Nagasaki is an oratorio composed by Soviet composer Alfred Schnittke in 1958, at the age of 25. It was Schnittke's graduation composition in the Moscow Conservatory, and the topic was suggested by his teacher Evgeny Golubev.
The work was considered formalistic, and Schnittke was accused of forgetting the principles of Realism. Thus, he suppressed the expressionistic central movement depicting the nuclear explosion and modified the finale. [1] It was recorded by the Moscow Radio Symphony in 1959 and broadcast to Japan through Voice of Russia, but it wasn't printed and it didn't receive any subsequent performances. Nagasaki was finally given its public premiere in its original form in Cape Town on 23 November 2006, eight years after Schnittke's death, by Rupert Hanneli and the Cape Philharmonic conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes. [2]
It consists of five movements, on Soviet and Japanese lyrics:
To Heart 2 is a Japanese romance visual novel developed by Leaf and published by Aquaplus. It was first released for the PlayStation 2 on December 28, 2004 as an all-ages title, and was followed by an adult version playable on Microsoft Windows and subsequent all-ages versions for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. This deviated from the release history of the game's predecessor, To Heart, which was originally released with adult content prior to receiving versions with such content removed. The gameplay in To Heart 2 follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction based on the player's decisions. Its story centers on the male protagonist Takaaki Kouno, and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters.
Sadako Kurihara was a Japanese poet who lived in Hiroshima and survived the atomic bombing during World War II. She is best known for her poem Umashimenkana.