Hiyoli Togawa – Songs of Solitude (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

“Songs of Solitude was conceived by the violist Hiyoli Togawa at a time when a virus was forcing people across the world into isolation and she herself needed to find a new rhythm of life as concert after concert was being cancelled. As she relates in the booklet to the recording, playing Bach – music that combines powerful emotions with a crystal-clear structure – became part of her daily routine, along with walks along the empty streets of Berlin. During these, the importance of remaining creative became even clearer to her, along with the idea to offer people the opportunity through music to reflect upon the difficulties of living through a pandemic. Having recently collaborated with the composer Kalevi Aho, she came upon the idea of asking him and a number of other composers to write for her – pieces that would “reflect life and work in the time of the coronavirus and that distil isolation in music”.

The result is “Songs of Solitude” – works for solo viola commissioned from eleven different composers and interwoven with sarabandes from Bach’s Cello Suites. The individual pieces range from the meditative (Toshio Hosokawa reminiscing in his version of the traditional Sakura) to the defiant (Johanna Doderer’s Shadows). Some of them even provided Hiyoli with musical company – Aho’s Am Horizont requires her to play two parts on the viola while singing a third, and the piece by John Powell is written for nine voices, recorded in multitrack.

The album was recorded in Berlin during three periods, June to October 2020, as the various pieces arrived and the restrictions in place at the time permitted.

Tracklist:
01. Hiyoli Togawa – Sakura (Arr. for Viola) – Solitude (03:52)
02. Hiyoli Togawa – Cello Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 1010: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola) (04:23)
03. Hiyoli Togawa – Shadows (04:14)
04. Hiyoli Togawa – Nostalgia (04:09)
05. Hiyoli Togawa – Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola) (02:35)
06. Hiyoli Togawa – Ode an die Stille (03:07)
07. Hiyoli Togawa – Silence (03:57)
08. Hiyoli Togawa – Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola) (03:35)
09. Hiyoli Togawa – Am Horizont (05:31)
10. Hiyoli Togawa – Perfect Time for a Spring Cleaning (03:52)
11. Hiyoli Togawa – Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola) (03:38)
12. Hiyoli Togawa – Keep Moving (02:48)
13. Hiyoli Togawa – Salve nos (05:30)
14. Hiyoli Togawa – Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola) (04:26)
15. Hiyoli Togawa – 5 Impressions of Self-Isolation: No. 1, Calling Out (03:12)
16. Hiyoli Togawa – 5 Impressions of Self-Isolation: No. 2, Wine for One (03:36)
17. Hiyoli Togawa – 5 Impressions of Self-Isolation: No. 3, Only Birds in the Sky (01:26)
18. Hiyoli Togawa – 5 Impressions of Self-Isolation: No. 4, How Many Weeks? (02:20)
19. Hiyoli Togawa – 5 Impressions of Self-Isolation: No. 5, Back to the English Garden (01:42)
20. Hiyoli Togawa – Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola) (04:50)
21. Hiyoli Togawa – Consolation (05:45)