Aberdam: Otohime

Otohime is based on a Japanese folk tale about a young fisherman. One day, he catches a fish—but the fish pleads for its life, revealing that it is Otohime, the Princess of the Sea. She promises to take him to her beautiful palace beneath the ocean. Urashima Taro stays there seemingly for three days, but in reality, three hundred years pass. As he departs, Otohime gives him a small box called Tamatebako and warns him never to let it out of his sight. When Urashima Taro returns to Mizu-no-Ye, he no longer recognizes his village and discovers the graves of his parents. In despair, he opens the box—only to find that Tamatebako was the magic that had kept him young. The moment he opens it, he becomes a 300-year-old man; his hair turns white, his teeth fall out, and he collapses to the ground.

The first movement, “Mizu-no-ye,” depicts the sea. Motifs of four thirty-second notes evoke the tiny movements of fish, while brief two-note pizzicatos capture sparkling water droplets. The movement ends with the descent of Urashima and Otohime into the underwater palace.

The second movement, “Otohime,” portrays life in the palace. Its main theme returns three times—symbolizing the three days (or three hundred years). The music is slow, opulent, harmonically rich, and ceremonial in character.

After a short transition representing Urashima’s resurfacing, the third movement, “Tamatebako,” bursts into rapid motion and dramatic chords. These passages express his confusion, his racing heartbeat, and the swift passage of time beneath the sea.

The double bass is the perfect instrument to embody the depth of the ocean, the vastness of time, and the tragedy of the tale. Woven throughout the composition are quotations from Francesco Geminiani’s Concerto XII “La Folia”, Concerto IV, and Concerto VI.