Opus number: 49
Title: Two Haiku (translations of Japanese Haiku)
Instrumentation: soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Date written: February 1999, Boston
Length: three minutes
Commissioner: Fred Cohen, Currents, University of Richmond, Virginia
Premiere performance: Currents, Fred Cohen, conducting, March 1999
Important subsequent performances: Boston Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble, Larry Bell, conducting, May 2, 1999
Recordings: tape at The Boston Conservatory
Program notes: Two Haiku was commissioned by Fred Cohen for the Currents ensemble and first performed in Richmond, Virginia, in March 1999 at the America Haiku Association conference. It is written for the “Pierrot” ensemble and uses texts by Santoka and Issa, respectively.
Texts: 1. Alone silently
the bamboo shoot
becomes a bamboo
2. out from darkness
back into darkness
affairs of the cat
