Izumi Tateno - Toru Takemitsu: Piano Works (1996) Reissue 2003

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Izumi Tateno - Toru Takemitsu: Piano Works (1996) Reissue 2003

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This disc contains 11 piano pieces by Toru Takemitsu performed by Izumi Tateno. It was originally released in 1996 on Finlandia, but now appears in reissue in Warner Classics' economy line Apex. Like all of Takemitsu's oeuvre, his piano works (which altogether make up only a single CD) are meditative, intensely focused, and undramatic.

The triptych "Uninterrupted Rests" was begun in 1952, when the young Takemitsu was active in the Jibben Kobo workshop, and completed in 1959. Its musical language is quite reminiscent of Messiaen, and Takemitsu does not entirely succeed in finding his own original voice. "Piano Distance" (1961) shows Takemitsu finding that original voice. Instead of established pianistic method, the composer gives a demanding set of tone colourings, tone clusters, and pedal effects. It is a gesture-centered works.

"For Away" (1973) is a rarity in Takemitsu's oeuvre, a piece inspired by non-Japanese Asian music, in this case Balinese gamelan music. As a result, it bears a resemblance to some of the Piano Etudes of Gyorgy Ligeti, who also was inspired by that tradition, but no one but Takemitsu could create a piece so meditative.

"Rain Tree Sketch" dates from 1982, a year after Takemitsu had composed "Rain Tree" for three percussion players, though the works are related more through mood than through any shared material. Like a tree which continues to pour rain upon the ground even after the storm has disappeared, the piece displays drop after drop of single notes and the occasional chord. "Rain Tree Sketch II" is from a decade later, and was the last piano work Takemitsu wrote. Dedicated to the memory of Messiaen, it is an ABA form and has three sections. The opening "Celestially Light" is rhythmic, and is based mainly on two chords and an upward three-note arpeggio. The middle section "Joyful" is melodic, and is interrupted by the pair of chords from the first section. In the final section, material is repeated from the first section. This is the stronger of the two sketches.

The twelve-minute "Litany" (1989) is a recomposition of Takemitsu's early "Lento". It is divided equally into two movements. The first opens with a Phrygian-mode melody in the middle range. Each phrase is ended by arpeggios, but the mood is generally tranquil and still. The second movement is much the same as the first but uses brighter harmonies.

While I think that Takemitsu's strongest works are those for orchestra–see the excellent QUOTATION OF DREAM disc on Deutsche Grammophon, his piano works are also entertaining for fans of Takemitsu. If you have already come to love the works of this singular Japanese composer, this is a disc work picking up. Though, to be honest, this is not music that greatly differs from performer to performer, and any other pianist's go at it will do just as well as Tateno's here.

Review by Christopher Culver

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.

Review by Hubert Culot, MusicWeb International

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Izumi Tateno - Toru Takemitsu: Piano Works (1996) Reissue 2003

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Izumi Tateno - Toru Takemitsu: Piano Works (1996) Reissue 2003

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Izumi Tateno - Toru Takemitsu: Piano Works (1996) Reissue 2003

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