Yoshiaki Onishi - Works (2009–present)
All live recordings

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Tramespace, diptyque pour grand ensemble (2012~15)

0:00~15:12: Tramespace I (2012~2013)
15:12~32:58: Tramespace II (2013~2015)

Tramespace I:
Study Score: www.editiongravis.de/verlag/product…mespace-I.html

Asko|Schönberg Ensemble
Clark Rundell, cond.

Geertekerk, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2013, Opening Concert
September 2, 2013

Live recording made by Richard de Gruyl for Concertzender/VPRO during Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2013

Tramespace II:
Study Score: http://www.editiongravis.de/verlag/product_info.php?info=p2065_Tramespace-II.html

Ensemble Intercontemporain
Pablo Heras-Casado, cond.

Kölner Philharmonie, Köln (Cologne), Germany
Acht Brücken 2015
May 9, 2015
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Départ dans... (2010) for five players
Wet Ink Ensemble, Yoshiaki Onishi, cond. 
Recorded January 25, 2012 
Issue Project Room, New York 
Gaudeamus/New York Festival
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Parti... (2012~14, rev. 2015)
-- Linda Jankowska, violin

Score: http://www.editiongravis.de/verlag/product_info.php?info=p1901_Parti---.html
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Culs-de-sac (en passacaille) (2009, rev. 2010)
JACK Quartet
Recorded July 23, 2010
Orangerie, Darmstadt, Germany
Internationale Ferienkurse für neue Musik Darmstadt

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Envoi II (2016) for string trio
Momenta Quartet
(Alex Shiozaki, violin; Stephanie Griffin, viola;  Michael Haas, violoncello)
February 19, 2017
Scandinavia House, New York

Remastered by Yoshiaki Onishi

Score: https://www.editiongravis.de/verlag/product_info.php?info=p2213_Envoi-II.html
Parts: https://www.editiongravis.de/verlag/product_info.php?info=p2278_Envoi-II.html
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Tr (épilogue) - for violoncello solo (2012, rev. 2014)
Recording of the new, definitive version

http://www.editiongravis.de/verlag/product_info.php?info=p1903_Tr---pilogue-.html

Kevin McFarland, violoncello
Ryan Streber, recording engineer

Columbia Composers Concert
Cary Hall, DiMenna Center (New York)
April 14, 2014
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Gz - A Vuza Canon for tenor recorder and shakuhachi (2017)
Tosiya Suzuki, recorder
Tadashi Tajima, shakuhachi
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Envoi I - for violoncello solo (2015) 
Two diff. performances:
Kei Yamazawa, violoncello
Anssi Karttunen, violoncello

Score: http://www.editiongravis.de/verlag/product_info.php?info=p2062_Envoi-I.html
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Spargens (2012)
for trombone solo
William Lang, trombone

Score: http://www.editiongravis.de/verlag/product_info.php?info=p1902_Spargens.html
December 12, 2012
Roulette (Brooklyn, New York)
Columbia Composers Concert
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Envoi III - twelve micro-strophes for ondes Martenot solo (2017)
Takashi Harada, ondes Martenot
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Palinody - for fourteen players (2010)
Wet Ink Ensemble
Yoshiaki Onishi, cond.
Recorded December 11, 2010
St. Peter’s Church Chelsea, New York, NY
Live Recording (Ryan Streber, recording engineer)

[Yoshiaki Onishi in nearly 3 hours]

Meriläinen's trio for flute, piano and cello
Mikael Helasvuo, flute
Tuija Hakkila, piano
Anssi Karttunen, cello

Usko Meriläinen: Henriette's Feast (Henrietten juhlat)

Pentti Saaritsa - Ascensus

read by Pentti Saaritsa

Pentti Saaritsa - Ascensus (poem)

Disputatio (2023), for 16 instruments

T.J. Borden, violoncello
Whitmore Recital Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia
T.J. Borden Cello Recital
04/10/2019
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When I wrote my string quartet Culs-de-sac (en passacaille) in 2009, it was evident to me that I should develop the sonic soundscape that I have created in that piece. I have decided that I write a cycle of compositions for string quartet and its subsets. Tr (épilogue) marks the second piece that I completed in this cycle. Its title has a precursor; Tr for violoncello and piano, of which I took the formal scheme as a point of reference for the solo piece. I took the duo piece, stripped away the piano part, and enlarged the piece by adding musical commentaries. As the title may suggest, I intend that this piece concludes the cycle. In the spirit of concluding the cycle, my focus in this piece was to illuminate the gestures of ‘farewell,’ in the sense that the envelope of the phrases has the conscious trajectory of fade-out. Many thanks to Patrick McGuire who, in the symposium Creative Dialogue V, premiered the work-in-progress version as a part of Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Also thanks are due to Anssi Karttunen and Magnus Lindberg, whose commentaries and feedbacks were crucial to the development of the piece. Tr (épilogue) is dedicated to Pierre Morlet and Mark Andre.

Tr (épilogue) (2012/14)

Kresten Osgood, drums
Anssi Karttunen, cello
Lucas Dann, piano

March 8th 2024 Het Roode Bioskoop, Amsterdam

The Badgers: The Amsterdam Set

Poetic Forms : Laisse, Chanson de Geste est la deuxième œuvre achevée de ma série Poetic Forms, dans laquelle les composantes structurelles de la poésie littéraire sont transposées ou transformées en paramètres musicaux. Cette série s’inscrit dans le cadre de mon projet compositionnel plus large : explorer de nouvelles approches pour construire et définir les éléments fondamentaux de la musique. Le sous-titre de la pièce — 5 lignes pour quatuor à cordes — met en évidence sa base structurelle : la laisse de cinq vers, tirée de la Chanson de Geste, plus précisément de la Chanson de Doon de Nanteuil, dont seuls des fragments nous sont parvenus. Inspiré par cette forme textuelle, j’ai réutilisé et réinterprété un large éventail de techniques compositionnelles issues de la musique ancienne, en m’inspirant notamment d’Hildegarde de Bingen, de l’École de Notre-Dame (Léonin, Pérotin), de Guillaume de Machaut, de l’Ars Subtilior (Solage, Ciconia), ainsi que des traités théoriques du compositeur du XVIe siècle Nicola Vicentino. Composée pour le projet Musiques Envoûtées du Quatuor Béla, la pièce a été conçue autour de la notion de résonance comme idée musicale centrale. Au cours de son élaboration, j’ai exploré différentes dimensions de la résonance : en tant que perception de l’espace acoustique ; comme relation entre les instrumentistes (corps résonants) ; comme phénomène harmonique ; et comme lien entre les phrases musicales successives ou interpolées. Ainsi, Poetic Forms : Laisse peut être perçue comme une sorte de traité sur la résonance — examinant son potentiel en tant que principe générateur de la forme musicale — dans l’esprit même des œuvres et des figures historiques qui ont nourri sa création. 
Immense remercie à Quatuor Béla pour leur travail magnifique et pour leur performance à l'église d'Ayn pendant la création, entendu ici en 5 Août, comme part du Festival Nuits d'Été.

Poetic Forms: laisse, chanson de geste, for string quartet (world premiere)

NOTE: The work "Tramespace" as a diptych has not yet been performed, but the two works that make up the diptych have now been performed. I have put the two recordings together, so as to form an impression of the diptych. 

Many excuses for the drop in the quality of the sound recording in "Tramespace II," as the sound becomes monophonic.
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0:00~15:12: Tramespace I (2012~2013)
15:12~32:58: Tramespace II (2013~2015)
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Tramespace I:
Study Score: https://www.editiongravis.de/verlag/product_info.php?info=p1918_Tramespace-I.html

Asko|Schönberg Ensemble
Clark Rundell, cond.

Geertekerk, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2013, Opening Concert
September 2, 2013

Live recording made by Richard de Gruyl for Concertzender/VPRO during Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2013
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Tramespace II:
Study Score: https://www.editiongravis.de/verlag/product_info.php?info=p2065_Tramespace-II.html

Ensemble Intercontemporain
Pablo Heras-Casado, cond.

Kölner Philharmonie, Köln (Cologne), Germany
Acht Brücken 2015
May 9, 2015

Tramespace, diptych for large ensemble (2012~2015)

05 - Yoshiaki Onishi: Envoi I

Toimii ensemble in studio 1998.
Anssi Karttunen, Timo Korhonen, Kari Kriikku, Magnus Lindberg, Juhani Liimatainen, Riku Niemi


Kurt Schwitters:  Ursonate,  Toimii ensemble

(British premiere)

Linda Jankowska, violin
University of Huddersfield (Huddersfield, England)
September 15, 2017

Parti… for violin solo (2012~14, rev. 2015)

28/78 New Music Ensemble
	Andrew Lu, flute
	Scott Pastor, clarinet
	Thomas Hubel, trumpet
	Joshua Dunsford, trombone
	Tyler Golding, percussion
	Diego Bustamante, piano
	Sabrina Boggs and Micah Vogel, violins
	Anne Plescia, viola
	Malcolm King, violoncello
	Tristen Collinsworth, electronics

Yoshiaki Onishi, cond. 

February 2, 2019
Stockton, California, United States

28/78 New Music Festival
Conservatory of Music, University of the Pacific

Live Recording by Jeffrey D. Crawford (Owen Hall Recording & Video Studio)
Remastered by the composer

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I: L'antienne acoustique 1
II: Mouvements
III: L'antienne acoustique 2
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Antefenas is a spelling variant of an Old English word, antefn, meaning an “antiphon,” “anthem,” or a “hymn song sung in alternate parts.” No religious connotation is intended in this piece; however, throughout the piece I focus on the physicality of alternating sounds. In particular, I am interested in the kinetics of one sound responding to another, eventually forming the perception of a dialogue. Throughout the piece, dialogue is implied in various ways.

In the first part, L’antienne acoustique I (The acoustic dialogue I), an exchange between real and virtual acoustics takes place: the live musicians play short sounds through their instruments that would highlight the acoustics of the room or the hall where the piece is being played. The electronic part responds to these live instrumental sounds with sounds that are passed through impulse responses, artificially generated reverberations that simulate a “virtual” room. In the second part, Mouvements (movements), the electronic part is absent, and the focus is on the activities on the instrumental parts. “Movements” here refer not only to the fast passages that dominate this part, but also to the movements of the sounds that are exchanged from one instrumental group to another. The last part, L’antienne acoustique II, is essentially an inverse of the first part, where the live instrumental parts simulate the acoustics that the electronics produced in L’antienne acoustique I by producing the airy and hissing sounds that quickly decay in volume. The electronic part predominantly produces sounds with dry acoustics. New to the revised version, fast delays are added to the electronic sounds that bounce off left and right. Such sounds are put together with the live instrumental sounds to create a more immersive experience. The electronic part also plays a series of bell-like chords, which come from the residues of compositional materials that did not make their ways into the second part, Mouvements. I think of them as a signifier of the irreconcilable past. I find them particularly poignant, considering how turbulent the world has been for the past few years. Indeed, working on a now two-year-old piece makes the passing of time so visceral and palpable.

Antefenas-Studies was commissioned by and written for University of the Pacific’s 28/78 New Music Ensemble and Andrew Lu, in partnership with the Conservatory of Music. I dedicate this piece to Robert Coburn, in gratitude for introducing me to the world of Max/MSP while I was an undergraduate at the university, which has proven essential for creating the electronics component of this piece.

  --- Yoshiaki Onishi

Antefenas-Studies, for ensemble and electronics (2018)

Yoshiaki Onishi - Envoi II (2016) for string trio

live recording from 2018 Trieste Prima Festival
performed by Distractfold Ensemble:
Linda Jankowska - violin
Emma Richards - viola
Alice Purton - cello

Yoshiaki Onishi - Envoi II (2016) for string trio

Work commissioned by the Sheldon Arts Foundation in St. Louis, Missouri

Yoshiaki Onishi, bass clarinet
Leigh Muñoz, bassoon

March 6, 2020
The Sheldon Concert Hall
St. Louis Classical All-Stars

Yoshiaki Onishi - Gz III (2019-20) for bass clarinet and bassoon

An improvisation inspired by and recorded looking at a monotype by Visa Norros. The picture is impossible to reproduce being all in different textures of black. I felt that the best way to share the impression of looking at it was to transform my feelings into music.

December 18th, 2020

Textures In Black I, Homage to Visa Norros

Yoshiaki Onishi is a Japanese-American composer, conductor, and clarinetist. As a composer, he is interested in exploring a wide range of instrumental timbres and finding ways to incorporate them in musical syntaxes and forms that disrupt the sense of expectation. He has worked on commissions that have come from such festivals and organizations as Klangwerkstatt Berlin, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Takefu International Music Festival, and Gaudeamus Muziekweek, and his music has been performed by ensembles worldwide, including New Japan Philharmonic, Asko|Schönberg Ensemble, Klangforum Wien, Nieuw Ensemble, Distractfold Ensemble, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Quatuor Diotima and JACK Quartet. He is the recipient of the 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2018 Fromm Commission, and the Gaudeamus Prize 2011. Edition Gravis in Berlin, Germany publishes his music. As a conductor deeply engaged in promoting the music of today, he is Co-Director for the Mizzou New Music Ensemble and was one of the founding members of Ensemble Exophonie Tokyo. Other ensembles he has worked with as a conductor include Nieuw Ensemble of Amsterdam, ECCE Ensemble, Wet Ink Ensemble, Columbia University Orchestra and the University Philharmonic Orchestra of the University of Missouri. Increasingly active as a clarinetist and improviser, he has collaborated with composers George Lewis, Carolina Heredia, Oswald Huỳnh, Bret Bohman, and Andrew Crossley. Together with Santiago Beis, he plays in the Onishi-Beis Duo, an electroacoustic improvisation duo. Onishi received his doctorate in music composition from Columbia University in 2015. He is currently Assistant Professor of Music Composition at the University of Delaware School of Music. 

Profile Photo © 2015 by Stefaren.

05 - Yoshiaki Onishi: Envoi I

Anssi Karttunen

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