Work Commentary

The third movement of this sonata is subtitled "Elegy for Tokuyama Village, The Submerged Village," and the fourth movement is subtitled "Elegy for Tokuyama Village, The Village of the Headwaters."

Tokuyama Dam is a massive dam completed in 2008 on the upper reaches of the Ibi River in the Kiso River system, Gifu Prefecture. Its water storage capacity is said to exceed that of Lake Hamana. Due to the construction of this dam, all residents of Tokuyama Village left, and the village disappeared from maps.

The nature and life of many Japanese mountain villages, other than famous tourist spots and scenic areas, have been disappearing one after another over the past few decades, unnoticed by urban dwellers.

When I visited this village on my way back from climbing Mt. Kanmuri, the innermost peak of the village, the evacuation had already been completed, the trees in the area to be submerged were brutally cut down, and the landscape was desolate before the water was impounded.

There is a wonderful photo collection by Tazuko Masuyama that captures the final moments of this village.

In 2008, the year Tokuyama Dam was completed, I composed the orchestral pieces "Elegy for Tokuyama Village, The Submerged Village" and "Elegy for Tokuyama Village, The Village of the Headwaters." Although I applied to various composition competitions and contacted orchestra personnel, the pieces have yet to be premiered. While this work was prompted by the submersion of Tokuyama Village, it is also a music of deep affection and regret for the lives of mountain villages throughout Japan that are rapidly disappearing due to depopulation and other factors.

In the past, places in mountain villages that I visited as a student, where many people lived, have, upon recent re-visitation, become desolate with abandoned houses and fallow fields due to depopulation and aging. Village festivals can no longer be maintained, and the culture of daily life is rapidly being lost. Melodies with the feel of Japanese mountain village music intertwine with sounds that sometimes threaten them, sometimes gently envelop them, sometimes express poignant affection, anger, and anxiety, and sometimes evoke the wonder of distant time.

As of December 2024, Kohei Kondo has three "Piano Sonatas." His first, Sonata for the Left Hand 'Journey to the High-Altitude Wetland' – for Izumi Tateno (a commissioned work by Hidari-te no Bunko), was premiered by Izumi Tateno in 2013. Piano Sonata No. 3 'American Bomb' – for the A-bombed Piano, a work with singing in Hiroshima dialect, was premiered by Tomomi Shimizu in 2024. In contrast, this Piano Sonata No. 2 is a large-scale work in four movements, composed solely for two-hand piano performance, and is dedicated to its premiere performer, Nanako Sugiura. The third and fourth movements are piano arrangements of his orchestral work, Elegy of Tokuyama Village. The first movement is in sonata form with a repeat sign in the first half; while its form adheres to the classical "sonata," the themes, harmony, timbre, rhythm, and development showcase Kondo's unique compositional style. The second movement is a scherzo-like movement with a sense of propulsion, requiring it to be played through in tempo. The third movement is the most dramatic, carefully crafted to allow the piano to resonate fully across a wide range. The fourth movement minimally depicts a scene of gradual sublimation, moving towards its source.