Takemitsu Spectral Canticle†; To the Edge of Dream; Vers, L’arc-en-ciel, Palma*; Twill by Twilight *Juliana Koch (oboe d’amore), Jacob Kellermann (guitar), †Viviane Hagner (violin); BBC Philharmonic/Christian Karlsen BIS BIS-2655 (CD/SACD) 54:12 mins
A prolific composer, Tōru Takemitsu (1930-96) might be said to have encapsulated an art of listening – and of immensely subtle, imaginative response. The later orchestral scores – of which the four, impressionist works here are characteristic – reflect his gentle yet profound engagement with the essence of things, filtered through a distinctive east-west sensibility in which space and time are seen as a single, unified entity.
Lush textures and harmonies redolent of his beloved Debussy, Berg and Messiaen suffuse the scores, in which stasis and motion become not so much opposites as key to the continual ebb and flow of an impermanent world. All are homages to fellow artists – and three are concertos featuring the guitar of empathetic soloist, Jacob Kellermann. He is most eloquent in the 1983 To the Edge of Dream, inspired by surrealist Paul Delvaux, which includes some striking, lovely-cum-sinister exchanges with the BBC Philharmonic under conductor Christian Karlsen.
The recorded sound does not always quite match Takemitsu’s refinement, yet oboe d’amore player Juliana Koch and violinist Viviane Hagner are expressive co-soloists in the 1984 Vers, l’arc-en-ciel, Palma and 1995 Spectral Canticle respectively. The former is a salute to Joan Miró, especially touching in its final integration of a Catalan folk song, while the latter – written just before Takemitsu’s death – poignantly recalls Berg’s Violin Concerto in its shimmering lyricism alternating enigmatic chorale-like sections.
Closing the album, 1988’s Twill by Twilight is a serene orchestral tribute to Takemitsu’s textile-loving friend Morton Feldman, who had died the previous year.
Steph Power
