Gloriosa - Symphonic Poem for Band Mvt 2 & 3

A new acquisition by Bravo Music, this fresh printing of the 1990 masterwork by Yasuhide Ito features a newly engraved score, improved parts, good availability and value. This stirring and powerful homage to early Christianity in Japan profoundly andeloquently states the case of cross-cultural conflict and resolution.I. OratioII. CantusThe second movement, Cantus showcases a brilliant blend of Gregorian chant and Japanese elements by opening with a solo passage for the ryuteki, a type of flute. The theme is based on San Juan-sama no Uta (The Song of Saint John), a 17th-century songcommemorating the “Great Martyrdom of Nagasaki” where a number of Kyushu Christians were killed in 1622.III. Dies FestusThe third and final movement, Dies Festus, takes as its theme the Nagasaki folk song, Nagasaki Bura Bura Bushi, where many Crypto-Christians lived.Commissioned in 1989 and premiered in 1990 by the Sasebo Band of the Maritime Self-Defense Force of Kyushu, southern Japan.Gloriosa is inspired by the songs of the Kakure-Kirishitan (Crypto-Christians) of Kyushu who continued to practice their faith surreptitiously after the ban of Christianity, which had been introduced to that southern region in the mid-16th century byRoman Catholic missionary Francisco Xavier. The worship brought with it a variety of western music.