AKIRAIFUKUBE.ORG - Ode: The Sea of Okhotsk

ODE: THE SEA OF OKHOTSK
(1958, revised 1988)

Engraving of Port Aya, Siberia on the Sea of Okhotsk (1884)

The Sea of Okhotsk (named after Okhotsk, the first Russian settlement in the Russian Far East) is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaido to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and north. Russian explorers Ivan Moskvitin and Vassili Poyarkov were the first Europeans to discover the Sea of Okhotsk in the second quarter of the 17th century.

Originally composed in 1958, Ifukube's Ode: The Sea of Okhotsk was written for a mixed chorus and a three woodwind orchestra without violin or viola. Taking inspiration from Igor Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Ifukube aimed to emphasize the contrast between voices and instruments by omitting high and medium note strings which share a certain tonal similarity with human voices.

The updated version of Ode: Sea of Okhotsk is scored for soprano, fagotto, contrabass and piano.

Only the updated 1988 version has ever been recorded. The composer dedicated the piece to the famous Japanese soprano, Yumi Aikawa.

Yumi Aikawa

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