Gathering Music:
Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield
This Joy (Shirley Caesar), Resistance Revival Chorus
Resilient, Rising Appalachia
This Little Light of Mine (Traditional Gospel), Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Centering Music: The Brothers (and Father) Force
"The Wellerman"
Traditional, arr. by Christian Force
Interlude: Lyra Harada, piano and violin
Nagasaki no Kane (Bells of Nagasaki)
Hachiro Sato and Yuji Koseki, arr. by Lyra Harada
Lyra has provided the following background information:
“Nagasaki no Kane (Bells of Nagasaki)” was originally an essay by a radiologist named Dr. Takashi Nagai; his book was published in 1949, four years after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The essay and the life of Dr. Nagai became the inspiration for the movie of the same title with the theme being the titular song, with music and lyrics by Hachiro Sato and music by Yuji Koseki; the movie was released in 1950, just one year before Dr. Nagai died of leukemia.
The premiere of Koseki’s “Olympic March” at the Opening Ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics made Koseki the first composer of color and the first Japanese composer to have his original music featured in an Olympic Game. Koseki also made history as the first Japanese composer to have won a composition competition hosted by a small publishing firm in the UK with his now lost symphonic poem, “Princess Kaguya.” Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to go study in the UK as part of his prize since the competition was held just as the Great Depression occurred.
The music starts out in a minor key signifying the great tragedy and loss that was a result of the atomic bomb, even going as far as expressing a death of a wife as direct reference to Dr. Nagai, whose wife died in a fire at their home after the bomb dropped. However, the music changes to the original key’s parallel key signifying the optimism that there will be peace. The bells mentioned in the song refers to the bells that once stood in the Urakami Cathedral Church in Nagasaki City. Unfortunately, the original church was almost completely destroyed as a result of the atomic bomb, but the bells were miraculously found with no severe damages on the night of Christmas Eve in 1945. The bells became a symbol of hope for many regardless of their faith. Seventy-two years after the song’s release, it has proven to a song of hope during the Covid-19 pandemic and as well as constant signal to everyone that there will be not just peace within society but also inner peace for every individual.
Lyrics with Romanized Japanese and English Translation:
こよなく晴れた 青空を
悲しと思う せつなさよ
うねりの波の 人の世に
はかなく生きる 野の花よ
なぐさめ はげまし 長崎の
ああ 長崎の鐘が鳴る
召されて妻は 天国へ
別れてひとり 旅立ちぬ
かたみに残る ロザリオの
鎖に白き わが涙
なぐさめ はげまし 長崎の
ああ 長崎の鐘が鳴る
こころの罪を うちあけて
更けゆく夜の 月すみぬ
貧しき家の 柱にも
気高く白き マリア様
なぐさめ はげまし 長崎の
ああ 長崎の鐘が鳴る
Koyonaku
hareta aozora wo
Kanashi
to o-mou setsunasa yo
U-neri
no Nami no Hito-no-yo-ni
Hakanaku
ikiru no-no hana yo
Nagusame
Hagemashi Nagasaki no
Ah-Ah
Nagasaki no
Kane
ga Naru
Mesarete
tsuma wa Tengoku-e
Wakarete
hitori tabi dachi-nu
Katami
ni nokoru rozario no
Kusari
ni shiroki waga namida
Nagusame
Hagemashi Nagasaki no
Ah-Ah
Nagasaki no
Kane
ga Naru
Kokoro
no tsumi wo uchi-akete
Fuke
yuku yoru no tsuki sumi-nu
Mabushiki
ie no hashira ni mo
Kedakaku
shiroki Maria-sama
Nagusame
Hagemashi Nagasaki no
Ah-Ah
Nagasaki no
Kane
ga Naru
On a
clear sunny day,
Deep
sorrow engulfs me.
For I
am just a flower
Alone
in this world.
May
you bring comfort to us,
The
Bells of Nagasaki
Ah - The
Bells of Nagasaki
Will
forever ring!
My
wife has left me all alone
To be
with the Lord.
I can
only see remnants of my tears
On
the chains of the rosary
She leaves behind.
May
you bring comfort to us,
The
Bells of Nagasaki
Ah - The
Bells of Nagasaki
Will
forever ring!
On a
black, dark night
With
only the Moon to be my Light
I
confess my sins.
From the
pillars of my humble home
The
Virtuous Virgin Mary still stands.
May
you bring comfort to us,
The
Bells of Nagasaki.
Ah - The
Bells of Nagasaki
Will
forever ring!
Bridging Music: Wesley Miller, piano
A Wild and Distant Shore
Michael Nyman
IV. "For Helen Coates" from Four Anniversaries
Leonard Bernstein
8 Principles Songs: R.E. Students and Alums, with Laura Sehdeva and Adam Kent
Based on melodies from:
"Do You Hear the People Sing?" from Les Misérables
Claude Michel Schonberg
"Seasons of Love" from Rent
Jonathan Larson
"My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music
Richard Rogers
Parting Music: Adam Kent, piano
Scenas Infantis (Scenes of Childhood)
I. Run, run!
II. Ring around the Rosie
III. March, Little Soldier!
IV. Sleeping Time
V. The Hobby-Horse
Octavio Pinto
I.
The garden is full of life.
In the sunshine
children run about
Gaily and noisily.
Outside, on the street,
The poor blind man with his hand-organ
Sings his sorrows.
II.
"Let's play ring-around-the-rosie,"
Says little Anna Maria.
Quickly they form a ring
Singing and dancing.
III.
Little Luiz Octavio comes marching by,
With his men, in paper hats,
Carrying wooden guns.
IV.
The sun falls down the west,
Six times sings the Cuckoo in the clock.
The little girls sing lullabies,
Sing that their dollies must go to sleep
Before the bogey-man comes!
V.
And now play-time
is over,
And the children
Come prancing
happily home
On their wooden hobby-horses.
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