When I first heard
Takemitsu’s music (actually The
flock descends into the pentagonal garden
performed in Liège many years
ago), my reaction was "updated
Debussy", which – incidentally
– I did not mean as a criticism but
rather as an indication of what his
music sounded like. Closer acquaintance
over the years has strengthened this
feeling although I had to admit that
Messiaen also had some lasting influence
on Takemitsu’s music.
Takemitsu’s piano music
is, like much in his output, quiet and
slow moving displaying some influences
from Debussy and Messiaen, the latter
being fairly evident in Uninterrupted
Rests. One might thus be tempted
to think that a whole disc devoted to
such slow moving music might result
in monotony. Not quite so, I must say,
for there is nevertheless much contrast
between these pieces and within each
of them. Contrast, however, is achieved
rather by dynamic variation than by
speeding-up the music’s flow. Another
characteristic is also clearly evident
here, i.e. that most of his music is
inspired by various extra-musical sources,
be it literature, painting or nature.
Thus, the diptych Les yeux clos
(ten years separate the two panels)
are inspired by paintings by Odilon
Redon, that also inspired the orchestral
work Visions (1986). "Rain"
and "Tree" (which in my mind
combine strength and fragility as well)
also often feature in Takemitsu’s music,
e.g. Rain Coming, Tree
Line, Rain Spell
or Rain Tree, the latter
being a piece for percussion.
It may be interesting
to know that Litany of
1990 which concludes this disc is actually
a reworking and condensing of a fairly
early work composed in 1950, Lento
in due movimenti, although I
do not know the earlier work. Neither
do I know if it has been retained for
performance by the composer. It is thus
difficult to know the impact of the
reworking of the earlier work.
As already mentioned,
Takemitsu’s music is most of the time
slow-moving, meditative, impressionistic
with an undeniable 20th century
harmonic touch. He always seemed reluctant
to write fast movements, at least in
his concert music, which is rather surprising
when one considers the amount of often
energetic and virile music he wrote
for movies, such as his Mahler re-creation
for Kurosawa’s masterly Ran.
However, it is good
to have these pieces available again,
superbly played by Tateno and warmly
recorded. Well worth having, particularly
at Apex’s bargain price.
Hubert Culot
Izumi Tateno (piano)