Toru Takemitsu

toru takemitsu

Toru Takemitsu "Rain Tree Sketch II" c. 1992
Recorded Live (2006)


Toru Takemitsu - Rain Tree Sketch II

TORU TAKEMITSU
1930 - 1996

Toru Takemitsu was a Japanese composer who achieved international acclaim. He was largely influenced by various contemporary artists – such as Debussy, Copland, and Messiaen -
and their styles, and constantly tried to build his own music by conflating his cultural/spiritual identity with them. Takemitsu especially focused on the possibilities of timbre and sound. He criticized the fact that Western avant-garde music was paying too much attention to scientific rationalism, ignoring the relationship between music and people. 
As an alternative to this, he pursued subtle timbral manipulation and explored various sounds and noises from daily life. In addition, Takemitsu is famous for combining elements of Eastern and Western philosophy and for incorporating silence and tradition with innovation. He showed great interest in expressing the atmosphere of his home country, Japan, musically. For instance, „November Steps“ (1967) is a symphony that rediscovered traditional Japanese values under the influence of John Cage. Another representative work „A Flock Descendants into the Pentagonal Garden“ (1977) demonstrates the indigenous gardens of Japan.

TAKEMITSU AND GUITAR

Guitar works of Takemitsu show a deep understanding of timbre, organisation, and instrumentation, guitar is close to Takemitsu’s musical aest in that it has great potential to articulate both, Eastern and Western music styles. The classical guitar is an instrument that can digest a variety of Western musical elements, including
polyphony and homophony, while it produces sounds similar to the traditional Japanese instrument ‚Biwa‘.
In addition, the important keyword for understanding Takemitsu‘s guitar works is the Japanese aesthetics of ‚Ma‘. 
‚Ma‘ is a concept that is explained by the stationary state in time,
and/or the interval or emptiness in space. Takemitsu saw the stillness of this ‚Ma‘ as representing the latent energy, not the absence of sound.
The guitar is an instrument optimized for the musical implementation of this idea because of its sound mechanism; the plucked strings resonate with the body and its empty space.

Toward The Sea 1

All In Twilight 4

All In Twilight 3

All In Twilight 2

All In Twilight 1

Toru Takemitsu / riverrun (1984)
武満徹 / リヴァラン

Apple Logic Pro X
Synchron YAMAHA CFX
Vienna Symphonic Library
WIVI Orchestral & Band Brass
WIVI Woodwinds & Saxophones
Audio Modeling SWAM Violin
Audio Modeling SWAM Viola
Audio Modeling SWAM Cello

Toru Takemitsu / riverrun

Yoshi Weinberg, flute
Josiah Baarbé, viola
Joseph Rebman, harp

Performed live at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY in June 2019 at the Mostly Modern Festival

Mostly Modern Festival 2019: Chamber Concert 1 - June 13, 2019

Toru Takemitsu - And then I knew t'was Wind

Air (1995) for flute solo, dedicated to Aurele Nicolet for his 70th Birthday, is Takemitsu's last completed work. Unlike in his other flute works, Takemitsu uses few extended techniques in this piece. He does still incorporate the use of flutter-tonguing and a few "bent" or slow glissando notes for emotional expressivity. This recording features Sarah Jordan on flute.

Air by Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996)

Toru TAKEMITSU (1930-1996)

Toward the sea 
1981

pour flûte alto et guitare

1 - The night
2 - Moby Dick
3 - Cap Cod


flûte alto en sol : André-Marc Delcourt
guitare: Christophe Louboutin

concert au scriptorium de l'abbaye de Sylvanès le 25 février 2001