Reflections on an Old Japanese Folk Song

Reflections on an Old Japanese Folk Song is based on the tune Suiryo-Bushi, which comes from the shamisen tradition and opens with two contrasting statements of the melody followed by several variations each in an own style based uponthe same tune, or sometimes only fragments of it. In one of the variants, the pentatonic scale is used. The final section is in the form of a scherzo, which eventually forms the accompaniment to a final presentation of the folk tune.