hosokawa