Stomu Yamash’ta “Prison Song”

ツトム・ヤマシタ
刑務所の歌
London Records (Japan) 1972
SLA(O)1032 (LP) Original pressing. gatefold sleeve. w/insert.
sleeve : VG+(SPSE: three cracks on topside. light dirts.)
media : EX-/EX(some light noises.)

This album was released in 1972 by Japanese percussionist Tsutomu Yamashita, who has made a name for himself in the field of classical and contemporary music since the late 1960s, and has since gone on to create numerous masterpieces across genres ranging from rock and crossover to electronic and new age music. The album includes "Prison Song" (A1) by German composer Hans Werner Henze, "Seasons" (A2) by Toru Takemitsu and "Turris Campanarum Sonantium" (B) by British composer Peter Maxwell Davies. A1 is based on a poem by Ho Chi Minh, the father of the Vietnamese Revolution, and is read by Yamashita himself. All of the pieces are premiered by Yamashita, although a percussion ensemble version of Toru Takemitsu's "Seasons" was released on Deutsche Crammophon in the same year, with Yamashita's participation. This is a must-hear performance of all the pieces.