My Star – Akane Nakanishi: Songs on English Poems

Words, Music, and People Bound Across Time
The Essence of Akane Nakanishi’s Creative World

Shakespeare, Poe, and the Brownings—this song collection brings together the rich language of English poetry, crystallized through the sensitive musical voice of the composer Akane Nakanishi. It unfolds the fairy-lit fantasy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Poe’s world in which the tolling of bells mirrors the course of human life, the unaccompanied Annabel Lee, which strips sound back to the very core of words, and Weep you no more, gently embracing loss and renewal. Completing the program is My Star, where poems of love intersect and resonate. Centered on tenor Hirohisa Tsuji, and set within an intimate soundscape woven by piano and guitar, poetry and music merge as one, drawing the listener ever deeper into the heart of each narrative.

• Shakespeare’s Fairies – A Midsummer Night’s Dream［Words by William Shakespeare］
  • [1]　1. Over hill, over dale
  • [2]　2. Flower of this purple dye
  • [3]　3. Up and down
  • [4]　4. Be as thou wast wont to be
  • [5]　5. Sound, music
  • [6]　6. Now the hungry lion roars
  • [7]　If we shadows
• The Bells － after Edgar Allan Poe  for voice and guitar 
  • [8]　1. Silver Bells
  • [9]　2. Golden Bells
  • [10]　3. Brazen Bells
  • [11]　4. Iron Bells
• [12]　Annabel Lee  for solo voice［Words by Edgar Allan Poe］
  
• [13]　Weep you no more  for voice and guitar［Anon.］
• My Star – Five Poems by Robert and Elizabeth Barrett BROWNING
  
  • [14]　1. PIPPA’S SONG ［Robert］
  • [15]　2. HOW DO I LOVE THEE? 　［Elizabeth］
  • [16]　3. MY STAR ［Robert］
  • [17]　4. QUESTION AND ANSWER［Elizabeth］
  • [18]　5. LOVE　［Robert］

Hirohisa Tsuji, tenor
Norio Sato, guitar
Akane Nakanishi, composition & piano

Recorded at Coppice Miyoshi Miyoshimachi Cultural Center, 23-25 July 2025
Recording Engineer: Jun Kawanami
Assistant Engineer: Ikuro Yoshida
Piano Technician: Kaname Manabe
Editing: Takako Yanagisawa
Notes: Akane Nakanishi
Cover Design: Nori Watabe (kjkb.jp)
Coproduction: Shin Musica
Booklet Editor: Kensuke Fujii