Larry Sue’s Rehearsal Notes
Moon Over the Ruined Castle by Kazuko Okamoto
From Mr. Okamoto (provided in the notes on the reverse of the back cover): The original
tune of “Kojo no Tsuki” - “Moon Over the Ruined Castle” was composed in 1901 (34th year of
the Meiji period) by Rentaro Taki, and saw submitted as a song for a high school song collection
contest. It has been continuously loved by the Japanese throughout the years.
“Looking at the moon over the ruin, the lyrics, written in seven-five syllable, reflects on the rise
and fall of the era over a sad melody.
“It is believed that the lyrics by Bansui Doi was inspired by either Aoba Castle in Sendai, or by
Tsurugu Castle in Aizu Wakamatsu, while Rentaro Taki, the composer, was inspired by the
imagery of Takeda Castle in Ohita.
“In writing the handbell arrangement, without damaging the image of the original tune, I wove
the melody of “Sakura” which is known around the world into this piece.
“The tune starts with the ‘Shake’ technique, representing the cherry blossom petals drifting down
gracefully in the wind.
“If you could imagine standing alone at the ruin and looking at the moon over the castle in the
early spring evening. Reflecting on its history, ring the introduction section gently. After the main
theme is rung with soft and solemn sounds of the chime, a scene of glorious past evolves with
overlapping sounds of handbells.
“Please ring the bells fully with rich sound, to the melody of ‘Kojo no Tsuki” for the lower bells
and ‘Sakura’ for the middle bells. Sixteenth notes on the higher bells from measure 50 are the
petals of cherry blossoms in full bloom falling and drifting gently in the wind like snowflakes.
Please remember the delicateness of gentle petals.
“I hope you enjoy the Japanese elegant and sentimental melody through the beautiful sounds of
the handbells.”
Free use of these rehearsal notes is granted without charge,
but it would be proper to acknowledge the source!
©2013 Larry Sue
Larry Sue’s Rehearsal Notes
From Larry:
Mr. Okamoto composed this piece for the 2008 International Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
Imagine having about eight hundred ringers playing your piece!
On first blush, it strikes me that the most important thing we want to achieve (beyond playing the
black and white stuff on the pages) is a reasonable differentiation between the “Sakura” and
“Kojo no Tsuki” melodies and the backdrop motif that Mr. Okamoto compares to snowflakes. So
I propose the following:
“Sakura” is played with what I consider a normal ringing stroke - a right angle at the
bottom of the stroke, and a medium-sized circle. This will give enough rhythmic
definition to keep the melody clear.
“Kojo no Tsuki” will need to be more incisive, so use a crisper clapper impact (i.e.
sharper stroke angle) and possibly a smaller circle.
“Snowflakes” and other flowing accompaniment patterns will need to be subordinated to
the theme(s), so ring those with a gentler stroke (larger stroke angle) and a large circle.
Musically, we’ll be paying attention to just how we need to integrate the individual parts of the
piece, and how to make them individually identifiable to the listeners. And then we’ll do our best
to convey the images that the composer has in his mind!
Timbre Notations:
1:
13:
26:
29:
34:
42:
50:
>3
⊥2
>3
⊥1
⊥2
>3
⊥2
>3
⊥2
<2
Eighth note line
All
Bells
Upstemmed treble
Upstemmed treble
Upstemmed treble
Downstemmed treble and bass
Upstemmed treble
Downstemmed treble
Bass (and connected treble notes)
Free use of these rehearsal notes is granted without charge,
but it would be proper to acknowledge the source!
©2013 Larry Sue
Larry Sue’s Rehearsal Notes
58:
65:
73:
⊥2
>3
>2
<2
<1
Upstemmed treble
Downstemmed treble
Bass eighth notes
Upstemmed bass
All
Free use of these rehearsal notes is granted without charge,
but it would be proper to acknowledge the source!
©2013 Larry Sue