Mae No Hikari (Light Before Us)

Description

For Euphonium and Piano

Grade Level: 4

“Mae no Hikari” was written for Michael & Nao Edwards, and for the beautiful life they are building together. The title translates loosely into Japanese as “light before us,” a reflection of hope, family, and the quiet sense that even in uncertain moments, something meaningful is waiting ahead. At its heart, this work is about connection — between husband and wife, parent and child, tradition and future.

The piece opens with Michael’s theme presented by the euphonium, warm and expressive against the flowing accompaniment of the piano. Beneath the melody, the offset tuplet and triplet figures create a gentle sense of motion, like two lives learning to breathe together in the same rhythm. The euphonium writing is lyrical and demanding, requiring both technical control and emotional vulnerability from the soloist.

At measure 15, Nao’s theme emerges in the piano through a pentatonic melody inspired by the elegance and simplicity often found in Japanese folk music. The character shifts here into something deeply personal and intimate, as though a new voice has entered the conversation. The piano does not merely accompany the soloist, but speaks equally, carrying its own memories, heritage, and identity into the music.

The melody introduced at measure 32 represents their child, as well as the future children and generations still to come. As the themes begin to intertwine and overlap, the music reflects the way our lives gradually become inseparable from those we love. No melody exists entirely on its own by the end of the work; each line shapes and supports the others. “Light Before Us” is ultimately a portrait of family, of love carried forward, of cultures and stories blending together, and of the people who become the guiding light ahead of us.