Takemitsu: Spectral Canticle (CD Review)

 by Karl Nehring

Takemitsu: Spectral Canticle (for violin, guitar, and orchestra); To the Edge of Dream (for guitar and orchestra); Vers l’arc-en-ciel, Palma (for oboe d’amore, guitar, and orchestra); Twill by Twilight (for orchestra). Jacob Kellermann, guitar; Vivian Hagner, violin; Juliana Koch, oboe d’amore; BBC Philharmonic conducted by Christian Karlsen. BIS-2655 SACD

 

Although music lovers here in the West who are at least somewhat familiar with Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996) possibly imagine him as some kind of esoteric, aloof, withdrawn figure who lived a hermetic life of contemplation and occasionally produced a serious work of music, the liner notes paint a much different picture: “Takemitsu himself built a strong Japanese profile of remarkable versatility, with many scores for films and theatrical productions appearing alongside the more ‘serious’ concert compositions that won him success in the West. An engagingly unpretentious personality, he had a fastidious professionalism that he brought to bear on everything he undertook, even the writing of thrillers and participation in TV cookery competitions. At the same time, the kind of music represented on this disc ensured that he was among the most prominent of that generation of progressive composers – including Henze, Berio, Kurtág and Kagel – much sought after , especially during the 1980s and 1990s, when modernism was at its strongest, and before minimalism achieved its highest profile in mainstream concert programmes.” (How I would have loved to see Takemitsu  throw down with Bobby Flay…) 

 

Although these are four distinct works, they have much in common. All are substantial works that date from the later stages of Takemitsu’s career; in fact, the opening work, Spectral Canticle (at the beginning of the score he instructs the performers, “calm, mysteriously”), which he completed in 1995. is one of his last works. As you might expect from a composition for orchestra that feature a prominent role for an acoustic guitar – and no, this is not a double concerto (the violin and guitar play prominent roles, but are integrated into the music rather than being featured as soloists) – the music truly does sound calm and mysterious. Note that the next two selections also feature the guitar; again, however, To the Edge of Dream is not a guitar concerto, nor is Vers l’arc-en-ciel, Palma a double concerto for oboe d’amore and guitar. These three works that include the guitar all have that sense of calm and mystery (more the latter than the former overall), and the latter two works share the distinction of being inspired by works of art: To the Edge of Dream by the paintings of the Belgian surrealist Paul Delvaux (1897-1994) and Vers l’arc-en-ciel, Palma borrows it title from  a work by Joan Miró (1893-1983), whom Takemitsu had met in 1970. 

Takemitsu dedicated the final composition on the program, Twill by Twilight, to the American composer Morton Feldman (1926-1987). For orchestra only, it shares with its discmates another characteristic that often seems  to manifest itself in Takemitsu’s music for orchestra, that being a sensation of waves, the music rising and falling. This sensation is not the steady pulse of minimalism; rather, it is as though the composer’s music is inspired by water – water in nature, water that s flowing, rippling, lapping up on the shore, swirling into eddies here and there, reflecting light, sometimes silent, occasionally roaring, reflecting and refracting, revealing and concealing. To listen to his music is to enter a musical world different from that of Mozart and Beethoven. It is more like that of Debussy, but certainly not the same as the French master. This well-engineered disc (I auditioned the two-channel stereo CD layer; there are also SACD stereo and 5.0 surround layers for those so equipped) is well worth an audition by those looking to expand their musical horizons. There is great beauty to be found here.