This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.
Notes and Editorial Reviews
This CD contains a number of Takemitsu’s late pieces, all written in the six years before his premature death in 1996. They bring to a peak of refinement his gorgeously meditative orchestral style. There are no sharp edges in this music, which moves with a kind of lingering regret from one delicious Debussian harmony to another, embellishing each one with tender melodic tendrils, adding here and there an extra touch of iridescence on vibraphone or harp (in a way that suddenly evokes Messiaen). It’s the perfect idiom for Takemitsu’s Epicurean view of life, free of striving. ‘I like a tree because it doesn’t yell about love or justice’ reads a line in My Way of Life. The text for Family Tree, a set of reminiscences about ‘Mom’, ‘Grandma’ and
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so on, has a similarly home-spun quality. The texts’ mood of resignation and gentle nostalgia is beautifully caught by the music. You’d expect so much languorous beauty to become cloying, but Takemitsu (like his mentor Debussy) has the taut discipline of the true sensualist, and knows just when to stop. And he’s wonderfully served by the performances, which search for the expressiveness in the music rather than dwelling on its fastidious beauties – though they too are there, caught in a beautifully clear and glowing recording.
-- Ivan Hewett, BBC Music Magazine
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Works on This Recording
1.
Ceremonial "An Autumn Ode" by Toru Takemitsu
Conductor:
Seiji Ozawa
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Saito Kinen Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1992
2.
Family Tree by Toru Takemitsu
Performer:
Seira Ozawa (Spoken Vocals)
Conductor:
Seiji Ozawa
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Saito Kinen Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1992
3.
My Way of Life "In Memory of Michael Vyner" by Toru Takemitsu
Performer:
Dwayne Croft (Baritone)
Conductor:
Seiji Ozawa
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Saito Kinen Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1990
4.
Air for Flute solo by Toru Takemitsu
Performer:
Aurèle Nicolet (Flute)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1996; Japan
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