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KAKEHASHI: THAT WE MIGHT LIVE

A Documentary in Music

 Michael Hotltzclaw 22 May 2005 Daily Press Article
 Michael Hotltzclaw 11 Sep 2005 Daily Press Article


KAKEHASHI: That We Might Live, A Documentary in Music

Description

Remember the Future... for Truth is Timeless. Our bridge to the Future is a place THAT WE MIGHT LIVE, a finally-fulfilled destiny beyond the Past, a new world born of facing our mutual and unfortunate Pasts with Hope, of forgiveness, of Love and Freedom. Such is the Home, then, now and always, that all of us have longed for.

The Japanese concept of "Kakehashi" refers to a this bridge of Hope, of Friendship, of our mutual overcoming of the Past.

KAKEHASHI: That We Might Live, A Documentary in Music is made complete by an historically accurate, pre-recorded CD of authentic radio & musical clips from World War II, excerpts and lyrics of which are pertinent to events in the Pacific.

In fact, 70 Copyrights were purchased in order to recreate the Past, firstly inspired by the Survivors of the Conflict in the Philippines, and now... in this more Universal telling of the story, the perspective of the Home-longing Japanese and the Innocent Souls lost in the destructive conclusion of World War II, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The connective thread? HOME. At the conclusion, we hear 2 arrangements. God Bless America, the key words of which are "Home Sweet Home", and then Furusato, which means... "My Home". Furusato, becomes the connective conclusion. Home, Home Sweet Home, Heimat.

To complete the international flavor of this Universal Version, Furusato is brought to us by Thomas Rundel of Germany. And it was in Germany that the first inspiration for a piece about HOME began. This concept of Home is explored in the connected and further concluding piece: JIDAI. It is the idea of Home, of HEIMAT.

This large scale, but accessible work utilizes a large chorus, the extended instrumentation of Band of the 3rd Millennium as described in the "storm" works, theatrical reenactments, comparable to David and Ahab!, and a disk of prerecorded Radio Broadcasts, songs, morse code clips and more from the period. This prerecorded CD will "accompany" the ensemble in the same manner as was premiered and demonstrated in The Universe Below.

This new and evolved work, KAKEHASHI: That We Might Live, A Documentary in Music is inspired by the Leadrship and Vision of The Japan Air Self Defense Force Band who bravely recorded this work for the Chapter 5:8 CD Set: WRITINGS on the WALL.

Here now, to better sum the special Gift of the Japanese, please enjoy my opening comments for the Chapter 5:8 CD Set:

"Remember the Future for Truth is Timeless . . ."
A Personal Message from SLM 2004
STORMWORKS Chapter V∞, Writings on the Wall


It takes a photon 38 million years to escape the forcible, unforgiving gravity of the sun and blast its way to the surface where eight minutes later it bathes the earth in the Light by which you find yourself reading this libretto.

In the Timestorm of that 38 million years and eight minutes, give or take a few hundred years... a mere and tiny moment of imperceptible dancing on the cosmic stage... the Human drama has seen unthinkable violence, pain, hurt, self-inflicted suffering... emptiness and longing. And with it? Untold Love, Sacrifice, Giving and Heroism.

Without Warning we are cast into the epic adventure. In the hollow of the heart, sense must be made of the constantly swirling storm, the unraveling of the mysterious. Free will. Choice? Fate? The seemingly endless succession of useless, inevitable, somehow destined to be traversed catastrophes as Man brutalizes his Brother... and then... steps forward to rise above such folly.

In your hands is a recording, the meaning of which escapes the moment of your listening. It leaps across Time... past, future, possible future and present. Rising above our mutual and many sins of the past, the Vision of Brotherhood is not merely written about... but finally, in a way only Human History could have produced... demonstrated.

We are a part of the convergent Moment. History is made.

Though all should be self-evident, allow yourself to contemplate the document in your possession. It is the first Recording to be released outside of Japan by the The Central Band of the Japanese Air Self Defense Force. With the Good graces of the Japanese government, the JASDF Band offers this document in the 60th year marking the end of World War 2. In the Music, we encounter an historically accurate and by our current view, a tragic and unfortunate Past. As Japanese Musicians render KAKEHASHI: That We Might Live, A Documentary in Music with the Choruses from Old Dominion and Shenandoah Universities, one cannot help but see an unchained intersection of time and culture-crunching dimensions. Have we done it? Have we laid strong the path by which Man exercises His greatest gift... the ability to short-circuit the needless predetermined march into more suffering? Has a new blueprint been established where, instead of embracing the False, the fleeting, and Art of the State, we have taken that lofty right-face into the Brotherhood of Man? Have we collapsed evolution into the moment of our combined Will and chosen to live by Love inviolate, an evolved position which must... after all... be our True Destiny?

Answers reside within. The document you hold is now History, a History of the Future. It is made possible by an important reality which can never be taken for granted. The Heroism that is "talked about", and written about and urged for and hoped for rises far above all former cliches. Music as a "universal language" is exposed for the many times it was mere hyperbole and its sentiment inappropriately invoked. The Heroes portrayed in this Recording, immortalized once again in the Living thing we call Music, are represented, indeed demonstrated by the Japanese Musicians who render it. They have become, in their transcendent DOING, the role models of a new generation of Heroes. A new JIDAI. It is impossible to thank them enough... for only THEY, at THIS Time, in THIS circumstance with our combined Histories, could have heroically donned the mantle of message bearer.

And their message is profound indeed.

In the spirit of eternal Brotherhood, ALL of us are honoured and humbled to be a small part of this Triumph! Through Time and Space, geography and culture, language and History, ALL of us who have made this Music, ALL of us alive and sacrificed who have lived and inspired it, ALL of us who have drudged through our brief moment like a struggling photon in search of Light... join with you in the Now and share with you a message of Forgiveness and Love... of Giving and Sacrifice, of facing the Storm and rising above it.

History is made. May you make it well.

Into the hope-filled Adventure... Godspeed! Stephen Melillo

This piece is from the STORMWORKS... Chapter V∞ CD.

Please also read: That We Might Live... by Grace C. Nash. I did not know this book existed until long after writing both THAT WE MIGHT LIVE and KAKEHASHI: That We Might Live. And the SYNC? It's enormous!

 

Testimonials

"Steve, words cannot express the soaring emotions which one experiences when hearing this monumental work. You deserve the Medal of Freedom for this piece of patriotism, especially for your success in having the spirited cooperation of a once-despised and brutal enemy. I salute you, Sir!" -Joseph R. Priestley, LCDR, USN (Ret.) Served in WWII, Korea & Vietnam

"Stephen's new CD, Chapter 5:8 "Writings on the Wall" is indeed a historic groundbreaking album and a total artistic triumph. The Japanese military band and American voices superbly deliver a phenomenal performance of music that is at once gripping and spellbinding! From the moving mega work Kakehashi to the great uplifting rendition of God Bless America this double CD set is packed with masterworks. Cuba skillfully weaves music which creates two distinct atmospheres - one of the fun party nature of Tropicana - like casinos and the other of the oppression of the island's present dictatorial regime. Melillo migrates back and forth between these two moods with absolute musical mastery and with the full command of all his instrumental resources. The Violin Concerto, on the other hand, symbolizes the utmost in modern Romanticism. It is an outstanding expressive work which puts the violin through a myriad of expressive and technical paths. Bravo to Melillo on this fantastic achievement!" -Aldo Rafael Forte, Composer

"Stephen, Thank you so much for sending us the CD Chapter 5:8 Writings on the Wall... That was incredibly kind of you... After that phenomenal experience with our son playing in your New York Conference All-State Band last month in Rochester, I started listening to the other tracks on Wait of the World, A Walk on the Water and now the most powerful and epic Writings on the Wall... (That work is musical theatre in the truest sense!) I have to tell you that in as much as we enjoyed the very dramatic pieces that were played at all-state, I discovered that there are also dozens of other exquisite pieces in these three compilations... As a matter of fact, I want to order the whole Stormworks series! The more I hear the music, the more I hear it! It is beyond awesome!!! In this music, I hear a rare spirituality that has awakened me in a profound way. There is a soulful, poignancy in all of the melodies - an unfulfillable longing that leaves me breathless in its incredible beauty. The music is like a journey... It is a parallel to life... You never know what's coming next or when you will suddenly find yourself at the edge of the precipice...or at the gates of Heaven... It is all fresh, original and full of hope, glory, pain, sorrow, joy - all of the elements of life! You have made me a Stephen Melillo fan for life! I can't wait to hear what's coming next!!! All best wishes," -Laurel Bern - "band mom", dancer and music lover