Yoshiki Yamamoto, Shotaro Nakamura, Tomofumi Shimane, Megumi Shimane - Kishio HIRAO The “Phantom” String Quartet (2026)

Tracklist

01. String Quartet (Restored Edition): I. Allegro
02. String Quartet (Restored Edition): II. Lento
03. String Quartet (Restored Edition): III. Scherzo. Presto
04. String Quartet (Restored Edition): IV. Rondo. Allegro moderato
05. Umi-ni-yosuru-uta – “Song for the sea” (Arranged for String Quartet by Megumi SHIMANE)
06. String Quartet No. 2 in E Major, Op. 45: I. Lentement – Animé
07. String Quartet No. 2 in E Major, Op. 45: II. Très animé
09. String Quartet No. 2 in E Major, Op. 45: IV. Lentement - Très vif

The string quartet by Kishio Hirao, whose score was lost in wartime destruction and long considered a lost work, has been restored by a team led by Hirao's grandchildren and great-grandchildren through meticulous ear training and transcription, using a 1941 SP record recording preserved in Germany as a clue. After 85 years, this revived work has finally come to life as sound and is being released to the world on CD.
This string quartet is an early masterpiece by Hirao, a grand-student of the French music master Vincent d'Indy, fusing the cyclic form inherited from his teacher with Japanese folk melodies. The coupling includes d'Indy's String Quartet No. 2, the musical source of Hirao's work. This sublime ensemble, like pulling back the threads of history step by step, vividly revives this lost Japanese treasure for the modern age.