Bookmarks from Japan MVT 6 Hakone Julie Giroux

Symphony IV Bookmarks from Japan
Movement VI. "HAKONE" "Drifting"
Composed by Julie Giroux
Performed by the Musashino Wind Ensemble,
Conducted by Ray E. Cramer

Based on the bookmark entitled "Hakone Pass"
which is based on the actual print by Hiroshige Ando
called "Hakone" which is from the print series
The 53 Stations of the Tokaido Highway.

PROGRAM NOTES
Hiroshige Ando (1797-1858) traveled the Tokaido from Edo to Kyoto in 1832. The official party he was traveling with were transporting horses which were gifts to be offered to the Imperial court. The journey greatly inspired Hiroshige for he sketched many of its scenes during his journey's round trip.
In all, Hiroshige produced 55 prints for the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido. Fifty three of the prints represent the 53 post stations along the way. The additional 2 prints are of the starting and ending points. The post stations offered food, lodging and stables for travelers of the Tokaido Highway.
Hakone-juku was the tenth of the fifty-three stationsof the Tokaido.

At an elevation of 725m, it is the highest post station on the entire Tokaido offering spectacular views. Hakone-juku was established in 1618 and over the years has proven to be a hard road to maintain due to its elevation.

THE MYSTERY
When I started researching Hakone there wasn't much of anything striking a chord within my creative self. Just a city that had a long road with lots of curves, switchbacks and other hazzards passing through it. It wasn't until I looked at the actual highway on a map that it rang a bell. I had seen this road before. I truly recognized the shape of the entire highway.
Having never been on that actual highway in real life I knew I had to unravel the mystery. A few more searches on the internet and there it was. I am an avid "gamer" and though I tend to play all types of games both on the computer and on consoles, I have always played racing games and that is where I had "driven" it before, in a video game. The drifting I did on that highway in the game
mostly sent me sailing off the road, flying through air and ultimately landing in a fiery, end over end wipeout. And as with any search on the internet, Youtube offered up a seemingly endless supply of videos featuring not one, but long parades of cars in single file drifting on the Tokaido Highway as it runs through Hakone.


THE MUSIC
Subtitled "Drifting" this piece reflects my love of fast cars doing crazy fun things. In this instance that would be drifting. Drifting is the art of manipulating the brakes, the gas and precise steering wheel positioning keeping the car in a controled skid/slide while traveling around curves. The music depicts the adrenaline racing, heart pumping action of drifting cars on the Tokaido Highway through Hakone and beyond. It is fast, furious, full of odd meters and features
nearly every instrument in the band at least once. My version of musical drifting.
Lets just hope there are no wipeouts or fiery crashes. Drifting on the Tokaido Highway will be on my "To Do" list during my next visit to Japan.