| TUCWS 'Dear Old Songs from Shibuya' | |
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This is a record of a little concert at TUCWS Summer Luncheon. We set up the program mainly with music created by musicians living in Shibuya. It featured the old Shibuya River hoping that foreign members of TUCWS, too, could know and love Shibuya natural features and culture much more. 'Dear Old Songs from Shibuya' Soloist: Aiko Kurihara,  Hi ladies, Thank you for coming. Now we officially start the music program “Dear Old Songs from Shibuya”. First I am very happy to introduce you to Aiko Kurihara, a beautiful soprano singer. Aiko graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and now gives many concerts. First, Aiko sings 2 songs in Japanese with the feeling of this season. Imagine in the old days this place was so open and natural. Quite different from now. People lived with plants and birds and agriculture. The words say white uno-hana flower is in full bloom at the fence and a cuckoo sings his first song there and maidens plant young rice in paddy fields. It was a view of old Shibuya. The second song is Cradlesong, which was created by a composer who lived in Shibuya. You hear nen-neko repeatedly, which means sleep, baby, sleep. I hope you enjoy the music. 1. Summer’s come 2. Cradlesong Thank you Aiko-san. They were very beautiful, weren’t they?
Well, there used to be a big pond here. You know, our place was right in
the middle of a pond full of water. Are we now floating? No, it is not
now, but in old times. Higuchisan said, he struggled with some underground
water about 1 year ago. The water all of a sudden started to ooze out of
the basement wall and made a puddle. He pumped the water out and made a
little path for the water from outside the Fellowship Hall to the drain
nearby. He doesn’t know the reason why, but we still now see some water
coming from the soil. In the old times, in the Shibuya area, from here
and there, much water sprang out. Not gold but water. However, in a sense,
it meant a kind of money because the water raised crops and vegetables.
Also it generated rather big power by water wheels. In the late 19th century,
water power was very useful to polish rice and grind medicine and other
uses.
The picture is an ukiyoe of a water wheel by Katsusika, Hokusai. They say
this water wheel was nearby, the exact place was not identified though.
Anyway, it generated power and made this area rather advanced. It helped
rice merchants very much and a part of the profit from water wheels was
used to build and run their first elementary school in the Meiji era. 3. The water wheel in the woods of green
4. A Balmy Breeze
In the old times, the western part of Shibuya was called Yoyogi Ninety-nine
valleys or Nishihara Ninety-nine valleys because of lay of the land. The
hills were steep and the woods were deep. From one of them a spring flowed
and the water gathered and became larger. Then it flowed into Shibuya River.
At the upper part the banks used to be full of flowers and there were fish
in spring time. There was one doctor who strolled everyday with his little
grand daughter in the area. He created a pretty river song for her. It
was very popular when spring came. Now fish grew a little bigger and greens
are deep, because the season moved. But please listen to a song with sounds
of sara-sara. Sara-sara is an expression of murmuring water. Now
Aiko sings the last song which describes a beauty of la Seine. Under
the sky of Paris, you hear a chanson by lovers. Philosophers sit under the
Bercy bridge and musicians play the accordions. Under the sky of Paris the
river flows with joyful air. The sky color is its secret of the blue dress… Hoping
Shibuya River becomes as beautiful as la Seine, Aiko sings the song “Sous le
ciel de Paris”.
A Little Brook in Springtime Saying to flowers, “What nice blooms!” violets blooming on the banks Saying to renge you have such graceful figures with good hues “Flowers, now time, bloom and smell,” murmuring, warbling, whispering,
it flows. 2. Flows a little brook in springtime, sara-sara nagaru Saying to shrimp and medaka, “Now staaay all day in the sun.” Saying to fish “Play all together, and amuse yourself in swim in a school”
Haru no ogawa 1. Haru no ogawa wa sara sara nagaru Kishi no sumire ya renge no hana ni Nioi medetaku iro utsukushiku Sakeyo sakeyo to sasayaku-gotoku Ebi ya medaka ya kobuna no mure ni Kyoo mo ichinichi hinata de oyogi Asobe, asobe to sasayaku-gotoku A Balmy Breeze(みどりのそよかぜ) 1. Comes a balmy breeze o’ er fields of green,what a wonderful day ! Butterflies dance over the fields Come out flow’rs of bean In the rainbow colored field, Sister picks soft greens Lovely hands, I see at distance standing in a breeze
How well did I play ! Now, my turn to hit the ball, slide to second base Safe! Being on the base, I wipe the sweat off my face
Midori no soyokaze 1. Midori no soyokaze iihi dane Tyotyo mo hirahira mame no hana Nanairo batake ni imooto no Tsumami-na tsumu te ga kawaii na 2. Midori no soyokaze iihi dane booru ga pon-pon sutoraiku Utaserya nirui no suberikomi seefu da odeko no ase wo fuku The water wheel in the woods of green 1. You can hear a merry song from far woods of green Water wheel is, turning round, singing all day long Lively sound is in the air, cheering you up Listen to his merry music, what he does ever mean? (Refrain) Koto-koto-kotton, koto-koto-kotton Fa mi le do si do re mi fa Koto-koto-kotton, koto-koto-kotton Work hard all day long Koto-koto-kotton, koto-koto-kotton I know comes a day Happy, wonderful, springy day soon comes along 2. Turns and sings the water wheel, beyond the woods of green Keeping time with powder mill, sings a merry song Even through a rainy day or all windy night In a happy way he keeps singing his joy song (Refrain) Mori-no-suisha(The water wheel in the woods of green in Japanese) 1. Midori-no-mori no kanata kara Yooki na uta ga kikoemasu Are wa suisha no mawaru oto Mimi wo sumasete okikinasai (Refrain) Koto-koto-kotton,
koto-koto-kotton Fa
mi le do si do re mi fa Koto-koto-kotton,
koto-koto-kotton Itsu-no-hi ka tanoshii haru ga Yatte kuru 2. Ame-no-furu-hi mo kaze-no-hi mo Mori-no-suisha wa yasuminaku Konahiki-usu no hyooshi tori Yukai ni uta wo tsuzukemasu
(The End)
(English by Kimiko Kajiyama)
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