Drei Engel-Lieder

Angels exist between this world and a world beyond this world that cannot be seen. They are the messengers who let us see a glimpse of the other world. In recent years, I have become interested in shamanism and have composed music where the musicians assume the role of shamans who let us see the world beyond this world through the use of sound. In this work, the soprano plays the role of both an angel and a shaman (miko). The texts I’ve chosen are by a Jewish German poet, Else Lasker-Schüler, and a Jewish philosopher and critic of religion, Gershom Scholem. Toshio Hosokawa