Among the monuments at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan is one dedicated to the thousands innocent children who died from atomic bomb that leveled the city and its fallout. Atop the dome-shaped pedestal of the Children’s Peace Monument stands the bronze figure of the girl who inspired it, holding a paper crane up to the sky. Sadako Sasaki was only 2 years old when the bomb fell and while she survived, she sadly passed away 10 years later of leukemia like so many of the “hibakusha”, the Japanese word for those affected by the bomb. Sadako is remembered today, however, as a symbol of irrepressible hope and optimism and it is in this light she serves as inspiration for a poignant new album by Fabian Rosenberg (aka Klangriket) and Sjors Mans.
The Origami Birds of the title are a reference to the many paper cranes young Sadako folded while in the hospital in the hope that she would get well according to the terms of a Japanese legend that said folding a 1000 could make a person’s wish come true. It is said she ended up folding 1300 origami cranes of various shapes and sizes, often making do with odd scraps when sheets of paper were in short supply. No one could possibly begrudge a child in these circumstances such hope for themselves, but the accounts of Sadako at that time make it evident that she engaged in this endeavor as much to share kindness and compassion with those around her as she did for her own well-being.
The music the duo created for their record resonates with compassionate respect for its source of inspiration. At the heart of it is a touching poem penned by Rosenberg and recited by women representing three generations in both English and Swedish.
Open the window. Let the cold air in.
Fold one and make another. An identical twin.
Make them in different colors and shapes.
And when you’ve folded a thousand
look what a difference it makes.
They spread their wings they fly away.
They go places where you’ve never been.
Caught by the wind they swirl around and around.
And when you, and I fold a thousand.
They form rainbow clouds. They will cover the sky.
Thousands of thousands become a million.
And then they fall. One by one slowly, slowly to the ground.
The soundscapes the album comprises were developed via remote collaboration between the two musicians – Rosenberg is based in Stockholm and Mans in Amsterdam – involving over 500 video calls over the course of a 3-year period. While perhaps not what was intended at the outset, it seems the two artists engaged in an origami like exercise in which they patiently folded and layered samples and artifacts into musical shapes with origins that even they, by their own accounts, could no longer discern.
But like cranes made of paper, the thing into which the original material is transformed ends up as something quite graceful and beautiful. Strong melodic themes and the repetition of poetic stanzas keeps the listening experience reassuringly pointed to true north while emotional depth and resonance comes in the form of contributions by Dan Berglund on bass along with a string quartet led by Daniel Migdal performing arrangements by Julia Nilsson. Origami Birds is a lovely album to be sure, but it is even more lovely as a reminder of the profound power of releasing beautiful things into the world, even in a world such as ours. Or should we say especially in a world such as ours?
Origami Birds from piano and coffee records. The album was mastered by Jonas Siöström and features artwork and design by London-based illustrator Jordan Amy Lee.
Order: https://pianoandcoffeerecords.bandcamp.com/album/origami-birds
Stationary Travels 