On composing the suite "Shimanto River
My mother's family lived in Shimonokae, Tosashimizu City, near the lower reaches of the Shimanto River, and although I only saw it a few times as a child, it remained in the corner of my memory because of its interesting name. When I had my first live concert in Kochi City in 1986, my cousin recommended that I compose a song about the Shimanto River, and he sent me some materials. I was intrigued by the fact that a natural river still remains in this day and age when nature is being destroyed in Japan and around the world, and since then I have wanted to compose a suite on the theme of the Shimanto River.
In January 1991, the Gulf War, a major war that I thought would never happen again, resulted in the destruction of nature and killing of people on a global scale in a short period of time, and our country, which has a peace constitution, participated in it. I felt like I could not sit still. I hope that my music will encourage as many people as possible to think about nature and peace.
On February 10 and 11, 1991, I visited the Shimanto River for the first time in 20 years and was surprised to find that the river was more polluted than I had expected. I was particularly impressed by the sight of gravel mining. Because of the high quality gravel that can be obtained, it is being extracted here and there, causing many changes in the river's ecosystem. However, the people who live in the area consider it one of their major sources of income, and I was reminded once again of the difficulty of protecting nature.
Arranged for string quartet, April 2021.
Yasuhiro Kono