Nothing At All

Julian Anderson’s new choral work uses Paul Griffiths’ text to evoke the colour and mystery of the Japanese Noh play, Hagoromo [The Feather Mantle]. Composed for eight voices, the piece follows the story of a fisherman who discovers the magical cloak of a spirit-being. The fisherman attempts to claim the cloak as his own, but is stopped by the spirit who pleads for it, unable to reach heaven without. The fisherman finally agrees to return it, on condition that the spirit shows him her dances – which are the dances of heaven.

What the fisherman witnesses in her dance he cannot explain to anyone. It is said he watched her dance for a month, before she spiralled up to heaven and the cloak became ‘nothing at all’.