Toru Takemitu (Takemitsu) - November Steps

[@farzinnegahban2566]

One of the most thoughtful, imaginative, original and versatile composers of the 20th century

[@FrancoisGlobenskyDoc]

Unbelievable playing... And unbelievable composing...

[@IrinaNenartovich]

I absolutely love it

[@notaire2]

The clearest and the most articulate performance of this work ever. Ethnic factors are carefully avoided. Very cool!

[@HerliJoaquimdeMenezes]

Fantástico, música moderna japonesa, que desobstrui os nossos ouvidos e nossa sensibilidade para outras sonoridades. Há na música uma densidade sonora por um lado desconcertante, por outro instigadora. Sem falar na regência de Ozawa!

[@Catalinaobregon]

Action around every turn....suspense...wonder...fire...intrigue...danger...delight...daybreak...night...smells...flight....magic!

[@notaire2]

Die klarste und best artikulierte Leistung dieses Werks bis heute. Ethnische Momente sind sorgfältig vermieden. Sehr cool!

[@Pianodud]

Ich stimme zu!

[@notaire2]

@@Pianodud Danke für Ihre nette Zustimmung!

[@RingOfRae]

When some one calls this creepy it does just confirm the fact that people are just too much conditioned by the creepy things they watch and hear on the tv the radio the movies the internet.....

[@TheMelopeus]

You mean loud, iregular and spontaneous noise is not scary/creepy?

[@OpalBerries]

the only thing creepy around here are the people who actually listen to this shit.

[@esejsnake1503]

​@@OpalBerries How much you like and dislike it is, I think, proportional to how well you know japanese music and the many failed attempts to reproduce it into western orchestral music (Puccini-like Holst?). For me it's a breath of fresh air.

[@johnphillips5993]

Or just used to the 18th and 19th centuries

[@listwithlejarie1173]

good article in the LA Times about this piece in today's issue. Very magical! Transports me to another place and time. In my mind I see a mix of Noh and contemporary dancers on a stage with movie backdrops from the wizard of oz....

[@maurickreuser]

Is the article online too?

[@gerardbegni2806]

The ionfluences of Debussy and Messiaen are quite sensitive but filtered by a great musical personality.

[@謌驍究家忠績]

鳥肌たった！！

[@laylasimurg4518]

Благодарю.

[@conradmward]

Really interesting.

[@slothropgr]

Excellent! Been looking for this since it was the 4th side of Ozawa's RCA recording of Messaien's Turangalila Symphony. Same recording? Sounds newer. Got turned on to Takemitsu through his scores for samurai pictures like "Harakiri."

[@SpartanTaco300]

I thought I had heard this style before. Harakiri is dope.

[@ikebukurominami]

I use the Nipponsiki system, but the Hepburn system is more widely used. (Because Japan's Passports are in the Hupburn system.) This composer also used the Hupburn system "Takemitsu". So I advise you to write both -- "Takemitu (Takemitsu)".

[@shin-i-chikozima]

I am amazed and moved that this exquisite work , which penetrates deep into the human heart , has caused the willingness of many different players to perform . From Tokyo in Japan . Which national are you watching this video ？

[@iltamburodilatta2518]

Italy !

[@shin-i-chikozima]

@@iltamburodilatta2518 Thank you Tokyo is autumn , and cool , 18℃ Someday please come to Japan Good luck Go for It We deeply love and respect and long for Italy

[@sajateacher]

I'm thinking of writing a thesis for a MMusic on the music of Toru Takemitsu. Perhaps focusing on his guitar music and/or the influences of traditional Japanese music. It would be helpful if anyone could offer possible suggestions on a topic that has not yet been covered extensively.

[@spacedacewithnoface4400]

+Ryan Blais So, what did you end up writing about? Is the thesis published?

[@sajateacher]

+SpaceDaceWithNoFace - Thanks for asking, actually got sidetracked with some other things. I guess now is the time to get working on it.

[@spacedacewithnoface4400]

Ah, I see. Well, there are a few dissertations out there on most of Takemitsu's solo guitar work (Equinox, In the Woods, All in Twilight), so I suggest you check those out before venturing any further. I will say that most of the texts I've already read are usually directed toward the performer, and don't really dive too deep into the actual philosophy behind his compositions. There's a lot of work on Takemitsu's take on "ma" in music, and there's even a lot of philosophical texts written by Takemitsu himself that you may want to check out. Interesting guy. I'd be more interested to learn more about Takemitsu's general harmonic language (Particularly in his guitar work) and about his style of composition which he himself describes "like a dream" where ideas come and go at seemingly random intervals. There's a whole lot to be said about his approach at composition. But, either way, I love reading texts on Takemitsu. Please do let me know when you finish!

[@sajateacher]

Thanks again for the encouragement, now I have no excuse to procrastinate, haha. I've taken a look at the dissertations on the first two guitar works you mentioned, although I haven't been able to find a complete thesis on "All in Twilight." Unless one exists already, perhaps that could be a potential topic, since it is one of my favorite modern pieces for guitar. I found a couple other books which covered Takemitsu's music in a more general sense, even going back to influences on Japanese music during and after WWII. The one that contained the most information and sticks out most in my mind was the one by Burt, almost a "textbook" on Takemitsu. I agree, his harmonic language is very interesting, although his own writings are generally more philosophical than analytical in terms of composition. Still, that's another aspect I find so interesting about Takemitsu, his composition style is often centered around very original yet very well-thought out ideas such as dreams (as you mentioned) or numbers. I'm sure you've heard about his ideas behind "A Flock Descends Into a Pentagonal Garden." Another idea I really like, and had been interested even before I discovered Takemitsu is his idea of taking sounds from nature and incorporating them into his music. I think it's something that is more natural to a person from a Japanese background than a Western one. Finally, I would recommend, if you haven't already, listening to this recording of "November Steps" and then a recording of Gagaku music. It really is fascinating the similarities and also where it differs.

[@spacedacewithnoface4400]

I was recalling the "All in Twilight" dissertation from memory. It may not have existed, and I would be pretty happy to see one out there. I'm not too familiar with "A Flock Descends Into a Pentagonal Garden" actually, I'll have to revisit it. A lot of Japanese musicians, artists, filmmakers, etc. flock toward that strong pro-nature mindset. So it's very cool to see him acting on it in his works. You ought to check out "Uirapuru" by Heitor Villa-Lobos. This is another piece that does a lot of tone painting. Also one of my favorite pieces. I love "November Steps"! I stumbled across a fair amount of Gagaku and Noh Theatre while I was reading up on Takemitsu. Noh Theatre is particularly relevant to his composition style. Anyway, I haven't listened to November Steps with Gagaku in mind. You're absolutely right. Very cool stuff.

[@zhiqipace2902]

i come here because i read that Akira Kurosawa kept listening to this song when he was brainstorming the ideas with his film Ran

[@PeterLunowPL]

interesting!

[@koseybrown9436]

for some reason i think i found this while off xanax and am just now getting to it sober. beautiful

[@SpeigeleisenII]

I swear I heard excepts of this in a History Channel documentary on the Samurai, maybe I am wrong...

[@doremiotoko]

真冬の肝試し用BGM

[@ikebukurominami]

There is a typo in the name of composer. "Takemitsu" in the Hepburn system, "Takemitu" in the Nipponsiki system.

[@lordbarron3352]

Nipponsiki < literal garbage

[@jiyujizai]

😆👍✨🎵🎵🎵🎵💓♥️

[@ShiMeiWo]

I think this is so creepy…　But also interesting.

[@arcticflower7223]

When I first read about this piece, it said that the western orchestra played western style music in juxtaposition to the Shakuhachi and Biwa playing traditional music. But that was a despicable lie! This whole thing is just kind of expressionism knows no region but is really none the worst for that. I feel a lot of Takemitsu has aged poorly relative to the even older and comparable music of the 2nd Viennese school but for the most part, it is quite understandable how this piece is "the one to check out".

[@michelebeartGIBBONGASCON]

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