Yuko Uebayashi (b. 1958 in Kyoto, Japan), although raised in a non-musical family, discovered her passion for music at a very early age. Her talent was recognized at the elementary school, but she decided to stay enrolled in public school rather than take the traditional Japanese music education path. She preferred taking private piano and composition lessons, nurturing close relationships with mentors and friends, and enjoying her adolescence to a competitive and stressful music environment. During her later formal and private music training she developed her rich and varied compositional style. Based in Paris since 1998, Uebayashi has been transferring into her music a unique blend of French and Japanese culture, inspirations from landscapes, paintings, and experiences with other musicians. Having composed for flute in a variety of genres, including solos, chamber works and concerto, and being frequently performed all around the world, she is recognized as one of the leading female composers in the flute world today.

Le vent à travers les ruines (The breeze around the ruins) for solo flute, composed in 1998, is dedicated to Nobutaka Shimizu, former principal flutist of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, who premiered this work. It is the most representative example of Uebayashi’s imagery-based compositions in which she depicts the ruins of a monastery and her complex emotional reaction while seeing them. This piece is interesting also because it uses a variety of compositional techniques, such as repeated intervals of major and minor thirds throughout and arpeggiated chords, which provide richness in layers and texture creating a perception of harmony. The technical demands create a musical narrative equally rewarding to play and listen to. Uebayashi’s emotions can be explored through her own words included in the premiere programme note:

‘No one questions why the monastery became a ruin. There may have been someone standing at the remains of the monastery or a cow walking by from somewhere, but no one asks the question why. Clouds move ever so slowly, butterflies fly, and sparking fluff dances in the sunlight. After many years, there still remain reddish brown stone. They just sit there. And the earth exists as if to embrace all matters, while nature repeats her cycle. A breeze floats by. Yes, I have become the wind that breezes through these ruins. I do not ask questions, and everything looks so gentle and glowing…’