Sieben Samurai
VISION OF THE WORK
Sieben Samurai – Seven Samurai
Symphonic poem for seven taiko drummers and symphony orchestra
Seven Samurai is a large-scale symphonic poem based on motifs from the film Seven Samurai by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. A masterpiece of film history that remains as relevant today as it was when it was made over 70 years ago. A work whose message is so important for us to express again today: if we join forces, humanity can achieve anything. Whether in the fight against the climate crisis or repressive and aggressive political forces.
My symphonic poem takes up this theme, symbolised by seven taiko drummers who act in unison within a surrounding soundscape, leading the work to orchestral climaxes through dramatic intensification and rhythmic compression. The respective taiko players are part of a driving force that achieves perfect development through perfect symbiosis. The relationship of the individual within the group and then to the community, symbolised by the orchestra, which will change again and again in terms of sound, like the world around us, forms the central theme of the composition.
A new symphonic poem that takes the humanistic heritage of this significant Japanese masterpiece further in an orchestral context, thereby innovatively illuminating and rethinking cultural heritage through the means of modern symphonic music.