Takashi Yoshimatsu
was born in Tokyo and is a largely self-taught
composer with a style which has been
described as "Neo-Romantic".
His music has more Western influence
and is less obviously of Japanese origin
than his compatriot Toru Takemitsu.
On this evidence it is at least as approachable
- Yoshimatsu has been called the "Japanese
Hovhaness" and this does not seem
far off the mark.
The most substantial
work on this disc is the Cello Concerto,
which was completed in August and premiered
in October 2003. It is sandwiched between
two earlier works which form parts two
and three of a "Bird trilogy"
– Chikap and The Age of Birds.
The first work in this series, Threnody
to Toki, has been recorded previously
by Chandos. For this record, interesting
notes on the music are provided by the
composer but there is no biographical
information.
The Age of Birds
and Chikap are episodic but evocative
works which use the full range of orchestral
colour without adding extraneous sounds
(unlike Rautavaara, for example, whose
Concerto for Birds and Orchestra uses
taped bird sounds). However, the atmosphere
created seems closer to Rautavaara than
Messiaen (a great imitator of bird calls).
Both works have three movements, and
in The Age of Birds they have
titles (I. Sky II. Trees III. Sun) indicating
the relationships between birds and
nature which are being depicted. Chikap
is the word for bird in Ainu, an aboriginal
language from Hokkaido. The work is
written using the theory of septaphony
(as opposed to dodecaphony) and there
are no chords – only "harmonic
clusters".
The Cello Concerto
is subtitled Centaurus Unit based
on the relation between the cello and
the human body. The composer envisions
an upper body being human (the cellist)
in conjunction
with the lower body of a brown horse
(the cello). He goes on to mention inspirations
from Bach’s and Dvořák’s works
for the cello, the sound of the biwa
or Japanese Lute, the chanting of Buddhist
monks and the reciting of the Koran.
None of these were immediately
obvious to me but I found the work to
be impressive and original. It is cast
almost classically in three movements
(fast, slow, fast) and is structurally
cohesive. I have read reviews complaining
that Yoshimatsu’s symphonies are not
symphonic but this is clearly a real
concerto. The piece does not seem to
require particularly great virtuosity
from the soloist but this could just
reflect the skill of Peter Dixon, the
dedicatee. He plays it with great poise
and conviction, and is very well accompanied
by Sachio Fujioka. The orchestral playing
of the BBC Philharmonic is of a very
high standard throughout and the recording
is also excellent.
This is a disc of music
straddling East and West which is beautifully
played and full of interest. In my view,
Yoshimatsu’s Cello Concerto is an important
new work. Highly recommended to anyone
interested in the cello and/or contemporary
music. For a style which is more obviously
Japanese, seek out the music of Takemitsu.
Patrick C Waller
* Peter Dixon (cello) 
