Founder’s address: Bunsho Mifune, Spring 2005
Why do we listen to music? This is one of the questions not only a music fan but also we sometimes raise, for our daily life is flooded with sound.
First of all, there is music. This is my reply.
There exists no music originally if there were no music performers, whether it might be composed music or improvised one. We listen to music because there is music. Simply stated, musical performer causes significant restriction of our experience. We can only take on the sound of music as much as that a musical performer offers. (Someone might say that one even gains a better sense of the poor performance. In most cases, however, it will soon become clear that our brain automatically compensates adequately for deficiencies or that our previous excellent experience of the sound overlaps unconsciously.) The listener tends to pursue his desires when soul-stirring music sometimes deeply moves him – “I want to listen to it! There should be more exquisite music!”
At the same time, the listener also dimly perceives that the supreme music would not be created only by a musical performer alone. Something like a mediator between heaven and listeners might descend at that moment.
Voice of heaven – a composer – a musical performer – listeners: unification of the four-position brings the happiest experience of music. In other words it is an once-in-a-lifetime encounter – a miraculous event that one seldom has such a chance. It is my firm faith that once, now and forever there should be no other way but by meeting a true miracle, which makes our life truly significant.
Here has come into being a miracle; eighty-year old Mrs. Ruth Slenczynska’s piano performance.
In 2004 I have founded Liu Mifune Art Ensemble Records (Liu MAER) as an individual, without reflecting on my deserving the weight of the responsibility. It is my sincere wish that the joy of meeting a miracle could be shared with lovers of music as much as possible.
Mrs. Ruth Slenczynska has brought a lot of miracles in Japan for only one year and a half since 2003. My sincere prayers go for abundant benefit and welfare of a lot of souls through four sets of CD (together eight disks) that are the fruit of miracles grace to her.
