The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan (March 2011) elicited the first TV appearance of the Emperor, Akihito. He expresses his sadness at the plight of those affected and calls for unity and effort to rebuild.
The speech has been revealed to be exceedingly musical. The Emperor speaks in a hopeful, positive lilting 6/8 rhythm, brought out by Robert Davidson's accompaniment (performed by the composer).
love those chords and delicate timbres doing all the talking, and especially love the juxtaposition of the optimistic/hopeful sound against the context of the speech/video.
leahzuki 10 months ago
Stunning!
kazflute 10 months ago