Recorded on the album Breaking Heaven 破天 (Albany Records)

The title (pronounced Tachibana) is an invented word derived from the name of the shakuhachi maker and player for whom the piece was written as a gift. Looking for a title in honor of Tachibana-san, I took characters from different words that are not normally combined and put them together to create a new word (a particular poetic license to which Japanese well lends itself). The characters literally mean “sword” and “flower”, and the piece itself reflects this duality, as the first half is sharp, angular and violent, in contrast to the quiet and graceful second half.

The piece also exists in a version for shakuhachi and violin, as well as a version for two violins. 尺八とヴィオリンのためのヴァションもあります。