315
See also: Das Lied von der Erde 198–201 ■ Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
228–231 ■ Quartet for the End of Time 282–283 ■ 4 ́33 ̋ 302–305CONTEMPORARY
shade of sound” and what he called
a “density of tones.” From Messiaen,
Takemitsu learned “the conception
of the form and color of time,” as
he put it, and in fact wrote his
piano piece Rain Tree Sketch II
(1992) in memory of the composer.
Unlike Messiaen, Takemitsu did
not belong to a particular religion
but considered himself a religious
person. The act of composing was
for him a prayer: he likened it to
“taking out a part of an eternal
‘river of sound’ running through
the world surrounding us.” Like
his close friend John Cage, who
was fascinated with fungi, and
Messiaen, a passionate bird lover,
Takemitsu related deeply to the
natural world. As the titles of many
of his works indicate, he felt his
music was intimately linked to
both nature and the universe.Silence and sound
Takemitsu had a profound interest
in the relationship between silence
and sound. The Eastern concept of
“Ma,” an intense silence between
sounds, was for him contrary to the
Western idea of a musical “rest”—
literally, a resting silence. In the
East, too, according to Takemitsu,“one tone of the shakuhachi can
become Hotoke [God].” That is, a
single tone can embody cosmic
nature. In the West, by contrast,
tones are joined together into
melodies, rhythms, and harmonies.
Takemitsu never used conventional
Western musical forms. Most of
his works are short, reflecting
characteristics of Japanese
literature, such as Haiku poetry.
Colorful sonorities are one
hallmark of Takemitsu’s music. As
the Western orchestra possesses
perhaps the greatest capacity to
create different tone colors, it is
no coincidence that he wrote a
large number of orchestral works.
Takemitsu also devised unique
compositional techniques, later
adopted by younger Japanese
composers. In the piano piece
Les yeux clos (“Eyes closed,” 1979),
he created layers of simultaneous
melodies with slightly different note
values so that each note makes a
tiny anticipation, or delay, erasing
the sense of beats and creating a
fluidlike texture. Takemitsu’s
music is wholly original—a unique
juxtaposition of Japanese and
Western musical traditions. ■Toru Takemitsu
Born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1930,
Takemitsu briefly studied
composition with Yasuji Kiyose
in 1948 but was essentially
self-taught. In 1951, he
organized the experimental
workshop “Jikken Kobo” with
the poet Shuzo Takiguchi and
others pursuing avant-garde
methods. Takemitsu’s
Requiem for Strings (1957),
written after the death of
composer Fumio Hayasaka
whom he adored, was praised
by Stravinsky. A decade later,
the success of November Steps
established his international
reputation as the leading
Japanese composer. From the
1970s, he used fewer Japanese
instruments in his works,
preferring conventional
Western instruments and
more tonal sonorities, as
in pieces such as A String
around Autumn (1989). He
composed a large number of
works with Western idioms
and wrote music for more than
90 Japanese films. Takemitsu
died in Tokyo in 1996.Other key works1957 Requiem for Strings
1979 In an Autumn Garden
1994 Archipelago S.I am a gardener of time.
I want to create a garden
connecting to infinite time.
Toru TakemitsuA Western tone walks
horizontally but a tone
of the shakuhachi rises
vertically like a tree.
Toru TakemitsuUS_314-315_Takemitsu.indd 315 26/03/18 1:02 PM