Toru Takemitsu - Garden Rain (2005 compilation of LPs released 1973 & 1975)

Nice charity shop find by a composer I'd been wanting to hear more of.  This CD gave the first international reissue to a pair of Japanese LPs from the mid-70s, which together offer a good cross-section of the different ways Takemitsu approached composing for a variety of instruments (as well as a bit of tape music) up to that time.

The "Minatur V" album from 1975 is placed first on the CD - possibly to avoid front-loading it with the most avant-garde music - and thus starts with the calm, accessible brass ensemble piece Garden Rain (1974).  This is contrasted next with earlier writing for string octet, Le Son Calligraphé (1958-60), showing Takemitsu's blend of Japanese and European composing styles already in place, as does Hika-Elegy (1966) for piano and violin.  A solo guitar suite, Folios, brings us back up to date for the mid-70s.  Love the way the guitar's been recorded here, as well as the fine rendition by Kiyoshi Shumara.

"Minatur II", originally released in 1973, is more of an adventure in sound, first pairing an oboe and sho for Distance (1972) then a flute that is sung into, spoken/growled into etc for Voice (1971).  From the same year, Stanza II blends the sound of a harp with concrete sounds and electronic tones on tape, making for an engrossing sonic highlight of the collection.  Lastly, Eucalypts I, a 1970 commission for the Zurich Colligeum Musicum, makes striking use of the resonant properties of the harp, oboe and strings, and Eucalypts II draws out the solo parts from the main work.

link

pw: sgtg

Takemitsu at SGTG:

Asterism, Requiem, Green, The Dorian Horizon

November Steps

Rain Tree Sketch