Yoritsune Matsudaira
was regarded as a leading 20th
century Japanese composer but has yet
to make much impact internationally.
He was descended from the Shogun family
who ruled Japan from 1603-1867. After
initially studying French literature,
his interest in music developed during
the 1920s, culminating in formal studies
under Kosuke Komatsu (a pupil of Vincent
d’Indy). Late in that decade he began
to compose and also became known as
a pianist. He was anti-romantic and
attracted to French neo-classicism.
Initially using material derived from
folksongs derived from the Nanbu district,
he switched to Gagaku (a form
of traditional Japanese court music
based on pentatonic scales) during the
Second World War. In the 1950s the character
of his music changed dramatically as
he began to incorporate the avant-garde
techniques of Stockhausen and Boulez.
From then on his music made use of polytonality,
microtonality and aleatory elements.
Matsudaira’s orchestral writing is mixture
of Eastern and Western styles and he
makes prominent use of various percussion
instruments. More information about
the composer’s works can be found at
http://www.musicfromjapan.org/resources/mfjc25.htm.
On this disc the opening
Theme and Variations for Piano and Orchestra
represents the tail end of his first
period when French neo-classical influence
was still evident. This contrasts greatly
in style with the other, later works
on the disc. The theme for this work
is taken from Gagaku and played
unadorned only by the orchestra. The
piano enters with a solo marked andante
at the beginning of the first of six
variations which are seamlessly constructed.
The writing becomes increasingly animated
during the second and third variations.
In the latter, the music is dodecaphonic
and the influence of jazz rhythms evident.
The fourth variation is a lyrical nocturne
and is followed by two rhythmic allegros
with the final variation marked Toccata
meccanica. The final section of
this variation adopts a slower tempo
and ultimately the music comes to a
natural, unforced conclusion.
During the 1950s the
Theme and Variations was performed by
Herbert von Karajan, both in Europe
and Japan. It is hard to imagine Karajan
conducting the works which follow. Apparently
written separately, together the four
works constitute a Bugaku or
Dance Suite. Framed by relatively short
Ritual Dances (Enbou to open
and Chogeishi to finish) are
the more substantial Sa-Mai (Left Dance)
and U-Mai (Right Dance) in five and
three sections respectively. The instrumentation
varies somewhat between the works but
is essentially based around woodwinds
and percussion.
The Enbou is
very unusual. The purpose of this dance
is to purify the stage and Matsudaira
does this in three sections. The first,
Preludietto, consists of 13 very brief
fragments (the shortest is 11 seconds
and longest 15 seconds) interspersed
with several seconds of silence in between
each one. In the central Preludio the
music is continuous for two whole minutes
before the coda reprises some of the
fragments. It is hard to describe the
effect and not easy to appreciate how
this could be danced. The rest of the
works offer a more integrated listening
experience but none of it is easy on
the ear. During the Chogeishi
the audience is meant to leave but I
suspect that some Western audiences
wouldn’t get that far.
Since this disc is
going to be an educational experience
for most listeners (at least outside
Japan), the documentation is a particularly
important consideration. Fortunately,
this is excellent, consisting mainly
of a detailed and well-written essay
in English by Morihide Katayama (with
a German translation). There are also
brief notes on the performers. Being
unfamiliar with much of the musical
idiom, I feel unqualified to comment
on their performances and certainly
found nothing to criticize. The sound
quality is very good.
After an opener which
admirers of Milhaud should enjoy, this
music is not for the faint-hearted.
Nevertheless, this seems to be an important
disc for anyone interested in 20th
century Japanese music.
Patrick C Waller
Osaka Century Orchestra/Ken Takaseki 
