Opus number: 49

Title: Two Haiku (translations of Japanese Haiku)

Instrumentation: soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano

Date written: February 1999, Boston

Length: three minutes

Commissioner: Fred Cohen, Currents, University of Richmond, Virginia

Premiere performance: Currents, Fred Cohen, conducting, March 1999

Important subsequent performances: Boston Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble, Larry Bell, conducting, May 2, 1999

Recordings: tape at The Boston Conservatory

Program notes: Two Haiku was commissioned by Fred Cohen for the Currents ensemble and first performed in Richmond, Virginia, in March 1999 at the America Haiku Association conference. It is written for the “Pierrot” ensemble and uses texts by Santoka and Issa, respectively.

Texts: 1. Alone silently

the bamboo shoot

becomes a bamboo

2. out from darkness

back into darkness

affairs of the cat