# Takashi Yoshimatsu



## Blake

1953 -

Yoshimatsu is one of the most prolific and popular of contemporary Japanese composers. Born in 1953 in Tokyo, his earliest inspiration to pursue music came as he watched his younger sister practicing the piano at home. He entered Keio University as an engineering student, but turned to music, teaching himself composition and studying with Teizo Matsumara. Yoshimatsu was exposed to a multitude of musical idioms growing up in Japan, and performed with jazz and rock bands in his 20s before turning to serious concert music. As a composer of concert music, Yoshimatsu's preference is for "new lyricism," and an avoidance of the unmusical characteristics of much modern concert music. His career as a composer began in the late '70s; in 1980, he won the Japan Symphony Foundation Prize for his Dorian for Orchestra.

His work has utilized Japanese instruments such as the koto in a chamber music context, but has also embraced such traditional European forms as the symphony and the piano concerto. Yoshimatsu draws from a vast range of musical influences, including rock and jazz; his cultural influences include his native Japan -- his Symphony No. 1 "Kamui-Chikap" takes its name from the Ainu word for "God Bird;" and his Concerto for guitar "Pegasus Effect" takes part of its name from Japanese mythology, though it also owes a musical debt to American jazz and rock. It also extends to elements of European classical music and traditional African music, as displayed in his Symphony No. 2. A significant part of his output, which consisted of more than 60 works by the mid-'90s, is very personal in inspiration, including Ode to Birds and Rainbow, written in memory of his younger sister (who died in 1994), and Threnody to Toki, inspired by Yoshimatsu's feelings of loss on the death of the last toki -- a rare species of bird -- on Japan's main island. The latter is one of his most popular works and utilizes a piano, two groups of strings, and a bass all physically arranged (with the conductor at the head) to represent the shape of a bird. He has received commissions from the Japan Symphony Foundation, and in the 1990s, Chandos Records undertook the recording of Yoshimatsu's work, in conjunction with the BBC Philharmonic under Sachio Fujioka and by the Manchester Camerata.

- As seen on allmusic.com


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## brotagonist

I listened to a fair number of his works a little over a year ago. After listening, I rated them at 1* out of 10* :lol: Oh, that's mean  Pardon me for being such a Philistine 

Now, Teizo Matsumura... Toshio Hosokawa, too! If only there were more discs available!


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## Blake

brotagonist said:


> I listened to a fair number of his works a little over a year ago. After listening, I rated them at 1* out of 10* :lol: Oh, that's mean  Pardon me for being such a Philistine
> 
> Now, Teizo Matsumura... Toshio Hosokawa, too! If only there were more discs available!


I forgive you....


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## ptr

I'm with Brot's, listened to most of Chandos Yoshimatsu series a few years ago and found all of his music quite derivative and not very exciting. (Love being a phil!)

/ptr


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## Blake

You guys are disappointing.


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## ptr

Vesuvius said:


> You guys are disappointing.


Yes please, "disappointing" is my middle name... Fortunately there are more good and interesting music then there are disappointing! FX. I'd rather listen to Hosokawa any day!

/ptr


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## Blake

ptr said:


> Yes please, "disappointing" is my middle name... Fortunately there are more good and interesting music then there are disappointing! FX. I'd rather listen to Hosokawa any day!
> 
> /ptr


Hosokawa is great, by the way. Why not start a thread about him? I'm not a paid agent, so I could care less about the competition of comparing composers.

I just find something supremely tasteful and natural about Yoshimatsu's work.


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## Guest

I really like a lot of his music for what it is. The symphonies, the piano concerto, the dances... Are they inspired in the same sense as Hosokawa's work? Probably not, but they sound good to my ears, and I'm not hearing them as ENTIRELY derivative either.


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## Blake

arcaneholocaust said:


> I really like a lot of his music for what it is. The symphonies, the piano concerto, the dances... Are they inspired in the same sense as Hosokawa's work? Probably not, but they sound good to my ears, and I'm not hearing them as ENTIRELY derivative either.


His polystylistic ways might give some this derivative feel... as he uses several familiar methods. But it's the way he incorporates these styles that sounds fresh to me. As a whole, I haven't heard anyone who makes music like him, and my library is pretty liberal.


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## violadude

I really like Yoshimatsu's music, Vesuvius. I understand what other people are saying about sounding derivative and a lot of his pieces might be perceived as having sort of a retro-romantic "sappy" quality. Oh well, I like it. His music sounds very nostalgic to me. 

I like a lot of K-pop too.

We all have our guilty pleasures...(not to say that Yoshimatsu's music SHOULD be a guilty pleasure..but ya).


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## Nereffid

The only Yoshimatsu I know is the Threnody to Toki, which I like. If this is derivative, what's it derived from, because I'd like to hear more of that!


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## Pianistin

I love the Cyber Bird Concerto, it's one of my favourite pieces.Takashi Yoshimatsu - Cyberbird Concerto:


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## Blake

violadude said:


> I really like Yoshimatsu's music, Vesuvius. I understand what other people are saying about sounding derivative and a lot of his pieces might be perceived as having sort of a retro-romantic "sappy" quality. Oh well, I like it. His music sounds very nostalgic to me.
> 
> I like a lot of K-pop too.
> 
> We all have our guilty pleasures...(not to say that Yoshimatsu's music SHOULD be a guilty pleasure..but ya).


I hear ya. I don't get sappiness out of it, though. It has more of an elegant Asian sound than anything overly emotional. Although he is quite romantic, the music is too clean and crisp to be sappy. I don't feel anything ~sticking~ on me. And how he incorporates some free jazz, "atonalities", east-western cultures, along with his "new lyricism" approach I find it far from derivative. But I see how it could appear that way to some if they're only scratching the surface.

It's too bad some of you other guys can't appreciate it, as I think it's lovely music.


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## Blake

This is good stuff.


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## mmsbls

I have heard maybe 5 or 6 works by Yoshimatsu and most I enjoy, In particular the works mentioned - Piano Concerto, Threnody for Tokii, and Symphony No. 5 I quite like. I can imagine why some would call them derivative, but I've never really cared whether a work is derivative, breaking new ground, or in between. I only care is I like the music.


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## Dim7

Threnody to toki sounds to me a bit like Takemitsu (or maybe I'm thinking so just because they're both Japanese), but better. Takemitsu frustrates me a little bit - the atmospheres he creates may be kinda cool but the "content" sounds arbitrary. But in this Yoshimatsu piece there's something lyrical and meaningful that I don't hear in Takemitsu.


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## Mahlerian

Dim7 said:


> Threnody to toki sounds to me a bit like Takemitsu (or maybe I'm thinking so just because they're both Japanese), but better. Takemitsu frustrates me a little bit - the atmospheres he creates may be kinda cool but the "content" sounds arbitrary. But in this Yoshimatsu piece there's something lyrical and meaningful that I don't hear in Takemitsu.


Well, both composers sound Japanese, but Threnody to Toki sounds to me like it is completely static in terms of harmony (or very close to) and just cycles through a few different gestures, whereas Takemitsu's music has more real harmonic contrast and melodic development.

I dislike the rest of his music even more, but Violadude likes it, so there's got to be something worthwhile there.


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## Blake

It's worthwhile to whomever digs it.


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## Dim7

PetrB thought that Threnody to Toki was "gorgeus". You gotta have approval at least from one erudite TC poster :lol:

I agree that it certainly doesn't sound like it's going anywhere but that's better than sounding random - again, to my ears.


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## Mahlerian

Dim7 said:


> PetrB thought that Threnody to Toki was "gorgeus". You gotta have approval at least from one erudite TC poster :lol:
> 
> I agree that it certainly doesn't sound like it's going anywhere but that's better than sounding random - again, to my ears.


Which Takemitsu pieces have you listened to? I don't think most of his music sounds at all random.


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## Blake

Mahlerian said:


> Which Takemitsu pieces have you listened to? I don't think most of his music sounds at all random.


Come on, dude. You're asking justification for personal taste.


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## Mahlerian

Blake said:


> Come on, dude. You're asking justification for personal taste.


How is that asking for justification for personal taste?

Something which sounds random is unpatterned. There are patterns everywhere in Takemitsu's music. I would respond the same way if someone said that the music of Mozart or Bach sounded random.

This is not about comparing the quality of Takemitsu's music as opposed to Yoshimatsu's. I am only challenging the reason given for someone else's assessment.


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## violadude

Mahlerian said:


> How is that asking for justification for personal taste?
> 
> Something which sounds random is unpatterned. There are patterns everywhere in Takemitsu's music. I would respond the same way if someone said that the music of Mozart or Bach sounded random.
> 
> This is not about comparing the quality of Takemitsu's music as opposed to Yoshimatsu's. I am only challenging the reason given for someone else's assessment.


I guess TC should just be a list of boring, unchallenged opinions with no reason behind them.


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## violadude

Mahlerian said:


> Well, both composers sound Japanese, but Threnody to Toki sounds to me like it is completely static in terms of harmony (or very close to) and just cycles through a few different gestures, whereas Takemitsu's music has more real harmonic contrast and melodic development.
> 
> I dislike the rest of his music even more, but Violadude likes it, so there's got to be something worthwhile there.


Aw, Schucks  Well, to be perfectly clear about my feelings regarding Yoshimatsu. I don't think he's a super amazing composer or anything. I like his music a lot mostly because I have a nostalgic soft spot for the type of sound his music has. It's a personal thing.


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## Guest

violadude said:


> Aw, Schucks  Well, to be perfectly clear about my feelings regarding Yoshimatsu. I don't think he's a super amazing composer or anything. I like his music a lot mostly because I have a nostalgic soft spot for the type of sound his music has. It's a personal thing.


I think it sorta sounds like what might happen if Nobuo Uematsu were a classical composer


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## violadude

nathanb said:


> I think it sorta sounds like what might happen if Nobuo Uematsu were a classical composer


I can see that, haha.


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## norman bates

I've never heard of him before, that Threnody has something that reminds me a bit of some holy minimalist like Arvo Part (maybe it's the harmonic simplicity) much more than Takemitsu, but I would not say that he sounds exactly like Part or any other composer I know. When you guys say that that piece is derivative... derivative of whom exactly?


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## Blake

Mahlerian said:


> How is that asking for justification for personal taste?
> 
> Something which sounds random is unpatterned. There are patterns everywhere in Takemitsu's music. I would respond the same way if someone said that the music of Mozart or Bach sounded random.
> 
> This is not about comparing the quality of Takemitsu's music as opposed to Yoshimatsu's. I am only challenging the reason given for someone else's assessment.


A simple inquiry into things didn't sound like your original call of action according to your line of post. Sounded more like your intention was to eventually degrade what you found disagreeable.

But, if you say so. I have been wrong before. Though, I know none of you guys have.


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## Blake

violadude said:


> I guess TC should just be a list of boring, unchallenged opinions with no reason behind them.


Oh, indeed. Wouldn't want to stop this overwhelming excitement.


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## Dim7

I've heard A Flock Descends Into the Pentagonal Garden, Autumn, Orion and Pleiades and Quatrain. Random may be too strong a word, but in any case I specified that I was talking about my perception it and not trying to make a claim that Takemitsu's music doesn't actually have any organization.


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## Mahlerian

Dim7 said:


> I've heard A Flock Descends Into the Pentagonal Garden, Autumn, Orion and Pleiades and Quatrain. Random may be too strong a word, but in any case I specified that I was talking about my perception it and not trying to make a claim that Takemitsu's music doesn't actually have any organization.


I know, I'm just wondering; you have to realize, to me Schoenberg, Boulez, and Takemitsu very literally sound no more or less random than Bach, Mozart, or Mahler. It does seem that most of what you've listened to is from the 60s and early 70s; maybe one of Takemitsu's earlier or later works would seem more coherent to you. Try Toward the Sea or Requiem for Strings.

As for Yoshimatsu, I've said all I wanted to say. I have no interest in denigrating the tastes of others.


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## Guest

I just want you to know, Senor Mahlerian, that I listened to Yoshimatsu's 6th symphony and marimba concerto last night just because of you. The 6th was alright... I felt that the marimba concerto, though, reminded me of the bright sounds of Milhaud's marimba/vibraphone concerto.

Also, Mahlerian has changed his avatar. April fools, or the end of days?


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## Blake

Mahlerian said:


> As for Yoshimatsu, I've said all I wanted to say. I have no interest in denigrating the tastes of others.


In this case, apologies to you. My interpretations don't always come out right.


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## MartinCacho

Takemitsu´s music is not random. His composition methods are irrational, however takemitsu´s music are perfectly structured in a fragmented melodic way, just like Debussy, but with the harmonic and melodic ressources of Messiaen, and japanese academic music. 

Yoshimatsu´s compositional techniques includes serialism (With embedded tonality) and progressive rock´s methods, etc. With more simple structures. 

Yoshimatsu and Takemitsu are from very different dimensions and they are incomparable. 
However its not imposible to love both of them...


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## leonsm

I'm really liking Yoshimatsu's music. So far, I listened to these two albums below, there are amazing music right there.


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## kyjo

Yoshimatsu is one of my favorite contemporary composers. His music is eclectic, exciting, and accessible. I’m most familiar with his symphonies 2-4. In nos. 2 and 3, one can detect as diverse influences such as Sibelius, minimalism, and Latin American music, all assimilated into Yoshimatsu’s unmistakable language. Both symphonies contain thrillingly celebratory finales that are guaranteed to bring you to your feet! No. 4 is a “lighter” work, sounding at times like Japanese film/video game scores (not a bad thing IMO) and humorously including quotes from Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 10. Yoshimatsu was very fortunate to be Chandos’ “composer in residence” for a while, as they produced a fine series of recordings of his music.


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