Haiku in the Wide World — Haiku Music

Setting haiku to music has long been a challenging task, and there are not a lot of successful examples. (The THF Essay Library offers a summation of what had been attempted through the end of the 20th century.) But today, inspired by the enforced lockdown of COVID-19 and an abiding love for the genre, three artists have taken up this challenge in a new and serious way.

The Haiku in The Wide World project is a 64 minute long CD  containing 37 musical settings of Haiku poems, translated from the Japanese by poet Harry Gilonis, spoken in English by Tim Hodgkinson and sung in Japanese by Atsuko Kamura. Composed for voice, piano, percussion, harp, violin, viola, clarinets, french horn, acoustic and electric guitars, electronic and concrète sounds, and recorded in Tokyo & London, this 37-part sonic renga is a compositional approach that relishes surprises for the ear, narrative twists and unexpected outcomes.

You can listen to 4 sample songs, or you can visit the site at for the entire experience. It’s something we feel safe in saying you’ve never experienced before!