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This is a Modern piece . This piece was composed for koto by Matsumura Teizo in 1984 .

Air of Prayer appears on the following albums:

Album	Shakuhachi	Koto	Shamisen
Teizo Matsumura - Selected Works Vol II  (Listen)		Sawai Kazue
"Air of Prayer" commissioned by Kazue Sawai was composed in between March and October of 1984. As "Fantasy" was produced by the collaboration of Matsumura and Tadao Sawai. "I and Kazue Sawai had heated discussions for several months on the numerous sounds we had been trying to fix. I could write this piece because I was so impressed and fascinated by her native musical talent and her strong passions to play every one of notes." Matsumura says. There sits a virgin and many singers around her to give occult prayer. They are surrounded by a large group of people. The vital song of prayer gushed out from the ground becomes uplift and they all dance madly in ecstasy. Then they all become tired and prostrate down on the ground. The music is so full of primitive and direct energy that those scenes can be imagined. Matsumura succeeded in composing "such an energetic piece which is Asian in concept and directly linked to the root of lire" using one of Japanese instruments which have never been related to that kind world. - Kurodo MORI (translation: T. N.)