KAGAHI: Orchestral Works of Yūji Takahashi Tokyo Contemporary Soloists & Yoichi Sugiyama

• Yūji Takahashi (b. 1938):
• 1 Chromamorphe I, for ensemble 06:02
• 2 Operation Euler, for 2 oboes 07:19
• 3 Faint light, for ensemble 05:43
• 4 6 stoicheia, for 4 violins 07:50
• 5 Sa さ, for solo horn 11:37
• Kagahi, for piano and orchestra:
• 6 Kagahi, for piano and orchestra: Match 1 14:40
• 7 Kagahi, for piano and orchestra: Match 2 17:29
• Yūji Takahashi:
• 8 …Fallen Fuchsia Blossoms…, for clarinet, violin and piano 01:16
• 9 Stone, for violoncello 09:35
• 10 Metatheses I, for piano 06:12
• 11 Rosace I (ver. 2), for amplified violin 11:41
• 12 Für Dorsch und Stint, for accordion, electric guitar, baritone sax and piano 14:00
• 13 Nikite, for ensemble 08:05
• 14 Prajña Pâramitâ, for voice, ensemble and 3 tapes 16:34
• Total Runtime 02:18:03

Info for KAGAHI: Orchestral Works of Yūji Takahashi

A generous and carefully crafted two-albums set of world-premiere recordings of music by the trailblazing Japanese composer-pianist Yuji Takahashi (b. 1938), compiled and directed by fellow composer and renowned conductor Yoichi Sugiyama, who conceived this project and assembled the musicians involved.

Yuji Takahashi is a hugely influential figure who in the 20th century collaborated as pianist and composer with the likes of Xenakis, Boulez, John Cage and Lukas Foss, bringing these Western avant-garde influences into the realm of Japanese music, often combining them with more traditional Eastern styles. Yet many of the musical materials and recordings of Takahashi's works were lost, so years of research were needed to find these scores. At last, 'Kagahi', from which this album takes its name, was rediscovered in the New York Public Library, and 'Prajna Paramita' and 'Nikite' at the home of his sister, the pianist Aki Takahashi. Yoichi Sugiyama also asked Yoshiaki Onishi and Katsuki Tochio to create new materials for these performances.

Each album is of a live concert devoted to the different facets of Takashi's musical personality. The first focusses on the Takashi of the 1960s when he was immersed in Western modernism after years of study with Xenakis. These works feature an array of avant-garde techniques including polyrhythms, microtones, predetermined structures and elements decided through mathematical probability. The second album is of music written after Takahashi's years of transformation, when he rejected the modernism of his youth and embraced more traditional Eastern philosophy, resulting in music influenced by mysticism and ritual, nature and poetry. Like two sides of the same coin, these two albums offer a complete portrayal of one of the most fascinating and significant musical figures of our time.

Yoichi Sugiyama collaborates on this recording with an outstanding ensemble of musicians, including Odradek alumnus, pianist Aki Kuroda: "Kuroda's fearless precision pays huge dividends in such mercurial music" (The Arts Desk); "brilliant" (BBC Music Magazine).

Tokyo Contemporary Soloists
Yoichi Sugiyama, conductor

Yoichi Sugiyama
has studied orchestral conducting with Emilio Pomarico and Morihiro Okabe, and composition with Franco Donatoni, Sandro Gorli and Akira Miyoshi. He is active both as a conductor and composer in Europe and Japan.

Since he conducted Luigi Nono’s opera “Prometeo” with the “Ensemble Modern Orchestra” in 2000, he is active in various important international music festivals; such as the “Festival Wien Modern”, “Festival d’Automne a Paris”, “Milano Musica”, ”Festival Verdi”, “Settembre Musica”, “Suntory Summer Festival”. Sugiyama collaborates with prestigious international contemporary Orchestras and Ensembles, as “Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, “Orchestre de Chambre de Ginève”, “Arena di Verona”, “Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna”, “Orchestra i Pomeriggi musicali di Milano”, “Orchestra Friuli Venezia Giulia”,”Tokyo Sinfonietta”, “Izumi Sinfonietta”, “Orchestra Sinfonica della reppblica di San Marino”, “Orqesta National de Chile”, “Orchestra Milano Classica”, “Klangforum Wien”, “Nieuw Ensemble”, “Ensemble Contrechamps”, “Remix Ensemble”, “Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin”, “Alter Ego”, “Collegium Novum”, “Divertimento Ensemble”, “Ensemble Europeo Antidogma”, “Fontana Mix Ensemble”, “Icarus Ensemble” ,”Ensemble Nomad”, “Ensemble dell’Accademia della Scala”.

Sugiyama’s latest pieces have been heard in various international festivals; such as “La Biennale di Venezia 2010 (new work for ensemble), 2000 (“Barcaruola” for viola and percussion commissioned by the Biennale di Venezia), “Milano Musica” (“Ruscello nel lago” commissione by the Milano Musica 2009, “Beyond the Frontier” commissioned by the Milano Musica 2003) and “Tiroler-Festspiel Erl 2000” (“Intermezzo III” for piano commissioned by the Tiroler-Festspiel Erl), “Angelica”, “REC Festival d’Autunno”. His “Divertimento I” for ensemble (1997) has been published by the “Casa Ricordi” (Milan). In 2001 Sugiyama has written “Divertimento II” for Bruno Canino’s piano duo. The performances are broadcast regularly on NHK-FM, RAI and ORF etc.

In 1994, while undertaking a summer course with Franco Donatoni at the “Accademia Chigiana”, Sugiyama won the Italian Composer’s Society award (“Premio SIAE”). He has also attended master courses and workshops by Luis de Pablo (Milan,1996), Giorge Ligety (Novara, 1996), Adriano Guarnieri (Milan, 1996) and the London Sinfonietta (Tokyo, 1994).Sugiyama was an assistant teacher in Franco Donatoni’s composition course held in Tokyo (1998) and Giacomo Manzoni’s composition course in Tokyo (1999). In 1995, Sugiyama obtained a scholarship for composition from the Italian Government, and has been residing in Milan ever since and he is teaching at Accademia Internazionale della Musica (ex Civica Scuola di Milano).

This album contains no booklet.