[吹奏楽-レンタル譜] みたまのふゆ 天明の代官 庄川杢左衛門物語 (樽屋雅徳)

私の地元である銚子市で、80周年記念事業として2014年8月に公演されたミュージカル、ちょうし市民ミュージカル「天明の代官」銚子を救った男 庄川杢左衛門物語 のために書き下ろした曲のハイライト版として構成し直したのが『みたまのふゆ』です。

物語は江戸時代、浅間山が噴火し農作物の不作により天明の大飢饉が起こりました。そんな中、独自の判断で藩の米蔵を解放し苦しむ領民を救った代官、それが高崎藩飯沼陣屋の代官・庄川杢左衛門でした。代官=庄川杢左衛門は、責任を問われ切腹したと言われていますが、正確な記録はなく歴史に埋もれてしまいました。しかし、銚子市民の間で僅かながらにも語り継がれ今でも彼を称える碑があります。そんな物語から「神様のお恵み、ご加護を...」という意味合いで使用される言葉『みたまのふゆ(恩頼)』と曲を名付けています。(樽屋雅徳)

“Mitamanofuyu” was rearranged as a digest version of a piece I had written for the Choshi City citizen musical “Tenmei no Daikan: The Story of Shokawa Mokuzaemon, the Man who Saved Choshi,” which had been performed in August 2014 as a commemorative project for the 80th anniversary of the founding of Choshi City, my hometown.

The story that inspired this piece was set during the Great Tenmei famine that occurred in the Edo period (1603-1868) when the eruption of Mount Asama destroyed the surrounding crops. During the famine, the deputy governor of the Iinuma encampment of the Takasaki domain, Shokawa Mokuzaemon, exercised his independent judgment to draw on the domain’s rice reserves to relieve the suffering of the people. Shokawa Mokuzaemon is said to have committed seppuku in response to being held accountable for his actions, but there has been no reliable record of the facts, which have been buried in the depths of history. However, at the very least, this story has been passed down to the current residents of Choshi City, where a monument has been set up in his honor. This piece has been entitled “Mitamanofuyu,” a phrase from the story that means “God bless you.”