Ikuma Dan: My Songs (1947) [soprano ver.] [Jpn & Eng sub]

Ikuma Dan [團伊玖磨] (1924~2001, Japan)
わがうた
My Songs
00:00 1. My Songs 序の歌
02:01 2. Loneliness 孤独とは
03:39 3. Cicadas ひぐらし
06:08 4. Requiescat 追悼歌
10:10 5. Hydrangeas 紫陽花
from poetry collection "Shukukonka (Wedding Songs)" by Fuyuichiro Kitayama (1922~?, Japan)
[北山冬一郎詩集『祝婚歌』より]
translated by D. Guyver Britton & Yukinobu Kagiya from SJK-1030/1 "Kyoko Ito sings Collection Songs of Ikuma Dan" booklet
1. My Songs
My songs I sing you,
They are my lonely prayer.
Sad, foolish poems,　　Youth's hopes and youth's despair.
A poet singing
All in the wind and rain.
If you will hear me
My songs are not in vain.
2. Loneliness
O little red goldfish
A-swimming there in your small glass bowl,
O do you hear the autumn wind?
Alas, you scarlet is for sadness,
All alone, without a mate,
Swimming in circles,　　Round and round all day.
Every now and then,
You come quite close to the glass.
O tell me, what do you seek to know
Of the world beyond your ken,
O little fish a-swimming there
All the day long?
3. Cicadas
Cicadas
at close of day,
Sadly they cry,
and shrill.
In vain
one more day has gone,
And I am desolate still.
And in the crimson sunset glow
My heart is full of sorrow.
Cicadas at close of day
Sadly, they cry, and shrill.
4. Requiescat
Alas! for the soldier there was no tomorrow.
The Cross was his one salvation and his prayer,
Was all he had to hope for.
And death was sweet, death was most sweet,
So far across the ocean,
So far from home and country.
Amid the grasses you fell, my friend,
Never to rise again.
O battlefield farewell!
Beyond the blue sky, above the clouds,
Your soul went on forever.
And the sun, foreve after　　With beauty was filled!
The sun was filled with beauty!
5. Hydrangeas
My love and I shall never meet again
My love and I shall ne'er discourse again,
Alas, alas. And yet, even so,
The hydrangea is blossoming still.
O radiant July, how can you sparkle so?
My love has gone, and I am full of woe.
And even so, the hydrangea is blossoming still.
Kyoko Ito [伊藤京子], soprano
Yoichi Miura [三浦洋一], piano
Recorded: 1969 at the Victor Studio
"Waga Uta (My Songs)" is a song cycle of five songs on poems by Kitayama Fuyuichiro, composed in 1947. The soloist for the first performance was Tamotsu Kinoshita. It is characterized by a simpler, cleaner style than that of the previous work, "Five Fragments." It is not surprising that the fourth piece, "Requiescat," is accompanied by the rhythm of a funeral march. In particular, the accompaniment in the first half of the piece has a richer sound than what is superficially described in the score. This richness of sound in such a simple writing style can in fact be found throughout "My Songs."
by Naomi Monma from booklet mentioned above
"My Songs" was composed in 1947 on a poem by Fuyuichiro Kitayama. Shortly after the war, Kitayama published a collection of poems titled "Shukukonka (Wedding Songs)." In the midst of the postwar devastation, this collection of poems sang with a fresh sensibility and was highly acclaimed. It is regrettable that Kitayama did not publish many poems after that. Kitayama may have exhausted all of his poetic ideas in this volume. However, with Ikuma Dan's music, Kitayama Fuyuichiro's five poems have gained immortal life.
"Cicadas" is the most frequently sung of all Dan's songs, and its plaintive lyricism beautifully captures the poet's grief. This sadness is similar to Chuya Nakahara's "Yogorecchimatta Kanashimi (Dirty Sadness)," in which he sings of the day's regrets, "The sun goes down with nothing to do," while Kitayama sings of the poet's regrets in "Cicadas."
After the funeral song "Requiescat," the finale of this piece, "Hydrangeas," is also often sung. In this "My Songs," the piano accompaniment section has the tone of an orchestra, and the pianist should assume the tone of each orchestral instrument from these musical types.
by Ryosuke Hatanaka (1993). "Japanese Song Collection Vol. 34: Ikuma Dan II," Ongaku-no-tomo-sha.
北山冬一郎の詩による5曲からなる歌曲集で、1947年に作曲された。初演の独唱者は木下保である。前作の《五つの断章》よりも簡素な、すっきりとした書法をみせているのが特徴でもあろう。第4曲《追悼歌》が葬送行進曲のリズムを伴奏においているのは、当然のことである。とくに、その前半の伴奏は、表面的に楽譜に記されている以上の豊かなひびきをもっている。このような、簡素な書法のなかでのひびきの豊かさは、実はこの《わがうた》のいたるところで認められるもするのである。
（門馬直美、SJK-1030/1『伊藤京子による團伊玖磨の歌曲』解説書より）
『わがうた』は北山冬一郎の詩による1947年の作曲である。戦後間もなく北山は『祝婚歌』と題した詩集を出した。戦後の荒廃の中でこの詩集はみずやかな感性を歌い出していて、高い評価を受けたものである。しかしその後北山は詩をあまり発表しなくなったのは残念である。北山は自分の持てる限りの詩的想念を、この1冊の中に使い果たしたのかもしれない。しかし、團伊玖磨の曲を得て、北山冬一郎の5篇の詩は不滅の生命を獲得したのである。この中の《ひぐらし》は、團歌曲の中で最も多く歌われる曲だが、その平明な抒情は、詩人の悲しみを見事にすくい上げた。この悲しみは、中原中也の「汚れっちまった悲しみ」に通じるところがあり、中也は “なすところもなく日は暮れる” と一日の悔恨を歌ったが、北山はひぐらしに寄せて詩人の悔恨を歌ったのである。葬送曲の《追悼歌》を経て、この曲のフィナーレ、《紫陽花》もよく歌われる。この『わがうた』は、ピアノ伴奏部がオーケストラの音色を持っており、ピアニストは、これらの楽型の中から、オーケストラの各楽器の音色を想定して弾くべきであろう。
（畑中良輔「團伊玖磨とその作品(2)」『日本歌曲全集34 團 伊玖磨 Ⅱ』（1993、音楽之友社）より）

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Dan's other vocal works with eng & jpn subtitles in my channel
Six Songs for Children (1945)
ua-cam.com/video/LaKCz1DOulg/v-deo.html
Five Fragments (1946)
ua-cam.com/video/CmnQERM0aik/v-deo.html
My Songs (1947) [tenor ver.]
ua-cam.com/video/LOJgsL3aY3o/v-deo.html
Four Poems by Sakutaro Hagiwara (1948)
ua-cam.com/video/fYVOOwagAyE/v-deo.html
To the People of Mino (1950)
ua-cam.com/video/TWGNtmDTCww/v-deo.html
Flowery Town (1947)
ua-cam.com/video/O7zYn-H7D_Y/v-deo.html
Lullaby (1950)
ua-cam.com/video/rrDa1gQ8TLQ/v-deo.html
Journey (1951)
ua-cam.com/video/xLkAKVkQSgQ/v-deo.html
Aria "Yohyo, oh my darling, my beloved Yohyo" from "Yūzuru" (1951/56)
ua-cam.com/video/txt4P7u-96c/v-deo.html