Futatsu no Gun no Tame Ni（二つの群の為に）, Music for Two Armadas by Tadao Sawai (1976)
Koto Solo, 3 Kotos, Bass Koto Solo, 2 Bass Kotos
This piece was composed for Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai’s joint recital series in Osaka and Fukuoka.
With the solo koto and solo bass koto as the center, the other kotos and bass kotos form 2 armada. This piece takes up the concept of contrast, and the intersecting and combination of sound. In the first and second movement, a conscious effort was made to avoid traditional playing techniques and musical structures. Instead the aim was to create a sense of modernism using the instrument itself as a subject matter. However, in the third movement, this is turned around as more traditional musical structures and playing techniques are used, in an experimental attempt to further develop the concept of Contemporary Traditional Music.