The moon sets and birds cry / 月は落ち、鳥が鳴いて

‘The moon sets and birds cry / 月は落ち、鳥が鳴いて’ is an album of pieces and improvisations for piano and electronics by composer/musician Anna Murray. Created and recorded in 2020-2021, while Murray was studying traditional Japanese Noh theatre at Tokyo University of the Arts, the tracks of the album reflect aspects of that experience, and of Noh. Recorded in a rehearsal space during the covid-19 pandemic and fluctuating emergency restrictions, the album also conjures a sense of closeness, of interiority and reflection. ‘The moon sets and birds cry / 月は落ち、鳥が鳴いて’ is a quote from the Noh play Dōjō-ji, describing the moonlit scene at an expectant moment at a temple.