Minina is the little sister of my piece Mina, for five soloists and orchestra. That was the first piece I composed after the birth of my first child. I started a month after she, called Mina, was born. When I completed the piece, she was a five-month-old baby!
I was truly inspired by attending the childbirth (not that I did anything there), especially by the sight of a newborn baby. I was amazed how one's life on earth starts so suddenly. This piece also begins as if it starts in the middle; the soloists play together at first, as if they were one instrument. I wanted to show how rapidly the mood of the music shifts from one mood to another, just as if you were looking at the baby's face, which displays four expressions in one second.
In this new version, I have adapted the pizzicato violin from prepared dulcimer. As in the original, there is a section where the bass flute solo is accompanied by prepared dulcimer and bells and so on; I imagined it as a dreaming section. It is strange, looking at a one-month-old baby: you can tell clearly she is dreaming, but about what, I wonder. She has only been here for a month; what can she see, to make her smile or cry, so vivid is her dream. I found this experience both mysterious and peaceful, looking over the crib she is sleeping in.
Dai Fujikura (edited by Gregory Brown)