Seiji Ozawa / Toru Takemitsu
Asterism / Requiem / Green / The Dorian Horizon
RCA Red Seal (Germany) 1969
LSC-3099 (LP) coated sleeve.
sleeve : VG+(color-faded, coating slightly lifting in a small area.)
media : EX/EX(some slightly noise.)
This 1969 release features four compositions from the 1960s by Toru Takemitsu—one of Japan’s most celebrated composers—performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Seiji Ozawa. Recorded at Massey Hall in Toronto, the album also features Yuji Takahashi on piano. Track A1 is a work for solo piano and orchestra receiving its premiere recording here. Track A2 is a full-orchestra piece composed in 1957 on commission from the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Track B1 was written as the second installment to November Steps, Takemitsu’s work for traditional Japanese instruments such as biwa and shakuhachi with orchestra, a form he was deeply exploring at the time. Track B2 is a string quartet composed in 1966 on commission from the Koussevitzky Foundation. Takemitsu remarked even then that it would be misguided to adapt traditional Japanese instruments into Western sound ideals out of mere sonic fetishism, and that philosophy is evident in the conception of these works. Rare German pressing.