On Haiku

In 2015, Wim Henderickx composed On Haiku for shō and percussion for the MA Festival in Bruges. The version of On Haiku (The Four Seasons) for shō, percussion and string quartet was commissioned by Transit, Festival for New Music in Leuven in 2016. In 2024, Wim Henderickx's musical assistant, Diederik Glorieux, created a version of this work for accordion, percussion and string quartet, at the request of Vincent van Amsterdam for a Dutch premiere at November Music 2024. All these works are inspired by four haiku poems and reflect the four seasons in short musical impressions.The four parts of the work are: Haru (Spring), Natsu (Summer), Aki (Autumn) and Fuyu (Winter). The work has a ceremonial and ritualistic character, partly because the shō is played in a different place in the hall in each movement. 
Between the movements there are short percussion interventions performed by the shō player. After movement 1 these are small metal chimes, after movement 2 a small gong and after movement 3 a small thunder sheet. The four Haikus: I. HARU (Spring) Drenched in drops, in morning rain the whistling of nightingales. (Issa, 1763-1827) II. NATSU (Summer) O pure water! if only a mouthful - how delightful! (Buson, 1715-1783) III. AKI (Autumn) When I had seen everything, my eye rested on a white chrysanthemum. (Isshō, 1652-1688) IV. FUYU (Winter) Dawn breaks; and last night's storm is buried in snow. (Shirō, 1724-1815) Haikus from “Japans Gedicht” (Japanese Poetry) by J. van Tooren (Meulenhoff Amsterdam)