Adagio for Band Yasuhide Ito

Commissioned and premiered by the Tamagawa Gakuen Upper Secondary Division Wind Orchestra conducted by Akira Hasebe on March 20th, 2006 at their 39th Annual Concert.

I seek enjoy pondering musical terms. For example, 'fermata' also means bus stop in Italian. The common definition of 'adagio' is a slow tempo or slow movement, but the Latin origin agio means peace, tranquility, or calm. A preposition 'ad' was added to imply 'to' or 'toward' depicting a literal action toward peacefulness. Therefore, the term 'ad libitum' comes from the Latin for 'towards freedom'.

This composition does not begin as an adagio. It more concerns the meaning of original Latin word 'agio' or 'peace'. Therefore, the emotional progression 'adagio' or 'toward peace' includes:
- m. 9 : flute solo motif tries to ascend, but fails*
- m. 19 : oboe offers a mournful descending motif*
- m. 26 : struggle and irritation*
- m. 40 : despair and grief*
- m. 109 : longing for hope after much struggle*
- m. 214 : chorale depicting realization of hope*
- m. 252 : peace, serenity, and calm.

*The final trumpet uses a silent practice mute to perform with the least audible sound.
With the frequently unfortunate news surrounding us, this title carries my humble plea of 'toward peacefulness' or 'towards peace'.