For a long time, I had the idea of arranging Japanese traditional music into guitar repetoire. When the original music does not have difficult technique and the quality is good enough for the concert program, I always imagined it would be a wonderful way for the music to be played by more people, also to convey the beauty of Japanese songs to next generations. I composed Rhapsody Japan with this specific thought. It started with arranging Japanese folk songs, and old ballads and songs of during after the Meiji Era (1986-1912), not only for solo, but also for duo and trio as well as others. According to the number of instruments, I decided to call solo, version 1; duo, version 2. It is also arranged in a way that the number of songs can also be chosen by the performers. This means an endless work of arranging and composing. This Rhapsody Japan (version 2) includes seven songs: my original Introduction, Sakura, Hana, Toryanse, Hamabe no Uta, Zuizui Zukkorobashi, Furusato, and in the middle of the piece Toryanse is overlapped by Kagome Kagome.
Shingo Fujii (Kyoto, 2008)
English translation by Wakana Takai
- 序章 Introduction
- さくら Sakura
- 花 Hana（滝廉太郎）
- 通りゃんせ～かごめかごめ Touryanse, Kagome Kagome
- 浜辺の歌 Hamabe no Uta（成田為三）
- すいすいすっころばし ZuiZui-Zukkorobashi
- ふるさと Furusato（岡野貞一）
※ 楽譜は2008年にフォレストヒルエディションより出版（FHED20806） 、出版にあわせてW.カネンガイザー、藤井眞吾によってレコーディングされ、また続くリサイタル（2008年6月22日/博多、24日/広島、25日/京都）で演奏されました。
※「ラプソディー・ジャパン」はほぼ同等の内容で5部編成のギター合奏曲として2007年に作曲したもの（未出版）がありますので、合奏版を「ver.5」、そして二重奏曲版を「ver.2」としています。
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