Aizu-Bandai-San Question

[Katie Tam]

Hi,

My choir is doing a Japanese (or Korean??) folk song called Aizu-Bandai-San,
arranged by Hiroshi Ishimaru for 3 part treble voices with Soprano splits at
the end, and some spoken words.

Has anyone done this piece before? I am looking for a translation of it.

And also, the music we borrowed is a photocopied version, does anyone know
where I could find real copies of it?

Thank you very much!!

Katie Tam

[Choraltalk Gateway]

Katie,

Japanese, for sure. But it was also preserved in a big-band arrangement
popular with the Hawaiian-Japanese nisei community in the 1950s.

At first look, it appears to be a folk song from a rugged, mountainous area
of Japan. I have attached (in my e-mail to you) a .JPG file that I located of
Mount Bandai, an active volcano on Honshu island.

You do not list your location, so I'm not sure where you're at. If there is a
Japanese cultural society or chamber of commerce, or Japanese teaching staff
at a nearby university or college, I'd take the text to them. Or if there's a
nearby Japanese restaurant or sushi bar, I'd take it there. (It might be more
fun. <g>)

Have you thought about bringing in a native speaker of Japanese to teach
pronunciation (and incidental culture) to the kids?

HTH (Hope This Helps),
J. R. Norton
Freelance writer/journalist/researcher
Denver, Colorado