Conscious of creating a "Japanese Piano Quartet," I composed a six-movement suite depicting scenes and emotional landscapes of "Southern Islands."

• 1 - Introduction ~ U-no-ji
  Following a brief opening, a small set of variations based on "U-no-ji," a children's song from the Kyushu region, unfolds.
• 2 - Clouds
  A scene of faintly dark clouds, evoking melancholy, drifting by in a minimalist style.
• 3 - Scherzo
  A Japanese-style "humor" (kaigyaku) in the manner of Hindemith. Bittersweet memories.
• 4 - Longing
  A fleeting moment of yearning arising within the humid air.
• 5 - Island Fugue
  A short fugue based on a theme in the Ryukyu scale. Unlike typical structures, this fugue serves as a "prelude" to the following "Wind from the South."
• 6 - Wind from the South
  A scene of the perpetually azure sea and the all-encompassing sky, along with their emotional landscapes, encompassing a history of sorrow.

(Based on a piece previously composed for a creative dance in Okinawa.)