The Great Wave Off Kanagawa (after Katsushika Hokusai)

PROGRAM NOTES

This work is inspired by The Great Wave off Kanagawa, a 19th-century Japanese woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai. The image presents a towering wave in the foreground, boats cutting through it, and Mount Fuji in the distance. Although they belong to entirely different worlds—water and land—the wave and the mountain share the same colors, subtly linking them—a relationship echoed in the music, where the same material appears in different roles.

The music begins with the immediacy of the wave itself, its force established in A minor. A brief two-note figure, first heard in the horns, represents the boats, appearing intermittently as it presses forward through the surrounding motion. At the same time, strong open fifths (A–E) sound against the turbulence, representing Mount Fuji—present from the beginning, but largely obscured.

When the motion collapses, Fuji comes into full view. The music settles into B major, where a brass chorale establishes the mountain’s permanence and scale. A more intimate clarinet duet follows, offering a brief sense of calm and beauty.

The wave returns, now in B minor, more urgent and driven, building to its most intense surge before breaking apart once more.

In the final moments, the wave disappears, leaving the B-major harmonic field—Fuji—alone. The sound settles into stillness. The wave recedes. The mountain endures.