# Toru Takemitsu



## messiaenfanatic

Yes I am wondering if anyone else enjoys listening to Takemitsu's works? I find his music to have a sense of timelesness. He kind of reminds me of a Japanese Debussy/Messiaen. His piano works especially the Rain Tree Sketches are just awesome pieces of music to relax too. His A Flock Desends Into the Pentagonal Garden is again just a awesome piece of music. He definitely uses impressionistic colors along with his own unique style. I like the way he uses eastern and western instruments and style within his music. I have mainly listened to his orchestral works so far like Requeim for Strings, Dreamtime, Spirit Garden, etc. Is there any other works that I should try out? He is definitely not a hard composer to listen to.


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## Ephemerid

Oh, I LOVE Takemitsu! In fact I got a few CDs of his this past Christmas... 

I love his sense of colour. Tree Line is probably my favourite of his. I think I prefer his orchestral works over his chamber works, though there are a couple exceptions-- his pice for flute, viola and harp, "And Then I Knew 'Twas Wind" is really beautiful. 

Have you heard Oliver Knussen's recordings? There's a CD, "Quotation of Dream" with a bunch of orchestral pieces of his that are superb!

"Garden Rain" for brass is a really good one too (one of the first pieces of his I ever heard, unless you count the soundtrack to Ran).

*whew!* I was beginning to think I was the only one that ever listened to him here! LOL


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## messiaenfanatic

I feel that way to sometimes. Where are all the contemporary classical fans? I'll have to check out Oliver Knussen's recording of Takemitsu's orchestral works out. He is definitely one composer that should be more popular, like most later 20th century composers, beh, :angry: Philip Glass. I will definitely delve into more of Takemitsu's works.


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## Ephemerid

Knussen did another CD collection of Takemitsu's music-- I believe the CD was called Waterways, containing a lot of chamber orchestra stuff-- and includes an excellent recording of *Tree-Line*. That and the _Quotation from Dream _album are solid (its on the DG label).

The piece "Quotation of Dream" actually has snippets of Debussy's *La Mer *that come and go-- its a strange experience because its comes and goes so seamlessly with Takemitsu's own unique musical language, it has a really odd effect on me.

I find Takemitsu to usually be quite accessible...

Have you seen Akira Kurosawa's film _Ran_? Its one of my personal favourite films (_King Lear _retold in feudal Japan) and Takemitsu did the soundtrack. The scene with the destruction of the third castle has the most haunting music juxtaposed against such terrible violence. Great music, great film.

Yeah, I have a serious problem with Philip Glass-- the earlier and more edgy stuff (like *Einstein on the Beach*) was quite good, but beginning with Satyagraha in 1980, its all been a bit... um... repetitive! LOL When you compare the list of compositions with Steve Reich or John Adams, its absurd. The only more recent exception was his *fifth string quartet *done in the mid-90s, to a limited degree. It's surprising he still has an audience-- his music has been self-parody for over thirty years now...


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## messiaenfanatic

I will definitely have to check out *"Quotation of Dream"* for *La Mer *is definitely one of my favorite unofficial symphonic works by anyone. That is interesting that Takemitsu uses snippets of Debussy's music. Luciano Berio imitated La Mer in his *Sinfonia*, another awesome piece of music.  I will try to find a way to check out Ran, both the film and the music.

To me Philip Glass has used his same general themes over and over again. Some of his music is just about as good as those dime romance novels. His earlier stuff is what made him famous.


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## Tapkaara

I am a fan of Japanese music in general and I have sort of a love/hate relationship with Takemitsu-sensei.

I don't listen to him often because I find his sound difficult. This is definitely a composer of texture and not of melody. Not that a cut-and-dry tune is requisite for good music...

Every now and again if I am in JUST the right mood, I can pop him into the CD player and I get it. But these moods come and go, and only appear a few times a year.

I have a disc of his piano music which I think is very good. He wrote well for the piano and his style translates well to that medium.

I recently saw his Dream/Window performed live in Kalamazoo and I must say I enjoyed the performance immensely. Watching his music performed live shows how complex his orchestral writing was and this left quite an impression on me.


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## Sid James

Like Tapkaara suggests, Takemitsu's music is somewhat of an acquired taste. He doesn't just spoonfeed the listener with easily digestible tunes & melodies. His music reminds me of a quote by Edgard Varese:

"I am not a musician. I work with rhythms, frequencies and intensities. Tunes are the gossips in music."

Takemitsu's music can be rewarding, though, with it's rich colours & textures. I think he just puts the ball in the listener's court, so to speak. He just presents us with this kaliedoscopic experience which we have to get off our backsides & make sense of. So Takemitsu is definitely a composer I kind of struggle with, but (like the music of Varese), this is a rewarding experience.

& he definitely had a unique voice. His is a very post-modernist aesthetic. He takes a variety of European influences (eg. Debussy, Messiaen) & combines these with a distinctly oriental viewpoint, one where less is more. His music has touches of impressionism, modernism & the C20th avant-garde, but it sounds quite fresh, and speaks to us in a language which is much more contemporary than those movements.


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## Tapkaara

All good points, Andre.

Yup, not an easy composer, but certainly one of the few avant-gardists I can stand. 

If you ever do any reading on the man and his personality, it's quite interesting. He was quite the bon vivant who loved life and had many, ecclectic interests. He also seems to have been rather humble about his art, which I think is a the mark of a decent person and artist.


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## Herzeleide

As I've said before, I recommend his piece _All in Twilight_ - there's nothing difficult about it. Here's the first movement:






I can also recommend _To the Edge of Dream_.


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## Edward Elgar

What a god! I recently performed the Fantasma II (trombone concerto) in the uni orchestra. (I wasn't playing the solo part, far from it, I was back desk of the 2nd violins!) The music was Debussyesque and so relaxing to play. Lots of juicy harmonics and cluster chords and lovely lyrical melodies.

I've got out some film scores of his and they are really good! He's a terrific composer and has kept new music healthy throughout the 2nd part of the 20th century.


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## Tapkaara

Has anyone ever heard any of his piano works?


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## Herzeleide

Tapkaara said:


> Has anyone ever heard any of his piano works?


Yes. His _Litany - In memory of Michael Vyner_.


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## JoeGreen

I recently hear his *From Me Flows What You Call Time* it had a nice even flow ( no pun intented ) to it. Very nice.


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## danae

Tapkaara said:


> Has anyone ever heard any of his piano works?


Yeah they're great! I recently performed Rain Tree Sketch II at a concert. That piece is really something. It's musically difficult, and of course learning by heart, that's the other glitch.


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## Tapkaara

I think his piano works truly are great. Probably a good place to start for Takemitsu newbies. His orchestral works would be next, and I would place his chamber works as the most difficult.


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## danae

Here's Takemitsu's "Rain Tree Sketch" perfomed by me at a student concert in Athens some years ago.


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## danae

Addition: I wasn't able to remove the clapping at the end, which is very annoying because it enters suddenly and ruins the whole thing.


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## starthrower

JoeGreen said:


> I recently hear his *From Me Flows What You Call Time* it had a nice even flow ( no pun intented ) to it. Very nice.


I think I'll check out the Sony CD with this piece, and the Requiem For Strings.


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## violadude

starthrower said:


> I think I'll check out the Sony CD with this piece, and the Requiem For Strings.


I have that CD, good choice.


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## aleazk

I'm starting fully with this composer. I like very much this piece:


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## Crudblud

In addition to the works already recommended, I highly recommend checking out some of his film music. His score to Kobayashi's "Kwaidan" is magnificent.


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## Prodromides

Crudblud said:


> In addition to the works already recommended, I highly recommend checking out some of his film music. His score to Kobayashi's "Kwaidan" is magnificent.


Yes, it is.

Of all my favorite film scores by Takemitsu, though, I love most his music for Teshigahara's WOMAN IN THE DUNES (with my 2nd favorite being for Kobayashi's HARAKIRI).


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## cjvinthechair

Really, really struggle with this composer ! Requiem for strings is the only piece I've managed to sit through thus far - any other thoughts ?


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## Praeludium

This ?

What makes you struggle with Takemitsu's music ? I find it very accessible.


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## cjvinthechair

Listening to the piece you kindly posted while I write; easier on the ear than much I've tried.
Sadly, if I had enough musical know-how to realise why I was struggling, I probably wouldn't be !


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## tdc

aleazk said:


> I'm starting fully with this composer. I like very much this piece:


Takemitsu sounding a bit like Ligeti there in places, maybe why you like it so much.


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## Crudblud

Unfortunately my favourite Takemitsu piece _Marginalia_ is not available on youtube, but do give the following piece a try.


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## cjvinthechair

Many thanks - will do ! 

Tell me, how do folk get YT videos, and album covers, to display in their posts ? Quite beyond me, but then most things technical are !


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## tdc

cjvinthechair said:


> Many thanks - will do !
> 
> Tell me, how do folk get YT videos, and album covers, to display in their posts ? Quite beyond me, but then most things technical are !


When you are logged in there are little icons above the reply box, you just click the button you need (either image or video, by moving cursor over button it tells you what its for) then insert the link into the box.


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## starthrower

Too bad the 3 volume Denon series is oop.


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## cjvinthechair

tdc said:


> When you are logged in there are little icons above the reply box, you just click the button you need (either image or video, by moving cursor over button it tells you what its for) then insert the link into the box.


OK - kind of you to answer ! See the icons you mean....whether I can make them work ??!


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## aleazk

tdc said:


> Takemitsu sounding a bit like Ligeti there in places, maybe why you like it so much.


Yes, you are right, there are some similarities. Although I also enjoy other pieces which are not 'Ligeti sounding' , like this one:






wow, flute and guitar is a really nice combination.


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## starthrower

starthrower said:


> Too bad the 3 volume Denon series is oop.


I was wrong. Two volumes have been re-issued by Brilliant Classics.
CD title is Spirit Garden. Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony


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## KenOC

From Me Flows what You Call Time (in 3 parts). Very fine.






Also excellent is Quotation of Dream, a kind of meditation on La Mer.


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## aleazk

Another great piece:






(what's the name of that flute effect at 0:36?)


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## violadude

aleazk said:


> Another great piece:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (what's the name of that flute effect at 0:36?)


Sounds like multiphonics.


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## aleazk

violadude said:


> Sounds like multiphonics.


Oh, yes, now that I have read a little about it, they are certainly multiphonics. Thanks.


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## Vaneyes

A guide to Toru Takemitsu's music...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2013/feb/11/contemporary-music-guide-toru-takemitsu


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## SimonNZ

Does anyone here know if Takemitsu used the bowed Kokyu in any of his compositions?


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## Mahlerian

SimonNZ said:


> Does anyone here know if Takemitsu used the bowed Kokyu in any of his compositions?


Not that I know of. Probably not in his concert music, but perhaps somewhere in the huge quantity of film music he wrote...


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## aleazk

"I can well imagine Toru Takemitsu travelling through Japan, not to capture different aspects of the moon, but let’s say to experience the wind whistling through different trees, and returning to the city with a gift. This gift consists of the transformation of nature into art." (John Cage)


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## Selby

I've been wanting to pick up some of his film scores - but they seem to be all out of print and ridiculously prices 

Anyone have any secrets I'm unaware of?


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## Mahlerian

Mitchell said:


> I've been wanting to pick up some of his film scores - but they seem to be all out of print and ridiculously prices
> 
> Anyone have any secrets I'm unaware of?


Well, anything ordered from Japan is going to be expensive, even _before_ shipping, but...

There's this set, which has 6 discs, plus an interview disc (undoubtedly no English), for about $100.

And, for those who really have money to burn, Volumes Three (10 CDs, plus 350pp hard-bound book) and Four (10 CDs, plus 350pp hard-bound book) of the Complete Takemitsu Edition are devoted entirely to every film score he ever wrote. Each costs a hefty $250.


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## Selby

Thanks for the link Mahlerian - went on my wishlist.


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## Selby

Is anyone familiar with this recording from John Adams and the London Sinfonietta - Film Music of Takemitsu









I am new to film music - do these pieces work as compressed suites or are you missing out on the vision of having an entire score? For ballets I know I almost never listen to suites, but only the full ballet.


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## Crudblud

Mahlerian said:


> There's this set, which has 6 discs, plus an interview disc (undoubtedly no English), for about $100.


I'm lucky enough to have this one and can vouch for it. Each disc roughly covers his work with a different director, so there's a disc for Kobayashi, a disc for Kurosawa, and so on. In fact, the first disc is Kobayashi, and it opens with a mesmerising 30 minutes of music from _Kaidan_, leaving one hell of an impression but also a high benchmark for the rest of the set, one which Takemitsu's more mundane film works just cannot live up to in my estimation. The last disc does contain a 50 minute interview in Japanese, although there are some interesting music tracks before it and quite a few music clips in the interview itself. The score for Kurosawa's _Ran_ might be a good first stop instead, and if you can't find the score on its own you could always check out the film itself, one of his great jidaigeki epics.

Anyway, Mitchell, whatever you go for, I hope you enjoy it.


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## aleazk

Crudblud said:


> I'm lucky enough to have this one and can vouch for it. Each disc roughly covers his work with a different director, so there's a disc for Kobayashi, a disc for Kurosawa, and so on. In fact, the first disc is Kobayashi, and it opens with a mesmerising 30 minutes of music from _Kaidan_, leaving one hell of an impression but also a high benchmark for the rest of the set, one which Takemitsu's more mundane film works just cannot live up to in my estimation. The last disc does contain a 50 minute interview in Japanese, although there are some interesting music tracks before it and quite a few music clips in the interview itself. The score for Kurosawa's _Ran_ might be a good first stop instead, and if you can't find the score on its own you could always check out the film itself, one of his great jidaigeki epics.
> 
> Anyway, Mitchell, whatever you go for, I hope you enjoy it.


I just listened to it, mesmerising indeed!. I'm eager to watch the movie now.


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## Crudblud

aleazk said:


> I just listened to it, mesmerising indeed!. I'm eager to watch the movie now.


It's a really good film if you've got three hours to spend. I also recommend _Harakiri_ and _The Human Condition_ by the same director.


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## aleazk

Crudblud said:


> It's a really good film if you've got three hours to spend. I also recommend _Harakiri_ and _The Human Condition_ by the same director.


Thanks for the recommendations. For these kind of films, sure I have those hours!.


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## norman bates

One thing that I really find interesting is his refined use of space and silence. Listening to his music (maybe especially his chamber music) is something that reminds me of the view of something like a stone garden









By the way, I always read parallels with Debussy and Messiaen, but his "architectural" use of silence to me reminds more of Webern.


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## Mahlerian

norman bates said:


> By the way, I always read parallels with Debussy and Messiaen, but his "architectural" use of silence to me reminds more of Webern.


Webern was a huge influence. Earlier on, so was Schoenberg (listen to the Requiem for Strings, for example), but Takemitsu was less inspired by that sort of expressionism than the emotionally cooler Webern.

Listen, for example, to Piano Distance:





From Debussy and Messiaen he developed his ideas about color, harmony, and rhythm. You have to remember that Webern thought highly of Debussy, and Messiaen was also interested in Webern (I think?).


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## norman bates

Mahlerian said:


> From Debussy and Messiaen he developed his ideas about color, harmony, and rhythm. You have to remember that Webern thought highly of Debussy, and Messiaen was also interested in Webern (I think?).


It's interesting, didn't know that Webern was a fan of Messiaen.
Harmonically the affinities with Debussy and Messiaen are clear. Thinking of rhythm and maybe also of dynamics Webern seems to me the main influence. And I've read that many japanese composers felt an affinity for the detachment of his music, probably because it was something nearer to the japanese sensibility than that of the romantic composers. Maybe also the fact that his pieces are short as musical haikus. By the way, I'd be curious to know if Webern was influenced by japanese art.


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## Blake

A brilliant composer, most definitely. His balance between silence and color is exceptional.


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## brotagonist

norman bates said:


> I'd be curious to know if Webern was influenced by japanese art.


Je te comprends bien: Webern always struck me as very Zen.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Does anyone know where I can get good editions of hi solo guitar works? I want to play some things by him in the near future.


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## Blake

I'm sure amazon has a few recordings. Have you checked there?


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## Mahlerian

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Does anyone know where I can get good editions of hi solo guitar works? I want to play some things by him in the near future.


Most of his music is published by Schott, I believe. I don't know if they ship to your area or not, though, so search for local alternatives if possible.

http://www.schott-music.com/shop/persons/az/toru-takemitsu/works/katr-1660244-chamber-guitar_lute/


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## Blake

Ah, you were talking about sheet-music? Disregard my previous post then.


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## Alypius

Let me begin with a word of thanks. About a month ago, I began a thread http://www.talkclassical.com/33282-toru-takemitsu-recommended-works.html in which I asked for recommended recordings of Takemitsu's works for an introduction to and a survey of his music. The recommendations proved excellent (and mostly quite inexpensive). I am grateful for all the fine recommendations. I have ended up ordering 6 of them at different times and from different sellers and, for whatever the cosmic design, they arrived in two clusters. Three arrived a couple of weeks ago and they have been on a regular cycle of my listening; three others arrived from three different sellers in three different packages all in my mailbox yesterday. The six were:

*Seiji Ozawa / Boston Symphony / TASHI, _Takemitsu: a flock descends into the pentagonal garden_ (DG, 1980; reissue, DG's "20/21" series)
*Oliver Knussen / London Sinfonietta / Peter Serkin / Paul Crossley, _Takemitsu: Quotation of Dream_ (DG, "20/21" series, 1998)
*Carl St. Clair / Pacific Symphony Orchestra, _Takemitsu: From me flows what you call time_ (Sony, 1998) 
*Hiroshi Wakasugi / Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, _Takemitsu: Spirit Garden - Orchestral Works_ (2 CDs) (Denon, 1995; reissue: Brilliant, 2008)
*Robert Aitken / Toronto New Music Ensemble, _Toru Takemitsu: Chamber Music (Toward the Sea / Rain Tree)_ (Naxos, "Japanese Classics" series, 2003)
*Kotaro Fukuma, _Toru Takemitsu: Piano Music (Romance / Rain Tree Sketches / Litany)_ (Naxos, 2007).

















I find it helpful when exploring any composer's work to do some reading, and I try to get the best scholarly overviews that I can find. Fortunately there is a fine one on Takemitsu, and I don't think it's been mentioned on this thread thus far. So let me cite it here: Peter Burt, _The Music of Toru Takemitsu_ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).










Let me say that Takemitsu's music is something that speaks to me quite powerfully, with a striking immediacy. I believe that it does so because his music is so deeply contemplative. It -- paradoxically speaking -- opens a space for silence. Arvo Pärt's music does as well but in a very different way (that contemplative feature is one of the reasons I regularly return to listening to his music). Takemitsu's interest in silence was shaped, I gather, partly from his encounter with John Cage's ideas, and these apparently opened him to deep resources within the Japanese Buddhist traditions. (Silence is part of Pärt's music in part because he is devoted to a profound Orthodox mystical spirituality). Over the next few weeks, I hope to post some reflections on Takemitsu's music. I think it best to focus on individual works. I hope these prove useful to others.


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## Ian Moore

An outstanding composer from the Eastern-Asian tradition.


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## Richannes Wrahms

Considerable composer. The aesthetic of his music more often reminds me of late Scriabin.


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## Alypius

Richannes Wrahms said:


> Considerable composer. The aesthetic of his music more often reminds me of late Scriabin.


Richard, That's an intriguing linkage. What linkage do you hear between Scriabin (a favorite of mine) and Takemitsu? Thanks.


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## Mahlerian

Alypius said:


> Richard, That's an intriguing linkage. What linkage do you hear between Scriabin (a favorite of mine) and Takemitsu? Thanks.


If I may butt in, I'd guess that Scriabin's influence filtered through Messiaen to Takemitsu, because Messiaen did cite Scriabin as a "colorful" composer, while I've never heard Takemitsu mention him.


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## Alypius

*Takemitsu: And Then I Knew 'Twas Wind (1992)*

Over the next few weeks, I would like to post some reflections on individual works by Takemitsu. I hope others will consider doing the same.

I want to lead off here with this late work of his, a chamber work. For those who haven't heard it, here's a YouTube of the work: And then I knew 'twas wind. The title comes from Emily Dickinson (one of my favorite poets). Here's the poem in full:



> Like Rain it sounded till it curved
> And then I knew 'twas Wind --
> It walked as wet as any Wave
> But swept as dry as sand --
> When it had pushed itself away
> To some remotest Plain
> A coming as of Hosts was heard
> It filled the Wells, it pleased the Pools
> It warbled in the Road --
> It pulled the spigot from the Hills
> And let the Floods abroad --
> It loosened acres, lifted seas
> The sites of Centres stirred
> Then like Elijah rode away
> Upon a Wheel of Cloud.


The work is a homage to Debussy's _Sonate pour flûte, alto et harpe_, L. 137 (1915), itself a late work, and, I believe, one of Debussy's finest, a marvel of refined timbres, probably why Takemitsu was drawn to it. Takemitsu composed his work as a sort of companion piece. To savor what Takemitsu was doing, I played the two works side-by-side, again and again, back and forth. I should mention that the performance of Debussy that I listened to is from one of my personal "desert island" records: Montreal Chamber Players (members of the Montreal Symphony), a recording entitled _Autour de la harpe_ (ATMA Classique, 2006). And so the two works, Debussy's and Takemitsu's, alternated, one after the other after the other. They formed a sort of musical diptych (you know, those hinged-together dual portraits). East, West. Diptych may be more of a Western metaphor. Probably a more exact way to see Takemitsu's work would be as a gift, a homage, one crafted to honor an elder, a teacher. He once said to someone (to composer and conductor Oliver Knussen, I believe it was): "I am self-taught, but Debussy is my true teacher."

















Takemitsu's work uses the same instrumentation as Debussy's. He even quotes Debussy's work directly at one point but, as Peter Burt notes, the quotation by the viola is so subtle that Takemitsu had to insert a note in the score to draw attention to the fact. Takemitsu's affinity to Debussy and to Messiaen and to the broader French tradition is one of the factors that has drawn me to his work. He loved the French tradition of using music as a sort of sound portraiture, as painting in tone colors. Tom Service, in his blog "Contemporary Composers" for The Guardian, has eloquently spoken to what he heard as the overlap between Takemitsu and the French tradition and the difference between them:



> "It was music that sounded strangely similar to Debussy and Olivier Messiaen in its harmonies and textures, yet very different in its effect. Instead of Debussy's sensuality, there was something crystalline and objective in the way Takemitsu's music unfolded; instead of Messiaen's visionary spirituality, there was a sense of space and detachment in Takemitsu's pieces, even if some of his musical language sounded similar. (http://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2013/feb/11/contemporary-music-guide-toru-takemitsu)


This work, like so many of Takemitsu's, is deeply chromatic in its harmonies, yet strangely it is only rarely jarring or discordant in the sound world it creates. The work is based, I gather, on two hexachords (F-G#-A-C-C#-E and D#-F#-G-Bb-B-D). As Burt notes (_Music of Toru Takemitsu_, p. 223), "the manner in which this division of the total-chromatic is handled is far from serial.... Takemitsu ... appears to take delight in deriving as many permutations as possible of the pitches of the first of the two six-note sets ... While there is continued reference to the pitches of this primary hexachord throughout the work, its chromatic compliment is never heard in full at any point."

Overall, the work's surfaces glimmer with light, with timbres that rise up and fade. There are strikingly beautiful modal melodies. The whole atmosphere is dreamlike, yet vivid. Takemitsu in his later works was fascinated by natural phenomena that flow: water, wind, sounds. The flute leads off and, I presume, is the title's voice, is the "'twas wind." As for the harp, he exploits its timbre with mostly single-lined fleeting motives, brief, measured pluckings of the strings. He seems especially interested in the way notes fade, the way their sound decays. (That interest finds its way in other works in his use of percussion instruments such as bells, kettle drums, etc.; more on that later). Windflow, waterflow, soundflow. Takemitsu has a deeply Buddhist sense of reality: flux, ephemera, unceasing yet empty. Emptiness for Westerners is dark stuff, the abyss. Not so in the East. Emptiness is verdant, creative. You just can't cling to it. Takemitsu used to compare his composing to gardening. This is a lush garden, full of exotic flowers.


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## Mahlerian

Tangentially relating to Takemitsu, I found this discussion with Harrison Birtwistle regarding Messiaen interesting:





How is this related to Takemitsu? Well, Messiaen was one of the composer's strongest influences, after a friend introduced him to the French master's "Technique of my Musical Language". Messiaen was also a prominent teacher, and many of the biggest names of the post-WWII avant-garde went through his classes: Boulez, Stockhausen, and Xenakis. Some of the prominent names of the next generation were taught by him as well: Grisey, Benjamin, and Knussen. Takemitsu, primarily self-taught, never studied directly under Messiaen, unlike Bekku and Yashiro, but his music approaches closer than most others to Messiaen's.

But his music is entirely distinct and shares only a few elements of Messiaen's soundworld. Although he draws upon the modes of limited transposition, he uses other kinds of modal formations as well. He did not share Messiaen's preoccupation with chorales or with birdsong. While Messiaen's music is organized in juxtaposed blocks (note Birtwistle's comments about his own music as well), Takemitsu's work intentionally blurs the edges of all of his forms (which is one of the reasons the Requiem for Strings, being more or less in ABA form, stands out so much from the rest of his work). Perhaps most strikingly, and this is commented upon in the interview, Takemitsu had no interest in the kind of systematic permutation that Messiaen was fascinated by (note the construction of the first movement of the Quartet for the End of Time, for instance).

If I could describe Takemitsu's music, I'd say that it's very open, but at the same time, there's nothing empty about it. The kind of open space that one perceives in the music of Sibelius, for example, derives from a lack of density. The musical space in Sibelius's Fifth builds up and fills in over time, but there is nothing in those empty spaces. The space in Takemitsu's music is like the inside of a cloud; filled at all times, but subtly changing at every moment.


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## Alypius

*Takemitsu, From me flows what you call time (1990)*










There is something haunting about the sound of windchimes - their nature-crafted melodies from aleatoric windgusts and gentle clashes of tuned tubes, echoes that ring out and fade away. One of Takemitsu's late masterpieces _From me flows what you call time_ shares something of that quiet, percussive and haunting soundworld. The work, over 30 minutes long (and one of the longer works of his career), is, formally speaking, a percussion concerto. It requires a five-person ensemble and a quite dazzling international array of instruments: Indonesian wooden angklungs, Pakistani Noah bells, Carribean steel drums, Turkish darabukkah, marimbas, vibraphones, kettle drums, congas. The timbres are rich and haunting. They create a wondrous tapestry of sounds and silences and echoes. I must confess that I have this odd fondness for percussion concertos. Most are noisy affairs. This is not. It is deeply contemplative-which is one of the features of Takemitsu's music that I most admire.

The title comes from a poem by the Japanese poet Makoto Ooka (a friend of Takemitsu) about the experience of climbing the Matterhorn in Switzerland. An excerpt:

Swinging up its snow-
crowned sky-blue fist,
that ancient water spirit
shouts:

"From me
flows
what you
call Time."

Down from that colossal
mass of shining ice
flows the majestic
River Rhone.

The work had been commissioned to celebrate the centennial of Carnegie Hall and was premiered by Seiji Ozawa, a friend of the composer. Takemitsu thought of the 100-year history of the Hall in terms of a century-long flow of music (new and old) that had passed through there and whose echoes still reverberated there. The performance, I gather, has a strong visual element to it, a sort of ritual pagentry. It plays off the symbol of the Tibetan Buddhist Wind Horse figure, which is composed of 5 elements, each associated with a different color: blue for water, red for fire, yellow for earth, green for wind, and white for sky. Those colors affect the costumes of the performers, their arrangement on stage, and the decoration of the hall itself where the audience is seated.

There are lots of fives in the work as a whole. _From me flows ..._ opens with a 5-note melody on a flute-which, to my ear, is a haunting echo or reminiscence of the opening bassoon solo from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. (Not sure why no one else mentions that). Through much of the work the percussion ensemble dominates, though there are strong orchestral surges that punctuate the work, especially in the string sections, upsurges reminiscent of Debussy's _La Mer_.

The work is played as a single movement, but apparently in the score it is divided into nine sections, many evocatively titled: (1) Breath of Air; (2) Premonition; (3) Plateau; (4) Curved Horizon; (5) The Wind Blows; (6) Mirage; (7) The Promised Land; (8) Life's Joys and Sorrows; (9) Prayer. From the 5-minute to the 11-minute mark, Jamaican steel drums hold center stage and hauntingly echo in a very different timbre the 5-note theme sounded at the beginning by the flute. There are all sorts of unexpected melodic turns: a sudden folk dance tune from a solo violin (reminds me of one of Bartok's Eastern European folk dances) at around the 11 minute mark.

Despite its use of a Western-style symphony and its strong string-section orchestration, this is one of the least Western-sounding of Takemitsu's works. Two days before he died, he sent a letter to pianist Peter Serkin saying that he wished to "get a more healthy body as a whale" and "swim in the ocean that has no west and no east." This is crucial to savor, as Peter Burt has insisted. Takemitsu's music is not a synthesis of East and West. It swims in an ocean that has no West and no East, even if he draws from both East and West.

This is a late-night, listen-in-the-dark kind of music. Mostly contemplative. It has what I would call a joyful melancholy. Takemitsu once said: "This may be a personal feeling but the joy of music, ultimately, seems connected with sadness. The sadness is that of existence. The more you are filled with the pure happiness of music-making, the deeper the sadness is." Well, here, the happiness is more apparent, the sheer joy of savoring sounds. It ends with the quiet ringing of bells. In the staging, there are five long streamers, each in one of the five colors, that reach from the stage where the performers are to the rafters of the hall where the bells are located. They end the work with a quiet tintinabulating ringing.

(Try it. Here's the complete work on You Tube: From me flows what you call time. And it's only a $3 download).


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## Alypius

*Takemitsu: Quatrain (1975)*
Performance: Seiji Ozawa / Boston Symphony / TASHI (DG, "Echo 20/21", 2005)










Let me begin with a personal story. In 1973, one of my best friends introduced me to a record that had just been released. It was by a new classical ensemble, a quartet called TASHI. The quartet was an all-star cast of future virtuosos: Fred Sherry on cello, Peter Serkin on piano, Richard Stoltzman on clarinet, and Ida Kavafian on violin. TASHI had come together to perform Olivier Messiaen's _Quartet for the End of Time_ (_Quatuor pour la fin du temps_). The work is, of course, one of the seminal achievements of 20th century music and was composed by Messiaen in 1941 while a prisoner-of-war in a Nazi prison camp; in fact, the premier was held in the camp. TASHI's performance remains to this day one of the finest performances of this early Messiaen masterpiece. Hearing that TASHI recording back in 1973 was the first time I had ever heard Messiaen. I was enthralled by the _Quatuor_'s soundworld, moved to tears by his religious intensity and vision. To this day, I find Messaien's _Quatuor_ profoundly moving.

Takemitsu deeply admired Messiaen and drew inspiration from his works and from his theoretical writings. In 1975, Takemitsu was in New York and there got to meet with Messiaen face to face. Takemitsu asked him for a "one-hour lesson." The meeting expanded into a several-hour get-together. Messiaen performed the _Quatuor_ on piano and then led Takemitsu through an in-depth analysis of the work. Takemitsu asked Messiaen's permission to write a work using the same instrumentation, which he gave.

The work Takemitsu ended up composing was _Quatrain_, a concerto for a Messiaen-style quartet and orchestra. And-it is no coincidence-the group which premiered Takemitsu's _Quatrain_ was TASHI. And so when I first heard _Quatrain_ for the first time about 3 weeks ago I was immediately entralled. The reason I had originally bought this particular disc was for Takemitsu's masterpiece _A flock descends into the pentagonal garden_-and it too is enthralling. But _Quatrain_ caught me by surprise, both by its self-conscious homage to Messiaen and by its own unique soundworld. A unique work, at once 
indebted and original.

The key motif in _Quatrain_ draws inspiration from Messiaen's textbook _Technique de mon langage musical_ (_The Technique of My Musical Language_). See the following figure:










Peter Burt discusses this in some detail in his _Music of Toru Takemitsu_ (Cambridge U. Press, 2006), pp. 156-159. Burt adds that when this main theme is presented, "the two string instruments, in contrary motion, provide a background of slow glissandi in harmonics between two pitches, each glissando repeated a number of times like an ostinato," a effect "similar to the cello glissandi in the _Liturgie de cristal_ of Messiaen's _Quatuor_" (p. 158). Takemitsu drew inspiration from Messiaen in various ways here and throughout his career. In more general terms, Messiaen helped inspire Takemitsu's acute sensitivity to timbre and sound-painting. In more technical terms, he focused his attention on modes and on various pitch-collections, what Messiaen calls "modes of limited transposition" (especially octatonic ones).

Takemitsu, through much of his career, was considered avant-garde. Early on, he had been inspired by Webern and Boulez and wrote several serialist, or at least, serialist-inspired works. Later on, he was inspired by John Cage and, like Witold Lutoslawski, adopted in various works of his a sort of controlled aleatoricism. _Quatrain_ marked a new moment in Takemitsu's trajectory as a composer. One of the earliest music critics to comment on the work was Allen Hughes, who wrote a review of an early performance in the _New York Times_ in the 1970s. He remarked:



> "Quatrain is so pretty, so lush, so sumptuous in its melodic richness, vibrant color and expansive aural spectrum that it was hard to believe.... If Toru Takemitsu's avant-garde standing is still intact among his peers, and if his Quatrain represents his present compositional practice fairly, we may have to revise our notions of what constitutes avant-gardism in music in the mid-1970s'."


Hughes was perceptive in so many ways. _Quatrain_ marked the emergence of a new beauty, a new lushness, in Takemitsu's work. It also was a signpost, a signal of a changing of the guard, moving from an older avant-garde to a new 'post-modern' soundworld:

"Melodic richness, vibrant color, expansive aural spectrum."


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## Alypius

A new recording of Takemitsu's _And then I knew 'twas wind_ is coming out soon from ECM (Sept. 22 in Europe, Sept. 30 in the US). And it quite appropriately pairs it with Debussy's _Sonate pour flute, alto et harpe_. It also includes Gubaiduliana's _Garten von Freuden und Traurigkeiten_

A trio using the ensemble name: Tre Voci. It includes:
Kim Kashkashian (viola) / Maria Piccinini (flute) / Silvan Magen (harp)










http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/ECM/4810880

I enjoy Kashkashian's previous work on ECM and look forward to hearing this one.


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## Alypius

*Takemitsu: Requiem (1957)*










_Requiem_ was Takemitsu's breakthrough work, premiered in 1957 by the Tokyo Symphony. The composer-who was, more or less, self-taught-was a mere 27 years old at the time. In 1959, Igor Stravinsky had come to Japan and, while there, asked the NHK (the Japanese broadcasting network) to play him music from some contemporary Japanese composers. By accident, someone put on the wrong side of a record, and that wrong side had Takemitsu's _Requiem_. Just as the hosts realized the mistake and were about to remove the needle from the record, Stravinsky stopped them and asked to listen to the entire piece. In a later news conference, when asked by reporters what composer most impressed him, he replied Takemitsu. Later Stravinsky requested to meet with Takemitsu, and the two had lunch together. From this providential moment, the doors opened. Commissions began flowing in. Soon after, from Boston, Koussevitsky commissioned a work that became another of Takemitsu's early masterworks, _Dorian Horizon_.

_Requiem_ is indeed a powerful piece. It is no surprise that it caught Stravinsky's ear. The work is about 9 minutes long, scored for string orchestra. Almost from its opening chords, one is reminded of Samuel Barber's _Adagio for Strings_. It is similar in its profound lyricism but rather more adventurous in its harmonics. Takemitsu was seriously ill at the time of its composition, and composed much of it while in his hospital bed. Peter Burt has speculated that "one cannot help but wonder whether one of the items particularly favoured by the American radio station to which the invalid Takemitsu listened might have been that old warhorse of string orchestra repertory, Samuel Barber's _Adagio_." A warhorse, perhaps, but Barber's work did not have its funereal overtones until some years later, when it became an anthem for national funerals, notably John F. Kennedy's. When Takemitsu was first commissioned to write his work by the Tokyo Symphony he intended to composed a work called "Meditations." But after the death of his mentor Hayasaka, he decided to call his work "Requiem." Not unlike Peter Schaeffer's _Amadeus_, in which the dying Mozart composes his own Requiem, Takemitsu composed the work with his own death in mind. As he has noted: "at that time especially I was seriously il, and since I finally realized that I didn't know when I myself was going to die, I ended up thinking that one way or another, I'd like to create one piece before my death... I thought I ought to write my own requiem."

In his program notes for the work, Takemitsu remarks that the _Requiem_ has no clear beginning or end. Rather it taps into the "stream of sound" that runs through humanity and through the world. The composer, as he saw it, had simply carved out a small piece of that stream. The work uses certain recurring melodic blocks (not unlike a common compositional architecture used by both Stravinsky and Bartok around this time) which gives the work a certain large-scale coherence. That sectional repetition is quite subtle and manifests itself only after repeated listenings. The more immediate sense is its flow, its long-lined lyricism. The harmonics to my ear sound reminiscent of early Schoenberg, not far removed from his late romantic _Transfigured Night_, or the 3rd movement of his 1st String Quartet; perhaps with an even more ambiguous tonality, or a tonality somewhat unteethered.

Great art has the ability both to speak about and speak to profound human experience and in the process transfigure that experience, giving it, if not an intelligibility at least an expression. There are few experiences more wrenching than death, both mourning that of others and facing one's own. Takemitsu's _Requiem_ offers just such an expression and transfiguration. There are other works of the 20th-century that confront the same realities with equal, if not more potency. I think here Ligeti's _Lux Aeterna_, Berg's _Violin Concerto_, and Stravinsky's _Requiem Canticles_. Takemitsu's deserve its place not far from them.

There are two excellent performances, one by Carl St. Clair and the Pacific Symphony on Sony, and one by Hiroshi Wakasugi and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony on Brilliant (originally on Denon).


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## Guest

Question about Takemitsu:

As you see here http://www.allmusic.com/artist/toru-takemitsu-mn0000373832/compositions , Takemitsu has many compositions that would seem to be a series of 2-4 compositions (Le Son Calligraphie, Les Yeux Clos, Arc, etc).

However, as seen here http://www.allmusic.com/composition/arc-i-for-piano-amp-orchestra-mc0002369872 some of these pieces are described as if they simply make up the movements of a single work.

Can anyone shed some light on which is true of these series? Multi-movement works or simply different works with the same concept?


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## Mahlerian

Okay, that is a good question.

Some of them are works in multiple movements, perhaps finished at different times (Le Son Calligraphie, Arc, Folios).

Some of them are separate works, but with a related aesthetic (Les Yeux Clos, Rain Tree Sketch).

Some of them are different versions of more or less the same work (Toward the Sea, A Way A Lone).


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## Guest

For the record, I considered just messaging Mahlerian my question in the first place.


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## Richannes Wrahms

Alypius said:


> Richard, That's an intriguing linkage. What linkage do you hear between Scriabin (a favorite of mine) and Takemitsu? Thanks.


I think it's the intervals in the melodic gesture over a rich but soft and well blended and rather static harmony, some of the colours, the shimmering texture in the background. I relate this more to Prometheus and the late sonatas rather than in Messiaen because Messiaen (in the whole more direct and 'forte') was too fond of Chorale style and his melodic-gestures-in-time strike me as intentionally artificial while Takemitsu has a sense of 'natural flow', Which I also find in the music of Debussy and Sibelius (of who according to Morton Feldman Takemitsu was also fond of).

Here's a little 'documentary' on Japanese Gardens which features some commentary by Takemitsu, including the origin of the name of one or two pieces.


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## Morimur

Richannes Wrahms said:


> Considerable composer. The aesthetic of his music more often reminds me of late Scriabin.


Late Scriabin? You're nuts.

Takemitsu is one of my very favorite composers. Like Messiaen, he is inimitable, though he does remind me of Scelsi at times. I think Takemitsu's work is possessed by an aching beauty . . . but I also sense horror, death, and isolation-I could be wrong, but that's what I get from it.


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## Weston

Takemitsu works often remind me of a soundtrack for a surreal science fiction or speculative fiction film. There is so much mystery and outré goodness -- i.e. “A Way A Lone II” which I heard today. Messiaen sometimes has this effect too but to a lesser extent.


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## starthrower

Takemitsu's music is like the Tao. It has an inevitable flow and rare beauty that is one with creation, and the endless cycle of life and death.


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## Dim7

Toru, take.....


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## Sloe

Weston said:


> Takemitsu works often remind me of a soundtrack for a surreal science fiction or speculative fiction film.


Maybe because it is.
Interesting that so many Japanese composers have made film music.


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## Mahlerian

Sloe said:


> Maybe because it is.
> Interesting that so many Japanese composers have made film music.


Takemitsu's music for film is pretty different from his concert music, though, at least as far as the examples I've heard.


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## Prodromides

FYI: http://www.kritzerland.com/rising_sun.htm

Kritzerland has Takemitsu's *Rising Sun* on disc.


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## satoru

Mahlerian said:


> Not that I know of. Probably not in his concert music, but perhaps somewhere in the huge quantity of film music he wrote...


At least he used Japanese Kokyu in the music for the movie Kwaidan (1964). I couldn't find any other.

Oops. sorry for replying to an old post ...


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## starthrower

Nice piece on the composer, and some music uploads.

http://flypaper.soundfly.com/discov...und-the-illuminating-music-of-toru-takemitsu/


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## starthrower

Film music rejected by director Jim Jarmusch.


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## millionrainbows

He should have stopped smoking those damned ol' cigarettes.

BTW, that film music IS a little strange for Takemitsu. It sounds kind like "Somewhere My Love," you know, that waltz.


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## Vaneyes

millionrainbows said:


> *He should have stopped smoking those damned ol' cigarettes.*
> 
> BTW, that film music IS a little strange for Takemitsu. It sounds kind like "Somewhere My Love," you know, that waltz.


So it seems, TT dying from pneumonia while being treated for bladder cancer.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/smoking-bladder-cancer


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## tdc

I haven't seen this unique work mentioned here often (if ever), I find it quite atmospheric and powerful. (This is a great recording of it too).

_Cassiopeia for percussion solo and orchestra _


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## starthrower

tdc said:


> I haven't seen this unique work mentioned here often (if ever), I find it quite atmospheric and powerful. (This is a great recording of it too).
> 
> _Cassiopeia for percussion solo and orchestra _


Great piece. Thanks! It's only available on the Warner Ozawa box.


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## Richannes Wrahms

I've made four polls includng most of Takemitsu's works, please feel free to vote.

Takemitsu orchestral works
Takemitsu: concertante works
Takemitsu: solo (piano) and chamber works
Takemitsu: guitar works and other works

I plan to make a "most recommended" poll with the resuts of these.


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## millionrainbows

I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel a lot of pain in Takemitsu's music. Like an alienated Japanese man trying to come to terms with modernism in the best way he knew, smoking cigarette after cigarette, coughing, sitting at a piano scribbling...


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## starthrower

I feel just the opposite. Takemitsu's music gives me a feeling of serenity due to the fact that I sense no social or political agenda, just beauty.


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## Allegro Con Brio

He's one of the contemporary composers that I've really been amazed by lately. Sheer planes of dazzling color, applied in masterful brushstrokes. From Me Flows What You Call Time has to be counted among the finest music composed in the past 40 years.


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## millionrainbows

starthrower said:


> I feel just the opposite. Takemitsu's music gives me a feeling of serenity due to the fact that I sense no social or political agenda, just beauty.


Yes, but it's the serenity and beauty of life that is constantly being eroded. It's not really "opposite" in that sense, since it, too, cherishes the beauty of life. And if you don't, you should start immediately.


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