Toshiro Mayuzumi
Mandara Symphonie / Pieces for Prepared Piano and String Quartet / Ectoplasme
Toshiba Records (Japan) 1970
TA-8013 (LP) Gatefold sleeve.
sleeve : VG+(wear on corner, dirts.)
media : EX-/EX-(some light noises.)
Toshiro Mayuzumi is one of the leading composers/contemporary musicians in postwar Japan, who introduced music concrète, electronic music and avant-garde music to Japan in the early 50s, and himself released many compositions influenced by them. This album was released in 1970 by Toshiba Records under the "Japanese Contemporary Composers Series" and features one of his most famous compositions, "Mandala Symphony," on the A-side. It was performed by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hiroyuki Iwaki. The theme of the piece is Buddhist philosophy, but without using specific materials, Mayuzumi expresses the world through the construction of a collection of sounds. B1, "Pieces for Prepared Piano and Strings," is a piece for piano, two violins, viola and cello, conducted by Mayuzumi himself. B2, "Ectoplasm," is the first piece on this album to be recorded. It consists of electric instruments (claviolin and electric guitar), vibraphone, piano, and string orchestra. This one also attempts a rather novel approach for the time.
B1: Pieces for Prepared Piano and String Quartet
B2: Ectoplasme