Famous music pieces of wind orchestra(Japanese composers)

Today I'd like to talk about pieces composed by Japanese composers.

1.Fantasy on Osaka Folk Tunes


Hiroshi Ohguri



 The composer of this piece is Hiroshi Ohguri. This piece is originally composed for Berlin Philharmonic. Later he arranged this for wind orchestra, then a lot of bands play this not only concert but also band competition.

 He expressed the atmosphere of Osaka by using the theme of nursery rhymes, shomyo, gidayuu, festival songs, all of which are very amiable for the local people. By his style, he was called "Eastern Bartók."

Fantasy on Osaka Folk Tunes:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tirgqn6AI9o



Hiroshi Hoshina



2.Fu-mon

 The composer is Hiroshi Hoshina. Although this was orginally a required piece for Japan band competition in 1987, many bands play this piece today. At that time, people said that "Playing this piece is easy, but it seems to continue with no end in sight to master." One version aimed to play as a required piece is shortened to match the limit time of the competiton, the other version, composed in 1999, is the primary version he thought at first.

 It starts calmly, and both melody and motif of this piece are brought up.