Toru Takemitsu- KEYBOARD WORKS PLAYED BY ROGER WOODWARD (Decca/Head) 1974

Toru Takemitsu-VARIOUS KEYBOARD WORKS (Decca/Head) 1974

Today is the 16th anniversary of the passing of Toru Takemitsu at the age of 65 years,4 months.

notes excerpted from the insert (enclosed):
"In a positive sense, for me the activity of composing consists in creating an environment where sounds can meet dramatically". To the listener educated in western music, this statement may not seem ti apply to many of his works: such an aura of quiet concentration and almost motionless development does not easily strike us as dramatic. Takemitsu's concept of drama is different from outs- nearer perhaps to that of the Japanese classical Noh theatre than to any western form. Sounds in his music are not pitted against one another: they flow freely, creating new relationships at every instant, each one individually alive. The dramatic movement is interior,: a search inside each sound for new relationships, new currents, new freedoms-Dominic Gill

Some words from the composer:

"To make the void of silence live is to make live the infinity of sounds. Sound and silence are equal. But this conception cannot work without extracting to the fullest the expressive potential of a musical sound or phrase which then will become an abstract, anonymous entity, freely offered to the executant. The virtuoso of the shakuhachi dreams of a perfect, sublime sound. Like that of the wind in the bamboos, and in that is the full expression of a belief in Japanese music. The inner complexities of a natural sound are akin tho nothingness."

"The heart of the many processes in composition is, in my view, only the first stage. I don't want to resolve this fruitful contradiction. on the contrary, I want to make the two blocks fight each other. In this way I avoid isolating myself from the tradition while advancing into the future with each new work. I would like to achieve a sound as intense as silence"...
The Works:

Corona (London Version) is the realization made by Roger Woodward in London of Takemitsu's graphic score Corona for pianist(s) (1962). Corona is the most freely conceived of all Takemitsu's keyboard works. The score is not traditionally notated, but consists of five differently colored circles containing instructions and symbols which may be fitted together or overlapped into any combination to provide the basis of the composition, which is then elaborated by the performer. Each of the five circles concerns a different aspect (or parameter) of the music: articulation, vibration, intonation, expression, conversation. The realization may be worked out (as here) in detail before the performance, or it may be improvised, but whatever the method chosen, each realization, and thus each performance, will be unique. The result is music of great freedom and individuality, whose basic aspects are nonetheless prescribed by the composer with precision and clarity.
Any number of pianists may, in theory, take part. In this realization, Woodward has combined the sound of three keyboard instruments: piano, harpsichord and organ, by means of over-dubbing techniques, and has borrowed pitch-material from other Takemitsu works.

For Away (1973) is a "personal gift" to Roger Woodward, and at the same time an "expression of extolment and offering to the Galaxy of Life- a galaxy that is not the sole domain of mankind". The predominant mood, brought about by a subtle combination of percussive and free-flowing, liquid gesture, ifs one of quiet elation.

Piano Distance (1961) is a sharp-edged, highly contrasted study in piano sonority. The "title has no particular meaning".

The trio of lyrical compositions based on a poem by Shuzo Takiguchi, Undisturbed Rest (1952) is the earliest of the Takemitsu works on this record- "....a dream of western music", haunted by echoes of Scriabin, Debussy and Ravel.

























Toru Takemitsu- VARIOUS KEYBOARD WORKS (Decca/Head) 1974

Side One:

a1- Corona (London Version)

Side Two:

b1- For Away
b2- Piano Distance
b3- Undisturbed Rest
I- Slowly sadly as if to converse
II- Quietly and with cruel reverberation
III- A song of love

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