Anima & Bellows Variations

The encounter between two people from different times, different distances, and different backgroundsdeepens into a magnificent variation.*The duo album 'Soul Pillar and Bell' was born from the encounter of cellist Hitomi Niikura and accordionist Yoshiaki Sato, who walk in different fields. In the five years since it's release, the path they have continued to walk and deepened has been sublimated into 'Variations' in this work 'Soul Pillar and Bell and Variations'. 'Seven Variations on a Theme of Nigun' written by Sato for this duo is a song that expresses the heart that connects through singing (Nigun) even when places and times are apart. And a song that Sato has been working on for many years with the theme of 'time and distance' has been completed as 'Soul Pillar and Bell and Time and Distance' by adding a new theme that deepens the affinity between cello and accordion. To this, we can see a complete form unique to this duo by adding 'Passacaglia', a variation on a theme by Handel that makes use of the characteristics of each instrument.