Yoshimatsu Sym No 1; Ode to Bird & Rainbow
Beguilingly orchestrated music by one of Japan’s better-known composers (thanks to Chandos’s advocacy), in exemplary performances from the BBC Philharmonic
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Takashi Yoshimatsu
Label: Chandos
Magazine Review Date: 1/2001
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 63
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CHAN9838
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Symphony No. 1, 'Kamui-Chikap Symphony' |
Takashi Yoshimatsu, Composer
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Sachio Fujioka, Conductor Takashi Yoshimatsu, Composer |
| Ode to Birds and Rainbow |
Takashi Yoshimatsu, Composer
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Sachio Fujioka, Conductor Takashi Yoshimatsu, Composer |
Author: Guy Rickards
According to his booklet-note, both works on this disc have autobiographical resonances for the composer, Takashi Yoshimatsu. The symphony Kamui-Chikap (1988-90) – named after the Ainu forest god – is his rationalisation of a period of personal uncertainty, while Ode to Birds and Rainbow is a memorial (though ‘not a requiem’) to his sister, who died in 1994 and expressed a desire to be reincarnated as a bird. Yoshimatsu refers to it as an ‘ode to a soul at play’, which is all one really needs to say about it.
The Symphony is bigger and bolder; the five movements ‘parallel the five cosmic states of Creation, Conservation, Destruction, Enchantment and Release produced by the dance of the god Shiva’, corresponding to the four medieval elements of Earth – here called Ground, and it does feel in part like a passacaglia – Water, Fire and Air with a Rainbow finale. Each is highly effective in its own right and attractively orchestrated, but does it add up to a symphony? Only in part, for it does not completely pass Keller’s dictum of ‘large-scale integration of contrasts’. ‘Ground’ builds compellingly from the opening shakuhachi-like sonority, while ‘Fire’ must be great fun to watch – and play in; the percussion section certainly create mayhem as they tear through the orchestra. ‘Air’ is a beautiful Adagio but, like ‘Water’ (which sounds too much like run-of-the-mill film music for its own good), is overlong with no contrasting middle section. The opportunity ‘Rainbow’ gives to synthesize, programmatically and structurally, the character of the preceding movements – a rainbow being the product in air of water and light, a by-product, if you will, of fire – is disappointingly passed up, and the movement remains ironically earthbound. The performances and sound quality are both first-rate.'
The Symphony is bigger and bolder; the five movements ‘parallel the five cosmic states of Creation, Conservation, Destruction, Enchantment and Release produced by the dance of the god Shiva’, corresponding to the four medieval elements of Earth – here called Ground, and it does feel in part like a passacaglia – Water, Fire and Air with a Rainbow finale. Each is highly effective in its own right and attractively orchestrated, but does it add up to a symphony? Only in part, for it does not completely pass Keller’s dictum of ‘large-scale integration of contrasts’. ‘Ground’ builds compellingly from the opening shakuhachi-like sonority, while ‘Fire’ must be great fun to watch – and play in; the percussion section certainly create mayhem as they tear through the orchestra. ‘Air’ is a beautiful Adagio but, like ‘Water’ (which sounds too much like run-of-the-mill film music for its own good), is overlong with no contrasting middle section. The opportunity ‘Rainbow’ gives to synthesize, programmatically and structurally, the character of the preceding movements – a rainbow being the product in air of water and light, a by-product, if you will, of fire – is disappointingly passed up, and the movement remains ironically earthbound. The performances and sound quality are both first-rate.'
Yoshimatsu Sym No 1; Ode to Bird & Rainbow
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