© 2000 Lawrence Tuczynski

Title	Music for the Stage Volume 2
CD Label	VAP Inc.
CD Number	VPCD-81154
Music by:	Akira Ifukube
Number of tracks	23
Running time	58:04
Number of discs	1
Year of release/manufacture	1996

REVIEW

March 10, 2000 This CD has a little better mix of tracks than Vol. 1 of this series. Some of the tracks here feature male vocals and/or a chorus singing in an older, more traditional Japanese style. Some of the tracks offer music of a suspenseful nature. Like Vol. 1, most of the tracks on this disc are slow moving pieces with no real action oriented pieces or marches. Just as in Vol. 1, a lot of the themes here invoke a tone or feeling of sadness. I enjoyed this CD and found it to be more listenable and less tiring than Vol. 1 of the series.

English Title: Akira Ifukube: Music for the Stage, Volume 2 Japanese Title: Ifukube Akira Butai Ongaku Zenshu Dainishu: [Renegade Son *1] 1. Act I, Scene I: The Hall Inside Hamamatsu Castle 2. The Dance of Saburo Nobuyasu 3. End of Scene I ? Scene II: Jibutsudo Hall 4. Scene III: Tokuhime's Mansion 5. Scene IV: The Tsukiyama Palace 6. Act II, Scene I: The Yahagigawa River 7. Shino and Nobuyasu 8. Dancing for the Gods: End of Scene I 9. Scene II: Tokuhime's Mansion 10. Kosasa: End of Scene II 11. Scene IV: The Courtyard in Okazaki Castle 12. Nobuyasu Enraged: End of Scene IV 13. Act III, Scene I: Tokuhime's Mansion 14. Scene II: Nobuyasu's Private Chambers 15. Scene IV: The Great Hall at Seiryuji Temple - Finale [Chivalry on the Kiso Highway: Shinza Nakanori *2] 16. Scene I: The Outskirts of Unumajuku 17. The Boulders Fall: End of Scene I 18. Scene II: Tetsugoro's Gambling Spot 19. Scene III: The Outskirts of the Unumajuku 20. Scene IV: The Nozugawa River Ferry in Koshu 21. Scene V: Tetsugoro's Gambling Spot 22. Scene VI: The Outskirts of Tsumago 23. Finale *1 The IDMB does not offer an English title for this work, the Japanese name of which is "Hangyakuji". Note that in previous CDs, I may have translated this title as "Treacherous Son". *2 The IDMB does not offer an English title for this work, the Japanese name of which is "Ninkyo: Kiso Kaido - Nakanori Shinza".