9
The music of To _ ru Takemitsu (1930-1996) is often characterized as representing something essentially Japanese. With a few exceptions, attempts to define what makes Takemitsu’s music ‘Japanese’ have been limited to the realm of aesthetics and philosophy, leaving concrete references to traditional Japanese music, to which the composer has pointed more than once, underexposed. This article aims to fill up this lacuna by tracing the repercussion of pitch, textural, and temporal organization as pertaining to traditional Japanese music on Takemitsu’s compositional technique. The focus will be on Takemitsu’s repertoire for piano, which spans his full career, and which has been given only little scholarly attention in the Western world, especially with respect to its relation to traditional Japanese music. Takemitsu’s Relation to Traditional Japanese Music When dealing with ‘traditional Japanese music’, it is crucial to bear in mind that this term does not cover one coherent tradition. Instead, a great number of relatively independent, parallel traditions with no or only limited interaction exists. Throughout this article the umbrella term ‘traditional Japanese music’ will be used in its broadest sense to refer to all kinds of folk, court, religious, and art music, including dramatic genres such as no _ , kabuki and bunraku. From 1868 onwards, Japan opened up towards the West, and traditional musics increasingly became publicly accessible. Prior to this, genres represented independent social strata (Dan 1961: 209), generating independent kinds of music theory (Komoda/Nogawa 2002: 565). Born in Japan in 1930, To _ ru Takemitsu spent an extensive part of his childhood in Manchuria, China. In 1938, he was sent back to Japan to attend primary school, and during the Second World War he lived with his aunt was a teacher of koto, a 13-string long zither. Takemitsu (1989: 200) once claimed that this period made him associate traditional music negatively with war and destruction, which might explain why he initially avoided direct references to this musical heritage. Indeed, in the immediate aftermath of the war, Takemitsu, like many other members of his generation who were disillusioned by the poverty and disaster brought about by those in power, turned towards the West, the United States of America in particular. As he related more than once in autobiographical accounts, Takemitsu’s key experience leading to this westward orientation occurred toward the end of the war, when an American invasion threatened and he was drafted into the Japanese army. One day, in a probably risky move, one of Takemitsu’s superiors played some Western records for him and his fellow conscripts, including the French chanson Parlez-moi d’amour. After the war, the young Takemitsu, struck by the qualities of Western music, was glued to the radio station of the U.S. Armed Forces in Tokyo and explored works of American composers at the library of the Civil Information and Education branch of the U.S. Occupation Government (Takemitsu 1989: 199-200). Here, the foundation was laid for Takemitsu’s career as a composer, during which he would adopt principles from various Western repertoires – electronic music, musique concrète, serialism, popular music, impressionism, Fluxus, and aleatoric music. In 1960, a landmark experience (re)awakened Takemitsu’s fascination with traditional music which released him from his self-appointed position as ‘“enslaved” by the music of Webern’ (Ohtake 1993: 81): he witnessed a performance of bunraku, traditional puppet theater. An encounter with John Cage, too, led him ‘to recognize the value of [his] own tradition’ (Takemitsu 1989: 199). From then on, Takemitsu increasingly introduced compositional characteristics from traditional musics and started composing pieces for non-Western instruments such as Eclipse (1966) for biwa (short-necked lute) and shakuhachi (bamboo flute), November Steps (1967) where these instruments are contrasted with a symphony orchestra, In an Autumn Garden (1979) for traditional court music ensemble, Distance (1972) for oboe and sho _ (mouth organ), and Gitimalya (1974) in which Chinese and Javanese gongs and an African log drum interact. Moreover, Takemitsu’s numerous writings about music reveal his preoccupation with ‘Japaneseness’ in music as well as East Asian aesthetics. Thus, as a composer Takemitsu positioned himself between two traditions: Western art music and traditional Japanese music. As he once phrased it: ‘I would like to develop in two directions at once, as a Japanese in tradition and as a Westerner in innovation’ (Gill 1974). Takemitsu’s Piano Repertoire As mentioned above, Takemitsu was influenced by various artistic currents during his career. Many of these were co-existent, and one should therefore be cautious about forcing a clear-cut categorization of his works. However, for the purpose of an overview I take the liberty of assigning the piano works to five roughly chronological periods: 1 Romance for Piano (1948) and Lento in Due Movimenti (1950 – later published in a reworked version as Litany [1989]) the style is rather tonal. However, Japanese influences are manifestly exposed in chord constructions, scales and texture. Pause Ininterrompue (1952-60) and Piano Distance (1961). Both are written in compressed form employing pointillistic features suggesting the style of Anton Webern, among others. Corona (1962) and Crossing (1962), Takemitsu denoted a degree of improvisation not witnessed in the four other periods. among Japanese composers in the 1960s, Takemitsu composed works with Japanese instruments. 2 A study trip to Bali exploring the gamelan tradition (Takemitsu 1974:

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Page 1: ®+BQBOFTF JO 5SBEJUJPO 8FTUFSO JO *OOPWBUJPO¯ …

Th

e m

usi

c o

f T

o_

ru

Tak

emit

su

(19

30

-19

96

) is

o

ften

ch

arac

teri

zed

as

re

pre

sen

tin

g so

met

hin

g es

sen

tial

ly J

apan

ese.

Wit

h a

few

exc

epti

on

s, a

ttem

pts

to

defi

ne

wh

at m

akes

T

akem

itsu

’s m

usi

c ‘J

apan

ese’

hav

e b

een

lim

ited

to

th

e re

alm

of

aest

het

ics

and

ph

ilo

sop

hy,

le

avin

g co

ncr

ete

refe

ren

ces

to

trad

itio

nal

Ja

pan

ese

mu

sic,

to

w

hic

h

the

com

po

ser

has

po

inte

d m

ore

th

an o

nce

, u

nd

erex

po

sed

. T

his

art

icle

aim

s to

fill

up

th

is l

acu

na

by

trac

ing

the

rep

ercu

ssio

n o

f p

itch

, te

xtu

ral,

and

tem

po

ral

org

aniz

atio

n a

s p

erta

inin

g to

tr

adit

ion

al J

apan

ese

mu

sic

on

Tak

emit

su’s

co

mp

osi

tio

nal

tec

hn

iqu

e. T

he

focu

s w

ill b

e o

n

Tak

emit

su’s

rep

erto

ire

for

pia

no

, w

hic

h s

pan

s h

is f

ull

car

eer,

an

d w

hic

h h

as b

een

giv

en

on

ly l

ittl

e sc

ho

larl

y at

ten

tio

n i

n t

he

Wes

tern

wo

rld

, esp

ecia

lly

wit

h r

esp

ect

to i

ts r

elat

ion

to

tra

dit

ion

al J

apan

ese

mu

sic.

Tak

emit

su’s

Rel

atio

n t

o T

rad

itio

nal

Jap

anes

e M

usi

cW

hen

dea

lin

g w

ith

‘tra

dit

ion

al J

apan

ese

mu

sic’

, it

is c

ruci

al t

o b

ear

in m

ind

th

at t

his

ter

m

do

es n

ot

cove

r o

ne

coh

eren

t tr

adit

ion

. In

stea

d, a

gre

at n

um

ber

of

rela

tive

ly i

nd

epen

den

t,

par

alle

l tr

adit

ion

s w

ith

no

or

on

ly l

imit

ed i

nte

ract

ion

exi

sts.

Th

rou

gho

ut

this

art

icle

th

e u

mb

rell

a te

rm ‘t

rad

itio

nal

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c’ w

ill b

e u

sed

in

its

bro

ades

t se

nse

to

ref

er t

o a

ll

kin

ds

of

folk

, co

urt

, rel

igio

us,

an

d a

rt m

usi

c, in

clu

din

g d

ram

atic

gen

res

such

as

no_

,kab

uki

an

dbu

nra

ku.

Fro

m 1

86

8 o

nw

ard

s, J

apan

op

ened

up

to

war

ds

the

Wes

t, a

nd

tra

dit

ion

al

mu

sics

in

crea

sin

gly

bec

ame

pu

bli

cly

acce

ssib

le.

Pri

or

to

this

, ge

nre

s re

pre

sen

ted

in

dep

end

ent

soci

al s

trat

a (D

an 1

96

1: 2

09

), g

ener

atin

g in

dep

end

ent

kin

ds

of

mu

sic

theo

ry

(Ko

mo

da/

No

gaw

a 2

00

2: 5

65

).

Bo

rn i

n J

apan

in

19

30

, T

o_

ru T

akem

itsu

sp

ent

an e

xten

sive

par

t o

f h

is c

hil

dh

oo

d i

n

Man

chu

ria,

Ch

ina.

In

19

38

, h

e w

as s

ent

bac

k t

o J

apan

to

att

end

pri

mar

y sc

ho

ol,

and

d

uri

ng

the

Seco

nd

Wo

rld

War

he

live

d w

ith

his

au

nt

was

a t

each

er o

f ko

to, a

13

-str

ing

lon

g zi

ther

. Tak

emit

su (

19

89

: 20

0)

on

ce c

laim

ed th

at th

is p

erio

d m

ade

him

ass

oci

ate

trad

itio

nal

m

usi

c n

egat

ivel

y w

ith

war

an

d d

estr

uct

ion

, wh

ich

mig

ht

exp

lain

wh

y h

e in

itia

lly

avo

ided

d

irec

t re

fere

nce

s to

th

is m

usi

cal

her

itag

e. I

nd

eed

, in

th

e im

med

iate

aft

erm

ath

of

the

war

, T

akem

itsu

, li

ke m

any

oth

er m

emb

ers

of

his

gen

erat

ion

wh

o w

ere

dis

illu

sio

ned

by

the

po

vert

y an

d d

isas

ter

bro

ugh

t ab

ou

t b

y th

ose

in

po

wer

, tu

rned

to

war

ds

the

Wes

t, t

he

Un

ited

Sta

tes

of

Am

eric

a in

par

ticu

lar.

As

he

rela

ted

mo

re t

han

on

ce i

n a

uto

bio

grap

hic

al

acco

un

ts,

Tak

emit

su’s

key

exp

erie

nce

lea

din

g to

th

is w

estw

ard

ori

enta

tio

n o

ccu

rred

to

war

d t

he

end

of

the

war

, w

hen

an

Am

eric

an i

nva

sio

n t

hre

aten

ed a

nd

he

was

dra

fted

in

to t

he

Jap

anes

e ar

my.

On

e d

ay, i

n a

pro

bab

ly r

isk

y m

ove

, on

e o

f T

akem

itsu

’s s

up

erio

rs

pla

yed

so

me

Wes

tern

rec

ord

s fo

r h

im a

nd

his

fel

low

co

nsc

rip

ts,

incl

ud

ing

the

Fre

nch

ch

anso

n P

arle

z-m

oi d

’am

our.

Aft

er t

he

war

, th

e yo

un

g T

akem

itsu

, str

uck

by

the

qu

alit

ies

of

Wes

tern

mu

sic,

was

glu

ed t

o t

he

rad

io s

tati

on

of

the

U.S

. A

rmed

Fo

rces

in

To

kyo

an

d e

xplo

red

wo

rks

of

Am

eric

an c

om

po

sers

at

the

lib

rary

of

the

Civ

il I

nfo

rmat

ion

an

d

Ed

uca

tio

n b

ran

ch o

f th

e U

.S. O

ccu

pat

ion

Go

vern

men

t (T

akem

itsu

19

89

: 19

9-2

00

). H

ere,

th

e fo

un

dat

ion

was

lai

d f

or

Tak

emit

su’s

car

eer

as a

co

mp

ose

r, d

uri

ng

wh

ich

he

wo

uld

ad

op

t p

rin

cip

les

fro

m v

ario

us

Wes

tern

rep

erto

ires

– e

lect

ron

ic m

usi

c, m

usi

que

con

crèt

e,se

rial

ism

, po

pu

lar

mu

sic,

im

pre

ssio

nis

m, F

luxu

s, a

nd

ale

ato

ric

mu

sic.

In 1

96

0, a

lan

dm

ark

exp

erie

nce

(re

)aw

aken

ed T

akem

itsu

’s f

asci

nat

ion

wit

h t

rad

itio

nal

m

usi

c w

hic

h r

elea

sed

him

fro

m h

is s

elf-

app

oin

ted

po

siti

on

as

‘“en

slav

ed”

by

the

mu

sic

of

Web

ern

’ (O

hta

ke 1

99

3:

81

): h

e w

itn

esse

d a

per

form

ance

of

bun

raku

, tr

adit

ion

al p

up

pet

th

eate

r. A

n e

nco

un

ter

wit

h J

oh

n C

age,

to

o,

led

him

‘to

rec

ogn

ize

the

valu

e o

f [h

is]

ow

n

trad

itio

n’

(Tak

emit

su 1

98

9:

19

9).

Fro

m t

hen

on

, T

akem

itsu

in

crea

sin

gly

intr

od

uce

d

com

po

siti

on

al c

har

acte

rist

ics

fro

m t

rad

itio

nal

mu

sics

an

d s

tart

ed c

om

po

sin

g p

iece

s fo

r n

on

-Wes

tern

in

stru

men

ts s

uch

as

Ecl

ipse

(1

96

6)

for

biw

a (s

ho

rt-n

ecke

d l

ute

) an

d

shak

uh

ach

i (b

amb

oo

flu

te),

Nov

embe

r St

eps (

19

67

) w

her

e th

ese

inst

rum

ents

are

co

ntr

aste

d

wit

h a

sym

ph

on

y o

rch

estr

a, I

n a

n A

utu

mn

Gar

den

(1

97

9)

for

trad

itio

nal

co

urt

mu

sic

ense

mb

le, D

ista

nce

(1

97

2)

for

ob

oe

and

sh

o_

(m

ou

th o

rgan

), a

nd

Git

imal

ya (

19

74

) in

wh

ich

C

hin

ese

and

Jav

anes

e go

ngs

an

d a

n A

fric

an l

og

dru

m i

nte

ract

. M

ore

ove

r, T

akem

itsu

’s

nu

mer

ou

s w

riti

ngs

ab

ou

t m

usi

c re

veal

his

pre

occ

up

atio

n w

ith

‘Jap

anes

enes

s’ i

n m

usi

c as

w

ell

as E

ast

Asi

an a

esth

etic

s. T

hu

s, a

s a

com

po

ser

Tak

emit

su p

osi

tio

ned

him

self

bet

wee

n

two

tra

dit

ion

s: W

este

rn a

rt m

usi

c an

d t

rad

itio

nal

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c. A

s h

e o

nce

ph

rase

d

it: ‘

I w

ou

ld l

ike

to d

evel

op

in

tw

o d

irec

tio

ns

at o

nce

, as

a J

apan

ese

in t

rad

itio

n a

nd

as

a W

este

rner

in

in

no

vati

on

’ (G

ill

19

74

).

Tak

emit

su’s

Pia

no

Rep

erto

ire

As

men

tio

ned

ab

ove

, T

akem

itsu

was

in

flu

ence

d b

y va

rio

us

arti

stic

cu

rren

ts d

uri

ng

his

ca

reer

. Man

y o

f th

ese

wer

e co

-exi

sten

t, a

nd

on

e sh

ou

ld t

her

efo

re b

e ca

uti

ou

s ab

ou

t fo

rcin

g a

clea

r-cu

t ca

tego

riza

tio

n o

f h

is w

ork

s. H

ow

ever

, fo

r th

e p

urp

ose

of

an o

verv

iew

I t

ake

the

lib

erty

of

assi

gnin

g th

e p

ian

o w

ork

s to

five

ro

ugh

ly c

hro

no

logi

cal

per

iod

s:1

Rom

ance

for

Pia

no

(19

48

) an

dL

ento

in

Du

e M

ovim

enti

(1

95

0 –

lat

er p

ub

lish

ed i

n a

rew

ork

ed v

ersi

on

as

Lit

any

[19

89

]) t

he

styl

e is

rat

her

to

nal

. Ho

wev

er, J

apan

ese

infl

uen

ces

are

man

ifes

tly

exp

ose

d

in c

ho

rd c

on

stru

ctio

ns,

sca

les

and

tex

ture

.P

ause

In

inte

rrom

pu

e(1

95

2-6

0)

and

Pia

no

Dis

tan

ce (

19

61

). B

oth

are

wri

tten

in c

om

pre

ssed

form

em

plo

yin

g p

oin

till

isti

c fe

atu

res

sugg

esti

ng

the

styl

e o

f A

nto

n W

eber

n, a

mo

ng

oth

ers.

Cor

ona

(19

62

) an

d C

ross

ing

(19

62

), T

akem

itsu

den

ote

d a

deg

ree

of

imp

rovi

sati

on

no

t w

itn

esse

d i

n t

he

fou

r o

ther

per

iod

s.

amo

ng

Jap

anes

e co

mp

ose

rs i

n t

he

19

60

s, T

akem

itsu

co

mp

ose

d w

ork

s w

ith

Jap

anes

e in

stru

men

ts.2

A s

tud

y tr

ip t

o B

ali

exp

lori

ng

the

gam

elan

trad

itio

n (

Tak

emit

su 1

97

4:

Page 2: ®+BQBOFTF JO 5SBEJUJPO 8FTUFSO JO *OOPWBUJPO¯ …

39

-40

) al

so e

nri

ched

For

Aw

ay (

19

73

), a

t le

ast

acco

rdin

g to

so

me

theo

rist

s.3

Les

Yeu

x C

los

(19

79

) al

so b

elo

ngs

to

th

is p

erio

d.

Rai

n T

ree

Sket

ch(1

98

2),

Les

Yeu

x C

los

II (

19

89

) an

d R

ain

Tre

e Sk

etch

II

(19

92

), T

akem

itsu

pre

ferr

ed

mel

od

ic e

xpre

ssiv

enes

s o

ver

an a

van

t-ga

rde

idio

m,

wh

ich

led

to

a s

tyle

wit

h m

od

al

refe

ren

ces,

few

er s

har

p c

on

tras

ts,

mo

re h

om

oge

no

us

form

s an

d l

on

ger,

ho

rizo

nta

lly

exte

nd

ed p

hra

ses.

Pre

vio

us

Res

earc

hM

ost

of t

he

stu

die

s th

at d

iscu

ss th

e re

cep

tio

n o

f tra

dit

ion

al Ja

pan

ese

mu

sic

in c

on

tem

po

rary

m

usi

c fo

cus

excl

usi

vely

on

his

tori

cal

issu

es (

e.g.

Dan

19

61

; K

oiz

um

i 1

96

1;

Hei

fetz

19

84

) o

r o

n a

bst

ract

aes

thet

ic c

on

cep

ts (

e.g.

Tam

ba

19

76

; Lee

19

91

; Nar

azak

i 2

00

2)

rath

er t

han

o

n c

on

cret

e ch

arac

teri

stic

s o

f co

nte

mp

ora

ry c

om

po

siti

on

al t

ech

niq

ue.

Oh

take

’s b

oo

k

(19

93

), f

or

inst

ance

, is

a m

on

ogr

aph

on

Tak

emit

su a

nd

ded

icat

es a

co

mp

lete

ch

apte

r to

th

e p

ian

o w

ork

s, b

ut

is,

nev

erth

eles

s, c

hie

fly

con

cern

ed w

ith

aes

thet

ics.

Th

e sa

me

ho

lds

tru

e fo

r C

hu

ng-

Hai

ng

Lee

’s d

oct

ora

l d

isse

rtat

ion

. H

is i

nve

stig

atio

n o

f ‘h

ow

Tak

emit

su

so

skil

lfu

lly

infu

ses

his

W

este

rn-o

rien

ted

p

ian

o

com

po

siti

on

s w

ith

tr

adit

ion

al

and

ae

sth

etic

Jap

anes

e el

emen

ts’ i

s li

mit

ed t

o p

hil

oso

ph

ical

infl

uen

ces

like

Zen

Bu

dd

his

m a

nd

Ja

pan

ese

arts

(L

ee 1

99

1:

2).

Lee

’s s

elf-

pro

clai

med

fo

cus

on

aes

thet

ic i

ssu

es l

ead

s h

im t

o

char

acte

rize

Tak

emit

su’s

pia

no

mu

sic

as m

erel

y ‘E

aste

rn a

esth

etic

s [s

ub

ject

ed]

to W

este

rn

com

po

siti

on

al t

ech

niq

ues

’ (5

7),

bei

ng

‘un

iqu

e in

th

at i

t so

oft

en e

xpre

sses

a J

apan

ese

spir

it w

ith

ou

t o

bvi

ou

sly

uti

lizi

ng

Jap

anes

e m

usi

cal

mat

eria

l’ (2

). T

his

co

nce

pti

on

mig

ht

be

rep

rese

nta

tive

of

the

thre

e p

arti

cula

r p

iece

s L

ee a

dd

ress

ed i

n h

is d

isse

rtat

ion

(P

ian

o D

ista

nce

,F

or A

way

an

dP

ause

In

inte

rrom

pu

e),

bu

t n

ot

nec

essa

rily

of

Tak

emit

su’s

pia

no

m

usi

c in

gen

eral

. T

akem

itsu

, to

o, h

ard

ly d

iscu

ssed

his

co

mp

osi

tio

nal

met

ho

d t

hro

ugh

ou

t h

is n

um

ero

us

wri

tin

gs (

Bu

rt 2

00

1:

2-3

). T

his

sil

ence

is

typ

ical

of

man

y o

f T

akem

itsu

’s c

on

tem

po

rari

es

wh

o c

riti

cize

d t

hei

r p

red

eces

sors

fo

r h

avin

g em

plo

yed

tra

dit

ion

al m

usi

c fo

r n

atio

nal

isti

c p

urp

ose

s. F

or

this

gen

erat

ion

, ‘Ja

pan

esen

ess’

did

no

t re

sid

e so

mu

ch in

mel

od

ies,

rh

yth

mic

p

atte

rns,

or

inst

rum

enta

l so

un

ds

dra

wn

fro

m t

rad

itio

nal

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c, b

ut

rath

er i

n a

ce

rtai

n ‘m

ind

-set

’. T

her

efo

re,

if T

akem

itsu

ref

erre

d t

o J

apan

ese

elem

ents

in

his

wo

rk,

he

usu

ally

lim

ited

his

co

mm

enta

ry t

o i

ts a

esth

etic

an

d f

orm

al d

imen

sio

ns

(e.g

., ‘s

tro

llin

g th

rou

gh a

Jap

anes

e ga

rden

’) r

ath

er t

han

on

its

pit

ch o

r rh

yth

mic

mat

eria

l.4 M

any

sch

ola

rs

and

co

mm

enta

tors

hav

e fo

llo

wed

Tak

emit

su’s

exa

mp

le, a

nd

, in

Sh

uh

ei H

oso

kaw

a’s

wo

rds

(20

03

: 50

6),

esp

ecia

lly

‘Jap

anes

e au

tho

rs, w

hil

e q

uo

tin

g fr

om

his

in

tro

spec

tive

ess

ays

and

in

tuit

ive

inte

rvie

ws,

ten

d t

o i

nte

rpre

t T

akem

itsu

acc

ord

ing

to h

is w

ord

s ra

ther

th

an h

is

sco

re.’

Alt

ho

ugh

su

cces

sfu

l sc

ore

-ori

ente

d a

nal

yses

of

Tak

emit

su’s

mu

sic

hav

e b

een

car

ried

o

ut,

th

e m

ajo

rity

of

thes

e d

o n

ot

pay

sp

ecifi

c at

ten

tio

n t

o t

he

pia

no

wo

rks.

Fo

r in

stan

ce,

Her

d (

19

89

) p

rim

aril

y d

ealt

wit

h t

he

neo

-nat

ion

alis

t sc

ho

ol

of

the

earl

y p

ost

-war

yea

rs

bef

ore

Tak

emit

su a

do

pte

d a

key

po

siti

on

in

Jap

anes

e m

usi

cal

life

, an

d W

atan

abe’

s st

ud

y (1

99

2)

of

trad

itio

nal

ele

men

ts i

n W

este

rn-s

tyle

pia

no

wo

rks

by

Jap

anes

e co

mp

ose

rs

on

ly r

efer

red

to

Tak

emit

su b

riefl

y. B

urt

’s m

on

ogr

aph

(2

00

1)

on

Tak

emit

su i

s u

niq

ue

by

pro

vid

ing

the

firs

t an

alyt

ical

ove

rvie

w o

f T

akem

itsu

’s c

om

ple

te o

euvr

e in

En

glis

h,

bu

t th

ou

gh r

efer

ence

s to

tra

dit

ion

al m

usi

c o

ccu

r sp

ora

dic

ally

, it

s fo

cus

seem

s b

iase

d

tow

ard

s W

este

rn i

nfl

uen

ces.

Sim

ilar

ly, o

ther

sco

re-o

rien

ted

stu

die

s h

ave

con

cen

trat

ed o

n

infl

uen

ces

fro

m D

ebu

ssy

and

Mes

siae

n (

Ko

ozi

n 1

99

3; 2

00

2),

Am

eric

an j

azz

theo

ry (

Bu

rt

20

02

a),

and

do

dec

aph

on

y (B

urt

20

02

b).

On

th

e o

ther

han

d,

Nu

ss (

20

02

) an

d E

vere

tt

(20

05

) st

ud

ied

co

urt

mu

sic

infl

uen

ces

on

Tak

emit

su, b

ut

focu

sed

on

en

sem

ble

pie

ces,

as

it

is t

he

case

wit

h S

mal

do

ne’

s an

alys

is (

19

89

) o

f la

rge-

scal

e p

itch

org

aniz

atio

n i

n N

ovem

ber

Step

s (1

96

7)

and

Au

tum

n (

19

73

).B

y fo

cusi

ng

on

Tak

emit

su’s

pia

no

rep

erto

ire,

in

clu

din

g yo

uth

ful

pie

ces

pri

or

to t

he

19

60

s as

wel

l as

lat

er p

iece

s fr

om

th

e 1

98

0s

and

19

90

s, I

aim

at

refi

nin

g th

e co

ncl

usi

on

s p

rovi

ded

by

Lee

(1

99

1)

and

oth

ers,

an

d m

akin

g an

att

emp

t to

war

ds

furt

her

gen

eral

izat

ion

. In

my

anal

ysis

I w

ill

incl

ud

e ex

cerp

ts f

rom

Les

Yeu

x C

los

II,

Rai

n T

ree

Sket

ch I

an

d I

I,R

oman

ce f

or P

ian

o an

d L

itan

y, w

hic

h w

ere

no

t ad

dre

ssed

by

Lee

an

d,

wh

en a

pp

rop

riat

e an

d n

eces

sary

, pro

vid

e su

pp

lem

ent

for

earl

ier

anal

yses

. Mo

reo

ver,

I w

ill f

ocu

s o

n t

he

dir

ect

imp

act

of

trad

itio

nal

Jap

anes

e m

usi

cs o

n T

akem

itsu

’s c

om

po

siti

on

al t

ech

niq

ue,

an

d o

nly

re

fer

to t

he

aest

het

ic d

imen

sio

n a

nd

th

e co

mp

ose

r’s

ow

n w

riti

ngs

wh

en t

his

is

dir

ectl

y re

leva

nt

to t

ech

nic

al d

etai

ls.

Infl

uen

ces

fro

m T

rad

itio

nal

Jap

anes

e M

usi

c o

n T

akem

itsu

’s P

ian

o W

ork

s T

his

sec

tio

n a

dd

ress

es i

nd

ivid

ual

to

pic

s o

f in

flu

ence

; in

itia

lly

wit

h r

esp

ect

to t

ech

nic

al

asp

ects

(rh

yth

m a

nd

met

er, m

od

es a

nd

mel

od

y, a

nd

text

ure

), a

nd

eve

ntu

ally

wit

h c

on

cep

ts

tou

chin

g o

n t

he

aest

het

ic d

imen

sio

n (

sim

pli

city

, sil

ence

, rev

erb

erat

ion

, an

d n

ois

e).

Rh

yth

m a

nd

met

erM

uch

tra

dit

ion

al J

apan

ese

mu

sic

is c

har

acte

rize

d b

y fr

ee r

hyt

hm

(K

ish

ibe

et a

l. 20

09:

§1),

re

flec

tin

g a

stro

nge

r re

lati

on

to

th

e u

nst

able

hu

man

bre

ath

th

an t

o t

he

stab

le h

eart

bea

t o

r w

alki

ng

pac

e ch

arac

teri

stic

of

Wes

tern

mu

sic.

5 I

n h

is p

ian

o w

ork

s T

akem

itsu

ap

plie

d d

iffe

ren

t st

rate

gies

of e

scap

ing

the

div

isiv

e m

eter

, wh

ich

str

uct

ure

s m

ost

of W

este

rn m

usi

c as

an

inh

eren

t p

art

of

the

no

tati

on

al s

yste

m it

self

. Fo

r in

stan

ce, t

ho

ugh

gen

eral

ly c

on

form

ing

to t

he

Wes

tern

co

nce

pt

of

regu

larl

y m

eter

ed r

hyt

hm

, L

itan

y co

nta

ins

such

ele

men

ts.

In t

his

pie

ce f

req

uen

t u

se o

f fe

rmat

as a

nd

gra

ce n

ote

s d

istu

rbs

the

stab

ility

of

the

bea

t, an

d in

the

seco

nd

mo

vem

ent,

T

akem

itsu

in

sert

ed t

emp

o fl

uct

uat

ion

s w

ith

in

dic

atio

ns

such

as

poco

str

inge

nd

o,ri

tard

and

o,a

tem

po,i

n T

empo

,rap

id,p

oco

acce

lera

nd

o,le

nto

,più

mos

so. M

ore

ove

r, t

his

mo

vem

ent

lack

s cl

ear

met

er s

ince

the

bar

len

gth

var

ies

free

ly fr

om

two

to s

even

bea

ts. S

imila

rly,

in L

es Y

eux

Clo

s,d

isti

nct

tem

po

ind

icat

ion

s ar

e gi

ven

to

nea

rly

each

bar

res

ult

ing

in a

met

rica

l fre

edo

m w

hic

h

was

hit

her

to u

nh

eard

in T

akem

itsu

’s p

ian

o w

ork

s.6

Un

equ

al b

ar l

engt

h i

s re

late

d t

o t

he

ph

eno

men

on

‘ad

dit

ive

met

er’,

wh

ich

is

evid

ent

fro

m t

he

use

of

add

itiv

e m

oti

fs i

n T

akem

itsu

’s p

ian

o m

usi

c. T

he

mo

tif

in E

xam

ple

1

init

iall

y o

ccu

rs i

n t

he

left

han

d a

nd

is

sub

seq

uen

tly

rep

eate

d i

n t

he

righ

t h

and

ass

iste

d

by

ano

ther

ad

dit

ive

mo

tif

in t

he

left

han

d a

pp

lyin

g si

mil

ar p

itch

es i

n a

new

ord

er. A

lso

th

e th

ree

kin

ds

of

ferm

atas

(‘v

ery

lon

g’, ‘

med

ium

’an

d ‘s

ho

rt’)

use

d i

n R

ain

Tre

e Sk

etch

add

su

btl

etie

s to

th

e in

terp

reta

tio

n o

f th

e u

nd

erly

ing

met

er.

In t

his

pie

ce f

req

uen

t te

mp

o c

han

ges

and

nu

mer

ou

s te

mp

o-r

elat

ed e

xpre

ssio

ns

(rap

idly

,poc

o ra

llen

tan

do,

poc

o st

rin

gen

do,

sen

za m

isu

ra a

nd

dyi

ng

away

) si

mil

arly

blu

r th

e p

ictu

re.

Page 3: ®+BQBOFTF JO 5SBEJUJPO 8FTUFSO JO *OOPWBUJPO¯ …

Fro

m L

es Y

eux

Clo

s II

on

war

ds,

Tak

emit

su a

pp

lied

tw

o g

rap

hic

sig

ns

for

acce

lera

nd

o an

d

dec

eler

and

o. W

her

eas

sign

s fo

r d

ynam

ics

had

alr

ead

y ex

iste

d f

or

ages

, co

mp

ose

rs h

ad o

nly

re

cen

tly

star

ted

dev

elo

pin

g gr

aph

ic s

ign

s fo

r gr

adu

al t

emp

o fl

uct

uat

ion

.7 T

his

ext

ensi

on

o

f n

ota

tio

nal

pra

ctic

e su

gges

ts a

wis

h t

o n

ota

te m

etri

cal

and

rh

yth

mic

su

btl

etie

s.8

Mo

des

an

d m

elo

dy

As

is t

he

case

fo

r ga

gaku

, th

e ‘e

lega

nt’

en

sem

ble

mu

sic

of

the

Imp

eria

l C

ou

rt,

and

th

e m

usi

cal

inst

rum

ents

use

d i

n t

his

gen

re,9

th

e Ja

pan

ese

tun

ing

syst

em a

nd

mo

des

wer

e ad

op

ted

fr

om

m

ain

lan

d

Ch

ina

and

su

bse

qu

entl

y al

tere

d

to

acco

mm

od

ate

Jap

anes

e p

ract

ice

and

ae

sth

etic

s (K

om

od

a/N

oga

wa

20

02

: 5

66

).

Bel

ow

I

wil

l su

gges

t p

oss

ible

co

nn

ecti

on

s b

etw

een

Tak

emit

su a

nd

th

e m

od

al p

ract

ice

of

trad

itio

nal

mu

sics

.T

akem

itsu

’s p

ian

o p

iece

s se

em t

o s

ho

w a

gen

eral

pre

fere

nce

fo

r th

e m

elo

dic

in

terv

als

of

fou

rth

s an

d s

eco

nd

s (H

anse

n 2

00

7: 1

8).

Sim

ilar

ly, a

no

ther

Jap

anes

e co

mp

ose

r, H

ikar

u

Hay

ash

i, o

nce

ad

mit

ted

to

fav

ori

ng

mel

od

ies

emp

loyi

ng

tho

se i

nte

rval

s b

ecau

se t

hey

re

min

d h

im o

f tr

adit

ion

al m

usi

c (H

erd

19

89

: 1

32

). I

n C

hin

a an

d s

ub

seq

uen

tly

Jap

an,

tun

ing

was

ori

gin

ally

per

form

ed i

n a

scen

din

g fi

fth

s an

d d

esce

nd

ing

fou

rth

s (e

.g. C

4-G

4-

D4

-A4

-E4

).10 F

rom

th

e fi

rst

five

no

tes

the

pen

tato

nic

ryo

_

mo

de

(e.g

. C

-D-E

-G-A

) w

as

crea

ted

, an

d t

he

rits

u m

od

e (e

.g. G

-A-C

-D-E

) w

as c

on

stru

cted

beg

inn

ing

fro

m t

he

fou

rth

d

egre

e o

f th

e ry

o_

(Ko

mo

da/

No

gaw

a 2

00

2:

56

6-5

67

). I

n f

act,

th

e in

terv

al-c

lass

vec

tor

<0

32

14

0>

sh

ared

by

ryo_

an

d r

itsu

on

ly c

on

firm

s th

e p

rom

inen

ce o

f m

ajo

r se

con

ds

and

fo

urt

hs

and

th

us

sugg

ests

a c

on

nec

tio

n b

etw

een

tra

dit

ion

al m

elo

die

s an

d t

ho

se c

om

po

sed

b

y H

ayas

hi

and

Tak

emit

su.

In

add

itio

n

to

ryo_

an

d

rits

u

char

acte

rist

ics,

T

akem

itsu

m

akes

ex

ten

sive

u

se

of

trit

on

es a

nd

sem

ito

nes

(K

oo

zin

19

91

: 12

8).

Alt

ho

ugh

th

ese

inte

rval

s ar

e ab

sen

t fr

om

th

e in

terv

al-c

lass

vec

tor

abo

ve,

this

mel

od

ic p

ract

ice

do

es n

ot

pre

clu

de

the

po

ssib

ilit

y th

at

Tak

emit

su’s

mel

od

ies

are

insp

ired

by

trad

itio

nal

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c. O

n t

he

con

trar

y, a

fter

th

e an

hem

ito

nic

mo

des

wer

e im

po

rted

fro

m C

hin

a, J

apan

ese

mu

sic

dev

elo

ped

a p

refe

ren

ce

for

the

fou

rth

of

rits

u o

ver

the

thir

d o

f ry

o_

(W

atan

abe

19

92

), a

nd

par

ticu

larl

y in

ru

ral

area

s m

usi

cian

s st

arte

d l

ow

erin

g th

e se

con

d a

nd

fift

h d

egre

e –

esp

ecia

lly

in d

esce

nd

ing

dir

ecti

on

. T

he

resu

lt w

as t

he

hem

ito

nic

in

or

in-s

emp

o m

od

e (e

.g.

asce

nd

ing

G-A

-C-

D-F

-G <

12

21

31

> a

nd

des

cen

din

g G

-E-D

-C-A

-G <

21

12

31

>)

wh

ich

was

un

kn

ow

n i

n

Ch

ina.

Wh

erea

s in

gen

eral

no

up

war

d l

ead

ing

ton

es e

xist

in

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c (B

urn

ett

19

89

: 9

9),11 t

he

chro

mat

ical

ly d

esce

nd

ing

lead

ing

ton

e is

ch

arac

teri

stic

of

the

inm

od

e an

d a

lso

ver

y p

rom

inen

t th

rou

gho

ut

Tak

emit

su’s

op

us.

As

no

ted

by

Bu

rt (

20

01

: 2

6-2

8),

in

-sem

po

is u

sed

co

nsi

sten

tly

in R

oman

ce f

or P

ian

o.In

Tak

emit

su’s

mu

sic,

oct

ave

equ

ival

ence

is

no

t al

way

s m

ain

tain

ed.

Th

is p

ract

ice

mig

ht,

to

a c

erta

in e

xten

t, h

ave

its

ori

gin

in

tra

dit

ion

al m

usi

c. A

s d

emo

nst

rate

d b

y Yo

shih

iko

To

ku

mar

u,

the

no

tio

n t

hat

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c sh

ou

ld b

e co

nst

ruct

ed f

rom

th

e u

nit

of

an o

ctav

e w

as p

rob

ably

a m

ere

Wes

tern

im

po

siti

on

(K

om

od

a/N

oga

wa

20

02

: 57

0).

T

he

com

po

ser

To

shir

o_

May

uzu

mi

(19

29

-19

97

) o

nce

mad

e re

cord

ings

of

Jap

anes

e b

ells

. H

avin

g a

mo

re c

ylin

dri

cal

shap

e, t

hes

e ar

e sa

id t

o b

e d

isti

nct

ivel

y d

iffe

ren

t fr

om

Ch

ines

e an

d E

uro

pea

n o

nes

. B

y m

ean

s o

f el

ectr

o-a

cou

stic

an

alys

is,

May

uzu

mi

(19

64

) fo

un

d

the

typ

ical

ove

rto

ne

seri

es t

o c

on

tain

th

e n

ote

s C

2,

G3

, C

4,

D4

, F

4,

A4

, D

5,

E5

, F

5,

A5

, B

5.

Cle

arly

, n

o o

ctav

e eq

uiv

alen

ce i

s p

rese

nt

her

e. B

y co

mp

aris

on

to

th

e h

arm

on

ic

ove

rto

ne

seri

es, i

t is

rem

ark

able

th

at n

o t

on

es r

ecu

r in

hig

her

reg

iste

rs. T

hu

s, i

f o

ne

wer

e to

bas

e a

har

mo

nic

sys

tem

on

th

is, o

ctav

e eq

uiv

alen

ce w

ou

ld m

ost

pro

bab

ly b

e av

oid

ed.

Inte

rest

ingl

y, tw

o p

enta

ton

ic s

ets

sim

ilar

to th

e ry

o_

an

d r

itsu

pen

tach

ord

s em

erge

fro

m th

is

seri

es (

C, D

, F, G

, A a

nd

D, E

, F, A

, B).12 I

n t

his

way

, th

e cy

lind

rica

l sh

ape

of

the

Jap

anes

e b

ell s

eem

s to

refl

ect

the

pre

fere

nce

fo

r p

enta

ton

icis

m c

har

acte

rist

ic o

f Ja

pan

ese

mel

od

ies.

O

ne

way

b

y w

hic

h

Tak

emit

su

avo

ided

o

ctav

e eq

uiv

alen

ce

app

ears

, fo

r in

stan

ce,

in t

he

firs

t p

hra

se o

f E

xam

ple

2,

the

no

tes

C4

an

d C

5,

G4

an

d G

5,

as w

ell

as E

2 a

nd

E

3 o

ccu

r si

mu

ltan

eou

sly,

an

d,

bes

ides

fro

m D

4,

wh

ich

is

enh

arm

on

ical

ly e

qu

ival

ent

to C

4,

thes

e p

itch

es d

o n

ot

reo

ccu

r in

oth

er o

ctav

es.

Fu

rth

erm

ore

, in

Rai

n T

ree

Sket

ch,

Tak

emit

su in

tro

du

ced

a ‘(

qu

asi)

mir

ror

scal

e’ a

s a

stra

tegy

to

cir

cum

ven

t o

ctav

e eq

uiv

alen

ce

(Exa

mp

le 3

).13

Her

e a

den

se t

extu

re a

rise

s fr

om

dis

pla

ced

su

per

po

siti

on

of

rep

eate

d 1

0- a

nd

8-

no

te m

oti

fs a

pp

lyin

g p

itch

es f

rom

a s

cale

co

nst

ruct

ed f

rom

alm

ost

co

nsi

sten

t in

terv

alli

c re

flec

tio

n a

rou

nd

th

e m

idd

le a

xis

D5-

E5.

Des

pit

e so

me

rep

eate

d p

itch

es,

such

a ‘

mir

ror

scal

e’ is

sig

nifi

can

tly

dif

fere

nt

in e

ach

oct

ave.

Page 4: ®+BQBOFTF JO 5SBEJUJPO 8FTUFSO JO *OOPWBUJPO¯ …

½½

½½

11½

()

()

Mel

od

ic m

oti

fsA

no

ther

pit

ch c

har

acte

rist

ic o

f T

akem

itsu

’s p

ian

o w

ork

s, I

arg

ue,

is

his

use

of

mel

od

ic

mo

tifs

, wh

ich

is

po

ssib

ly r

elat

ed t

o t

he

tric

ho

rdal

str

uct

ure

of

trad

itio

nal

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c.

A s

imil

ar a

rgu

men

t h

as b

een

mad

e b

y T

imo

thy

Ko

ozi

n,

wh

o c

on

du

cted

set

-th

eore

tica

l an

alys

es o

f p

ian

o w

ork

s (K

oo

zin

19

89

; 19

91

) an

d t

hre

e la

te p

iece

s (K

oo

zin

20

02

). K

oo

zin

(1

99

1:

13

4)

spec

ifica

lly

stre

sses

th

e p

rom

inen

ce o

f p

itch

-cla

ss s

ets

[01

4]

and

[0

26

].

Mo

reo

ver,

Sm

ald

on

e (1

98

9)

fou

nd

[0

14

] an

d [

01

5]

bo

th o

n t

he

surf

ace

leve

l an

d o

n

dee

per

str

uct

ura

l le

vels

in

th

e tw

o o

rch

estr

al p

iece

s N

ovem

ber

Step

s an

dA

utu

mn

, an

d h

e co

nvi

nci

ngl

y re

late

d t

his

pit

ch o

rgan

izat

ion

to

th

e n

ucl

ear

ton

es t

hat

Bu

rnet

t (1

98

9)

had

d

isco

vere

d in

a t

rad

itio

nal

sh

amis

en p

iece

(lo

ng-

nec

ked

lute

). I

mp

ort

antl

y, in

all

exa

mp

les

give

n b

elo

w, t

he

tri-

or

tetr

ach

ord

al s

tru

ctu

re o

nly

go

vern

s si

ngl

e m

elo

dic

mo

tifs

wh

erea

s o

ther

tex

tura

l el

emen

ts i

n t

he

mu

sica

l co

nte

xt a

pp

ly d

isti

nct

ivel

y d

iffe

ren

t se

ts.

In

19

58

, K

oiz

um

i F

um

io

pro

po

sed

a

theo

ry

of

mo

des

b

ased

o

n

the

un

it

of

a p

erfe

ct f

ou

rth

in

stea

d o

f an

oct

ave

(Ko

mo

da/

No

gaw

a 2

00

2:

56

8-5

70

) to

des

crib

e p

itch

o

rgan

izat

ion

in

tra

dit

ion

al J

apan

ese

mu

sic.

Th

is t

heo

ry h

as b

een

do

min

ant

ever

sin

ce.

Ko

izu

mi’s

mo

des

are

co

nst

ruct

ed f

rom

co

nju

nct

an

d/o

r d

isju

nct

co

mb

inat

ion

s o

f th

e fo

ur

tric

ho

rds

min

’yo_

(e.

g. C

-E-F

), r

itsu

(e.

g. C

-D-F

), m

iyak

obu

shi

(e.g

. C

-D-F

), a

nd

ok

inaw

a (e

.g.

C-E

-F),

eac

h w

ith

an

am

bit

us

of

a fo

urt

h a

nd

a d

isti

nct

ive

inte

rmed

iary

n

ote

. G

ener

ally

sp

eak

ing,

min

’yo_

was

use

d f

or

folk

son

gs a

nd

tra

dit

ion

al c

hil

dre

n s

on

gs,

rits

u f

or

cou

rt m

usi

c, m

iyak

obu

shi

for

art

mu

sic

of

the

Ed

o P

erio

d,

and

oki

naw

a m

ost

ly

on

th

e R

yuk

yu I

slan

ds.

Ho

wev

er,

in a

ctu

al p

ract

ice

the

fou

r ty

pes

are

co

mb

ined

– a

lso

si

mu

ltan

eou

sly

in d

iffe

ren

t in

stru

men

ts (

Ko

izu

mi

19

61

: 18

5-1

86

).14

In R

ain

Tre

e Sk

etch

th

e m

oti

f F

5-F

5-F

5-E

5-C

5 (

incl

ud

ing

tran

spo

sed

en

trie

s st

arti

ng

fro

m A

4 a

nd

B5

) is

mel

od

ical

ly p

rom

inen

t. T

his

[0

12

5]

tetr

ach

ord

co

rres

po

nd

s w

ith

a

sup

erim

po

sed

co

mb

inat

ion

of

the

min

’yo_

an

d o

kin

awa

tric

ho

rds,

wh

ich

is c

on

sist

ent

wit

h

the

earl

ier

men

tio

ned

ten

den

cy t

o c

om

bin

e tr

ich

ord

s in

act

ual

pra

ctic

e. A

no

ther

var

iati

on

o

f Sm

ald

on

e’s

[01

5]

tric

ho

rd is

th

e m

oti

f F

4-F

4-G

4-C

5-G

4-F

4-D

4 (

alte

rnat

ivel

y st

arti

ng

fro

m B

3,

E3

an

d i

nco

mp

lete

ly f

rom

D4

), w

hic

h i

s a

[01

57

] te

trac

ho

rd c

orr

esp

on

din

g to

a c

on

jun

ct c

om

bin

atio

n o

f th

e m

iyak

obu

shi

wit

h a

n i

nco

mp

lete

ver

sio

n o

f th

e ri

tsu

tric

ho

rd (

C, D

, F +

F, G

).15

In L

es Y

eux

Clo

s,F

5-G

5-B

5 (

alte

rnat

ivel

y st

arti

ng

fro

m F

4,

C5

, C

4,

G4

, C

4 a

nd

in

vers

ely

fro

m C

4, B

3, a

nd

D4

) is

th

e m

ain

mo

tif

wh

erea

s, in

its

seq

uel

Les

Yeu

x C

los

II, B

3-

C4

-G (

alte

rnat

ivel

y st

arti

ng

fro

m C

4, A

3, a

nd

B3

) p

lays

a s

imil

ar r

ole

. In

tere

stin

gly,

bo

th

mo

tive

s re

pre

sen

t th

e [0

26

] tr

ich

ord

, th

e m

oti

f fr

om

Les

Yeu

x C

los

II b

ein

g a

per

mu

tati

on

o

f it

s p

red

eces

sor

(Ko

ozi

n 1

99

1).

Lik

e th

e [0

15

] tr

ich

ord

(co

nta

inin

g th

e se

mit

on

e in

terv

al),

wh

ich

figu

res

pro

min

entl

y in

Nov

embe

r St

eps

and

Au

tum

n (

Smal

do

ne

19

89

), th

e u

se o

f [0

26

] (c

on

tain

ing

the

trit

on

e in

terv

al)

imp

lies

a c

har

acte

rist

ic w

hic

h d

isti

ngu

ish

es

Jap

anes

e fr

om

Ch

ines

e m

usi

c (c

f. i

n m

od

e). A

t th

e sa

me

tim

e, t

ho

ugh

, it

rem

ind

s o

f th

e o

ctat

on

ic s

cale

fro

m T

akem

itsu

’s e

arly

pia

no

wo

rks.

As

I w

ill

dem

on

stra

te b

elo

w t

hro

ugh

an

an

alys

is o

f R

oman

ce f

or P

ian

o an

d F

or A

way

, th

is c

on

flu

ence

of

the

mo

dal

sys

tem

of

trad

itio

nal

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c o

n t

he

on

e h

and

an

d o

f in

no

vati

ve s

cale

s fa

vore

d b

y ea

rly-

twen

tiet

h-c

entu

ry W

este

rn c

om

po

sers

like

Deb

uss

y, R

avel

, an

d S

trav

insk

y o

n t

he

oth

er, i

s ch

arac

teri

stic

of

Tak

emit

su’s

co

mp

osi

tio

nal

tec

hn

iqu

e.

Page 5: ®+BQBOFTF JO 5SBEJUJPO 8FTUFSO JO *OOPWBUJPO¯ …

Nu

clea

r p

itch

esA

key

trai

t of

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c is

the

pro

min

ence

giv

en to

nu

clea

r p

itch

es th

rou

gh r

epet

itio

n

and

co

nst

ant

pre

sen

ce.

In t

he

biw

a p

arts

in

gag

aku

, fo

r in

stan

ce,

on

ly t

he

up

per

mo

st,

mel

od

ic v

oic

e is

alt

ered

wh

ile

the

pit

ches

of

the

un

der

lyin

g o

pen

str

ings

rem

ain

th

e sa

me

thro

ugh

ou

t a

pie

ce (

Exa

mp

le 4

). I

n L

es Y

eux

Clo

s II

th

is g

agak

u t

extu

re i

s tu

rned

up

sid

e d

ow

n w

ith

th

e st

able

par

t m

ain

tain

ed in

th

e to

p v

oic

es w

hil

e n

ote

s in

th

e m

idd

le a

nd

bas

s re

gist

ers

chan

ge c

on

tin

uo

usl

y (E

xam

ple

2).

8

()

8

3

3

8

()

()

8

3

Hichikiri

Fue

Sho

Koto

Biwa

Shoko

Kakko

Taiko

An

oth

er e

xam

ple

of

nu

clea

r p

itch

str

uct

ure

is

Rom

ance

for

Pia

no.

An

alys

is o

f th

e b

ass

reve

als

D a

nd

A a

s th

e m

ost

pre

do

min

ant

pit

ches

(Exa

mp

le 5

). T

he

pre

sen

ce o

f tw

o n

ucl

ear

pit

ches

ref

ers

to a

typ

ical

kot

o tu

nin

g u

sed

in

tra

dit

ion

al e

nse

mb

le m

usi

c. I

n t

he

cham

ber

co

mp

osi

tio

n Z

ange

tsu

, fo

r in

stan

ce, t

he

G (

PN

P =

‘pri

mar

y n

ucl

ear

pit

ch’)

an

d D

(SN

P =

‘s

eco

nd

ary

nu

clea

r p

itch

’) b

oth

hav

e n

eigh

bo

r n

ote

s a

wh

ole

to

ne

bel

ow

an

d a

sem

ito

ne

abo

ve r

esu

ltin

g in

a s

ix-n

ote

sca

le w

her

e B

is a

bse

nt:

F, G

(P

NP

), A

, C, D

(SN

P),

E (

Bu

rnet

t 19

89: 8

6). L

ikew

ise,

in R

oman

ce fo

r P

ian

o, D

can

be

hea

rd a

s P

NP

an

d A

as

SNP.

Bes

ides

PN

P a

nd

SN

P, t

he

nei

ghb

or

pit

ches

C,

E a

nd

G o

ccu

r. N

ote

, in

th

is c

on

text

, th

at t

he

up

per

nei

ghb

or

of

SNP

(B

) is

no

t u

sed

as

a b

ass

no

te. T

he

do

ub

le n

eigh

bo

r n

ote

ci

rcli

ng

aro

un

d D

on

ly s

up

po

rts

the

no

tio

n o

f th

is p

itch

as

the

pri

mar

y o

ne

– a

t le

ast

init

iall

y. F

is

abse

nt

as a

bas

s n

ote

an

d o

nly

ap

pea

rs o

nce

in

th

e o

ther

vo

ices

in

pas

sin

g to

G

(m

. 14

), w

hic

h is

als

o c

on

sist

ent

wit

h k

oto

tun

ing.

Th

e ‘m

od

ula

tio

n’ t

o S

NP

(m

. 21

), t

oo

, is

su

pp

ort

ed b

y tr

ansp

osi

tio

n o

f th

e in

itia

l d

esce

nd

ing

fou

rth

mo

tif.

At

the

clim

ax (

m. 4

6),

fo

r th

e fi

rst

and

on

ly t

ime,

G i

s u

sed

as

a b

ass

no

te. T

he

ten

se

trit

on

e in

terv

al t

o P

NP

ad

ds

an e

lem

ent

of

amb

igu

ity

to t

he

mo

de.

Th

is a

mb

igu

ity

is m

ain

tain

ed i

n t

he

sub

seq

uen

t se

ctio

n (

mm

. 5

6-6

7)

wh

ere

a co

nfl

ict

bet

wee

n P

NP

an

d S

NP

ari

ses,

an

d e

ven

in

th

e fi

nal

bar

SN

P a

ttem

pts

to

qu

esti

on

D’s

ro

le a

s P

NP.

C

on

form

ing

wel

l w

ith

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c, w

her

e so

me

pie

ces

end

in

an

oth

er m

od

e th

an

the

init

ial

on

e (B

urn

ett

19

89

: 8

4),

th

is f

orm

al d

istr

ibu

tio

n –

alm

ost

res

emb

lin

g a

‘rev

erse

so

nat

a m

ove

men

t’ –

is

in s

tro

ng

op

po

siti

on

to

Wes

tern

mu

sica

l fo

rm.

In s

um

, th

e m

od

al d

isp

osi

tio

n o

f R

oma

nce

for

Pia

no

is h

igh

ly c

om

par

able

to

kot

o tu

nin

g an

d

Bu

rnet

t’s

ren

der

ing

of

the

in-s

emp

o m

od

e w

her

e D

is

PN

P, A

is

SN

P, a

nd

sec

on

dar

y n

ote

s ap

pea

r o

ne

wh

ole

no

te b

elo

w a

nd

a s

emit

on

e ab

ove

eac

h o

f th

em.

In F

or A

way

, w

hic

h i

s p

rob

ably

th

e co

mp

osi

tio

n t

hat

mo

st e

xten

sive

ly a

pp

lies

th

e co

nce

pt o

f n

ucl

ear

pit

ches

, th

e su

stai

ned

no

te in

the

init

ial p

assa

ge (

C5

) is

als

o s

urr

ou

nd

ed

by

the

adja

cen

t n

eigh

bo

r n

ote

s B

4 a

nd

D5

(cf

. Lee

19

91

: 21

-25

; 36

-41

). H

ow

ever

, du

e to

re

pet

itio

n, B

4 q

uic

kly

bec

om

es t

he

nu

clea

r p

itch

to

geth

er w

ith

E4

, th

us

emp

has

izin

g th

e tr

ito

ne

inte

rval

. Th

e si

tuat

ion

wh

ere

seve

ral n

ote

s ac

t as

var

iati

on

s o

f a

sin

gle

pit

ch a

rea

is

com

par

able

wit

h t

he

pit

ch-b

end

ing

tech

niq

ue

emba

i use

d o

n h

ich

irik

i (d

ou

ble

ree

d p

ipe)

and

ryu_

teki

(tr

ansv

erse

bam

bo

o fl

ute

)ca

llin

g fo

r w

iden

ing

of

the

pit

ch s

pec

tru

m o

f n

ote

s in

gaga

ku m

elo

die

s (N

uss

20

02

: 96

).

As

a w

ho

le, F

or A

way

co

uld

be

un

der

sto

od

as

a tr

ipar

tite

AB

A’ f

orm

(E

xam

ple

6).

Th

e in

itia

l p

art

A s

pan

s fr

om

1/1

/1 t

o 4

/1/1

an

d c

ou

ld b

e fu

rth

er s

ub

div

ided

in

to a

(fr

om

th

e b

egin

nin

g) w

ith

th

e n

ucl

ear

pit

ches

E/B

an

d b

(fr

om

2/2

/2 a

nd

on

war

ds)

fo

cusi

ng

on

F

/C.

Th

e m

idd

le p

art

B s

pan

s fr

om

4/1

/2 t

o 8

/1/1

wit

h t

he

furt

her

su

bd

ivis

ion

s c

wit

h

the

nu

clea

r p

itch

es G

/A a

nd

d (

fro

m 6

/1/2

an

d o

nw

ard

s) f

ocu

sin

g o

n E

/F/C

. In

d t

he

pit

ches

B,

A a

nd

A i

nte

rfer

e al

tern

atel

y w

ith

th

e th

ree

nu

clea

r p

itch

es,

wh

ich

mig

ht

be

inte

rpre

ted

as

an u

nst

able

ele

men

t in

th

is ‘d

evel

op

men

t se

ctio

n’.

Th

e re

cap

itu

lati

on

A

’ fr

om

8/1

/2 s

ub

seq

uen

tly

com

bin

es t

he

two

pai

rs o

f n

ucl

ear

pit

ches

use

d i

n a

and

b.O

nce

aga

in, i

n t

his

nu

clea

r-p

itch

str

uct

ure

, on

e en

cou

nte

rs T

akem

itsu

’s p

refe

ren

ce f

or

the

Page 6: ®+BQBOFTF JO 5SBEJUJPO 8FTUFSO JO *OOPWBUJPO¯ …

trit

on

e at

th

e ex

pen

se o

f fo

urt

hs

and

fift

hs.

As

no

ted

by

Ko

ozi

n (

19

89

), t

he

nu

clea

r p

itch

es

(exc

ept

for

A)

all

bel

on

g to

th

e o

ctat

on

ic s

cale

. T

akem

itsu

may

hav

e m

ade

a sy

nth

esis

o

f tr

adit

ion

al J

apan

ese

nu

clea

r p

itch

es a

nd

oct

ato

nic

ele

men

ts a

do

pte

d f

rom

Wes

tern

co

mp

ose

rs.

Tex

ture

On

e o

f th

e m

ost

dis

tin

ctiv

e fe

atu

res

of

Tak

emit

su’s

pia

no

mu

sic

is i

ts t

extu

re.

Act

ual

ly,

qu

ite

a fe

w r

efer

ence

s to

tra

dit

ion

al J

apan

ese

inst

rum

ents

em

erge

fro

m h

is p

ian

o p

iece

s.

Th

e fo

llo

win

g ex

cerp

t co

uld

fo

r in

stan

ce b

e in

terp

rete

d a

s re

ferr

ing

to t

he

dee

pes

t ve

rsio

n

of

the

taik

o d

rum

– t

he

dad

aiko

(lo

w D

1)

– a

plu

cked

str

ing

inst

rum

ent

like

kot

o o

r bi

wa

(mid

dle

par

t) a

nd

th

e sh

rill

sh

o_

(to

p c

ho

rds)

fro

m t

he

gaga

ku e

nse

mb

le (

Exa

mp

le 7

).

Bel

ow

I w

ill

del

ve f

urt

her

in

to e

ach

of

thes

e.

Dee

p,

sin

gle

no

tes

pla

yed

wit

h s

oft

dyn

amic

s o

ccu

r fr

equ

entl

y in

Tak

emit

su’s

pia

no

m

usi

c. O

ften

th

ey fi

ll o

ut

bre

aks

in o

ne

han

d (

Exa

mp

le 2

), a

nd

so

met

imes

th

ey s

up

po

rt

a cr

esce

nd

o (

Exa

mp

le 7

, 10

). F

inal

ly, s

uch

no

tes

are

freq

uen

tly

app

lied

in

ph

rase

en

din

gs

(Exa

mp

le 2

), c

orr

esp

on

din

g to

th

e u

sual

ro

le o

f th

e d

adai

ko i

n g

agak

u a

nd

no_

thea

tre

(Ko

mo

da/

Nag

awa

20

02

: 57

2).

K

oto

and

biw

a p

lay

the

mo

st p

rom

inen

t p

itch

es o

f ga

gaku

mel

od

ies

in t

he

top

no

tes

wh

ile

un

der

lyin

g ar

peg

gio

s ar

e ad

ded

by

plu

cked

lo

wer

str

ings

(E

xam

ple

4).

Sim

ilar

te

xtu

res

are

an u

nm

ista

kab

le p

art

of

Tak

emit

su’s

pia

no

mu

sic

occ

urr

ing

in a

ll s

tyli

stic

p

erio

ds

(Exa

mp

les

1, 8

). I

n E

xam

ple

8, n

ote

th

e st

rik

ing

sim

ilar

ity

wit

h t

he

koto

par

t fr

om

E

xam

ple

4. S

uch

ch

ord

s ar

e al

way

s p

laye

d i

n a

scen

din

g ar

peg

gio

, usu

ally

co

mb

ined

wit

h

1,1,1

2,2,2

4,1,2

6,1,2 +

8,1,2

8,2,1

+

8,3,1

8,4,1

9,2,2

9,3,2

ab

cd

AB

BB©

aa

bb

ba

a

dec

reas

ing

dyn

amic

s. T

his

po

ssib

ly r

eflec

ts t

he

fact

th

at h

igh

er s

trin

gs p

rod

uce

a d

iffe

ren

t so

un

d t

han

dee

p s

trin

gs.

Inco

rpo

rati

ng

dec

resc

end

o i

s al

so k

no

wn

fro

m n

o_

wh

ere

the

taik

o ac

com

pan

imen

t te

nd

s to

dec

reas

e in

dyn

amic

s to

war

ds

cad

ence

s (M

alm

19

60

). T

his

is

in

op

po

siti

on

to

mu

ch W

este

rn m

usi

c p

refe

rrin

g p

re-c

aden

tial

cre

scen

do

.

Clu

ster

s ar

e ch

arac

teri

stic

o

f m

uch

tw

enti

eth

-cen

tury

W

este

rn

mu

sic,

in

clu

din

g T

akem

itsu

’s.

Th

rou

gh a

pit

ch-c

lass

set

-an

alys

is,

Nu

ss (

20

02

) h

as r

epo

rted

sim

ilar

itie

s b

etw

een

Tak

emit

su’s

pit

ch s

tru

ctu

re a

nd

th

e ch

arac

teri

stic

clu

ster

ch

ord

s p

rod

uce

d b

y th

e sh

o_

. Th

is in

stru

men

t is

tun

ed a

fter

the

circ

le o

f fi

fth

s an

d is

an

imp

ort

ant p

art o

f th

e ga

gaku

ense

mb

le –

at

leas

t w

ith

in t

he

to_

gaku

rep

erto

ire

(so

-cal

led

‘Mu

sic

of

the

Lef

t’)

ori

gin

ally

im

po

rted

fro

m C

hin

a an

d S

ou

th E

ast

Asi

a (K

ish

ibe

et a

l. 2

00

9).

Th

e fr

ee r

eed

s in

sid

e th

e se

ven

teen

bam

bo

o p

ipes

vib

rate

bo

th d

uri

ng

inh

alat

ion

an

d e

xhal

atio

n,

pro

du

cin

g a

con

tin

uo

usl

y p

uls

atin

g so

un

d.

Th

ere

are

ten

clu

ster

s (a

itak

e),

and

, u

nli

ke W

este

rn

har

mo

nic

pra

ctic

e, a

itak

e ar

e n

ot

char

acte

rize

d b

y m

utu

al c

on

tras

t. I

nst

ead

, tr

ansi

tio

ns

bet

wee

n t

hem

tak

e p

lace

gra

du

ally

fo

llo

win

g a

det

aile

d s

et o

f ru

les

(te-

uts

uri

) (s

ee G

arfi

as

19

75

: 17

7-1

88

). T

he

sho_

su

pp

ort

s ce

ntr

al p

itch

es o

f th

e h

ich

irik

i mel

od

y w

ith

ap

pro

pri

ate

aita

ke,

typ

ical

ly i

n h

eter

op

ho

ny.

In

Wes

tern

cla

ssic

al m

usi

c, h

arm

on

ies

usu

ally

un

der

lie

the

mel

od

y w

her

eas

her

eth

ey a

re p

lace

d o

n t

op

of

it. C

om

bin

ed w

ith

th

e u

nd

erly

ing

biw

aan

dko

to c

ho

rds,

th

is a

lleg

edly

mak

es g

agak

u t

he

on

ly m

usi

c in

th

e w

orl

d w

her

e m

elo

dy

is

sup

po

rted

by

har

mo

ny

fro

m a

bo

ve a

nd

bel

ow

(K

ish

ibe

19

66

: 22

).In

th

e p

ian

o r

eper

toir

e, s

om

e ai

take

occ

ur

spo

rad

ical

ly i

n t

hei

r o

rigi

nal

fo

rm.

In

Exa

mp

le 9

, fo

r in

stan

ce,

the

left

han

d p

lays

a t

etra

cho

rd (

Fo

rte-

nam

e 4

-23

, p

rim

e fo

rm

(02

57

)) id

enti

cal t

o a

tra

nsp

ose

d v

ersi

on

of

the

aita

ke n

amed

kot

su.16 A

lth

ou

gh h

e sh

ow

ed

a ge

ner

al p

refe

ren

ce f

or

the

fou

rth

s, fi

fth

s an

d m

ajo

r se

con

ds

fro

m t

he

aita

ke (

six

of

them

co

nta

in n

eith

er m

ino

r se

con

ds

no

r tr

ito

nes

),17

Tak

emit

su u

sed

all

inte

rval

s in

his

clu

ster

s.

Th

is r

esu

lts

in c

hro

mat

ic v

aria

nts

of

the

dia

ton

ic a

itak

e, a

nd

, as

no

ted

by

Bu

rt (

20

02

a: 9

7),

T

akem

itsu

’s c

lust

ers

are

no

t p

arti

cula

rly

circ

um

scri

bed

as

to i

nte

rval

lic

con

ten

t af

ter

all.

Bes

ides

Cor

ona

for

Pia

nis

ts f

rom

th

e al

eato

ric

per

iod

in

wh

ich

var

iou

s gr

aph

ical

sy

mb

ols

wer

e u

sed

to

des

ign

ate

clu

ster

s, T

akem

itsu

on

ly a

do

pte

d t

he

ind

efin

ite

clu

ster

n

ota

tio

n u

sed

by

man

y W

este

rn c

on

tem

po

rari

es o

nce

, nam

ely

in P

ian

o D

ista

nce

(1

96

1).

Page 7: ®+BQBOFTF JO 5SBEJUJPO 8FTUFSO JO *OOPWBUJPO¯ …

Hen

ce, c

lust

ers

are

om

nip

rese

nt

in e

very

sty

list

ic p

erio

d o

f T

akem

itsu

’s p

ian

o m

usi

c, a

nd

it

cer

tain

ly m

ade

a d

iffe

ren

ce t

o h

im w

hic

h n

ote

s w

ere

incl

ud

ed. A

lth

ou

gh T

akem

itsu

’s

no

n-f

un

ctio

nal

clu

ster

s m

igh

t, a

t le

ast

on

a c

on

cep

tual

lev

el,

ori

gin

ate

in t

he

Jap

anes

e a

ita

ke,

thei

r p

itch

str

uct

ure

see

ms

to r

epre

sen

t h

is o

wn

in

ven

tio

n,

or

to b

e in

spir

ed b

y W

este

rn c

om

po

sers

.A

no

ther

ch

arac

teri

stic

of

Tak

emit

su’s

pia

no

mu

sic

is h

is f

req

uen

t u

se o

f u

nis

on

p

assa

ges.

Th

ese

are

usu

ally

co

mb

ined

wit

h a

dim

inu

end

o a

nd

en

d o

n a

fer

mat

a. O

ften

th

ey a

re t

ran

siti

on

al p

assa

ges

of

1-4

bar

s in

dic

atin

g b

egin

nin

gs o

f n

ew f

orm

al s

ecti

on

s w

ith

in la

rger

co

mp

osi

tio

ns

(e.g

. Rom

an

ce fo

r P

ian

o, L

es Y

eux

Clo

s I

and

II,

Pia

no

Dis

tan

ce,

Ra

in T

ree

Ske

tch

II,

an

d t

he

firs

t m

ove

men

t o

f L

ita

ny)

. In

cas

es w

her

e in

div

idu

al v

oic

es

in u

nis

on

– o

r co

mp

lex

– t

extu

res

do

no

t fo

llo

w e

ach

oth

er p

reci

sely

, het

ero

ph

on

y te

nd

s to

ari

se. E

xam

ple

9, f

or

inst

ance

, evo

kes

a h

eter

op

ho

nic

im

age

rath

er t

han

a p

oly

ph

on

ic

on

e, d

ue

to s

tret

to im

itat

ion

. By

con

tras

t, t

rad

itio

nal

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c is

no

t h

arm

on

ical

ly

fou

nd

ed a

s W

este

rn m

usi

c (D

an 1

96

1: 2

07

). A

lter

nat

ivel

y, m

elo

die

s in

het

ero

ph

on

y ar

e p

rom

inen

t in

e.g

. ga

gaku

(fu

e an

d h

ich

irik

i in

Exa

mp

le 4

), k

oto-

acco

mp

anie

d s

on

gs,

and

ch

amb

er m

usi

c o

f th

e E

do

Per

iod

(B

urn

ett

19

75

). E

xam

ple

9, f

or

inst

ance

, bea

rs a

st

ron

g re

sem

bla

nce

to

th

e im

itat

ion

tec

hn

iqu

e fo

un

d in

man

y in

tro

du

cto

ry m

ove

men

ts

in g

aga

ku w

her

e th

e d

ista

nce

bet

wee

n i

nd

ivid

ual

par

ts i

s si

mil

arly

sh

ort

.In

T

akem

itsu

’s

mu

sic,

d

ynam

ic

ind

icat

ion

s b

eco

me

an

ind

epen

den

t m

od

e o

f ex

pre

ssio

n r

esu

ltin

g in

mu

ltid

imen

sio

nal

tex

ture

s in

wh

ich

in

div

idu

al v

oic

es e

mer

ge

alte

rnat

ely.

In

th

e cu

lmin

atio

n o

f R

ain

Tre

e S

ketc

h I

I (E

xam

ple

10

), a

s m

any

as f

ou

r te

xtu

ral

elem

ents

dem

on

stra

te s

epar

ate

dyn

amic

dis

po

siti

on

(se

e al

so E

xam

ple

s 7

, 9

).

Tak

emit

su’s

mu

ltid

imen

sio

nal

tex

ture

s ar

e co

mp

arab

le t

o t

he

no

n-v

erti

cal o

rgan

izat

ion

o

f tr

adit

ion

al J

apan

ese

mu

sic,

wh

ich

man

ifes

ts i

tsel

f in

het

ero

ph

on

y, b

ut

also

lea

ds

to

ind

ivid

ual

ity

rega

rdin

g d

ynam

ic d

isp

osi

tio

n o

f si

mu

ltan

eou

s p

hra

ses.

Th

ou

gh n

ot

excl

usi

vely

Jap

anes

e, t

he

ten

den

cy f

or

‘gre

at v

arie

ty b

ut

litt

le c

oal

esce

nce

’ is

a k

ey t

rait

d

isti

ngu

ish

ing

gaga

ku n

ot

on

ly f

rom

mo

st W

este

rn o

rch

estr

al m

usi

c, b

ut

also

fro

m

man

y o

ther

Eas

t an

d S

ou

th E

ast

Asi

an e

nse

mb

les

such

as

the

Ind

on

esia

n g

amel

an a

nd

C

hin

ese

thea

tre

orc

hes

tras

(M

alm

19

90

: 1

24

). B

y co

ntr

ast,

in

to

nal

mu

sic

of

the

Wes

t,

dyn

amic

flu

ctu

atio

ns

are

mo

stly

use

d f

or

elu

cid

atin

g –

or

alte

rnat

ivel

y d

isco

ura

gin

g –

th

e in

her

ent

ten

den

cies

of

the

har

mo

nie

s. T

her

efo

re,

in m

uch

Wes

tern

pia

no

mu

sic,

b

oth

han

ds

foll

ow

a s

har

ed d

ynam

ic d

evel

op

men

t.

Th

e w

ealt

h o

f d

ynam

ic d

etai

l in

Tak

emit

su’s

pia

no

wo

rks

is e

no

rmo

us.

Fo

r in

stan

ce,

no

less

th

an s

ixte

en d

ynam

ic n

uan

ces

are

give

n in

Les

Yeu

x C

los,

ran

gin

g fr

om

mol

to p

pp

toff

. Tak

emit

su’s

ap

pli

cati

on

of

par

enth

eses

an

d ‘p

oco

’ to

pro

vid

e fu

rth

er d

isti

nct

ion

mig

ht

refl

ect

the

ten

den

cy t

ow

ard

s d

ynam

ic s

ub

tlet

ies

fou

nd

in

tra

dit

ion

al J

apan

ese

mu

sic.

As

rega

rds

acce

nts

, Tak

emit

su d

isti

ngu

ish

es b

etw

een

poc

o sf

, sf

, sf

f, s

fz,

sffz

, m

fz, a

nd

in

Rai

n

Tre

e Sk

etch

, >

and

Vd

esig

nat

e st

ron

g, m

od

erat

e, a

nd

wea

k a

ccen

ts, r

esp

ecti

vely

. Fin

ally

, as

th

e p

erfo

rman

ce n

ote

s fo

r L

es Y

eux

Clo

s re

ad:

‘[th

e m

]ost

im

po

rtan

t th

ing

… i

s to

p

rod

uce

su

btl

e ch

ange

s o

f th

e co

lor

and

th

e ti

me

as fl

oat

ing.

’ Th

at i

s, t

he

ove

rall

dyn

amic

sp

an m

igh

t n

ot

be

par

ticu

larl

y w

ide

in J

apan

ese

mu

sic;

ho

wev

er, t

he

ear

is a

ccu

sto

med

to

ex

trem

ely

sub

tle

dif

fere

nti

atio

n (

Dea

n 1

98

5: 1

61

).

Aes

thet

ics

In J

apan

ese

lan

guag

e an

d e

pis

tem

olo

gy, a

n u

nw

ritt

en r

ule

go

es t

hat

‘les

s is

mo

re’.

Th

e ke

y ro

le o

f si

mp

lici

ty in

Jap

anes

e ae

sth

etic

s si

mil

arly

ap

pea

rs in

var

iou

s ar

t fo

rms:

th

e b

revi

ty

of

hai

kup

oem

s, t

he

com

ple

ten

ess

of

a si

ngl

e st

roke

in

cal

ligr

aph

y, t

he

spar

se n

um

ber

o

f in

gred

ien

ts i

n g

astr

on

om

y, a

nd

th

e m

inim

alis

tic

furn

ish

ing.

Sp

eak

ing

of

his

ow

n

com

po

siti

on

s, T

akem

itsu

on

ce s

tate

d: ‘

I w

ant

to m

ake

on

e so

un

d t

hat

is

as p

ow

erfu

l as

si

len

ce’ (

Tak

emit

su 1

99

5: 5

2).

Tak

emit

su’s

urg

e to

ob

tain

max

imu

m a

mo

un

t o

f ex

pre

ssio

n

wit

h m

inim

um

am

ou

nt

of

mat

eria

l is

con

sid

ered

a ‘b

asic

co

nce

pt

in m

ost

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c’

by

Mal

m (

19

90

: 1

23

), a

rgu

ably

rel

ated

to

th

e Ic

hi-

on j

o_

-Bu

tsu

pri

nci

ple

(‘B

ud

dh

a in

on

e so

un

d’)

, wh

ich

has

bee

n a

ttri

bu

ted

to

th

e it

iner

ant

kom

uso

_

mo

nk

s o

f th

e F

uke

sec

t p

layi

ng

solo

shak

uh

ach

i as

an

in

stru

men

t o

f m

edit

atio

n (

Mik

i 2

00

8: 4

).

Bes

ides

the

un

iso

n te

xtu

res,

sim

plic

ity

is s

imila

rly

refl

ecte

d in

the

po

inti

llism

of T

akem

itsu

’s

seco

nd

sty

listi

c p

erio

d. I

n P

ian

o D

ista

nce

an

dP

ause

Inin

terr

ompu

e, s

ou

nd

s ar

e u

sual

ly s

up

plie

d

wit

h i

nd

ivid

ual

dyn

amic

s an

d p

erfo

rman

ce i

nd

icat

ion

s. L

ee (

1991

: 21

) as

crib

es T

akem

itsu

’s

po

inti

llist

ic s

tyle

to

tra

dit

ion

al s

hak

uh

ach

i p

layi

ng.

Ho

wev

er,

the

infl

uen

ce f

rom

Web

ern

is

likel

y to

be

stro

nge

r th

an t

hat

fro

m t

rad

itio

nal

mu

sic

in t

he

wo

rks

fro

m t

he

pre

-196

6 p

erio

d.

Exp

ress

ing

on

esel

f in

a f

ew w

ord

s, t

her

e is

alw

ays

a ri

sk t

hat

am

big

uit

y w

ill

aris

e. S

uch

Page 8: ®+BQBOFTF JO 5SBEJUJPO 8FTUFSO JO *OOPWBUJPO¯ …

vagu

enes

s is

ch

arac

teri

stic

of

Jap

anes

e p

hil

oso

ph

y an

d is

sim

ilar

ly t

race

able

in t

he

his

tory

o

f m

usi

cal n

ota

tio

n in

Jap

an. A

s w

as t

he

case

in E

uro

pe

pri

or

to t

he

dev

elo

pm

ent

of

pri

nt,

n

ota

tio

n w

as n

ot

inte

nd

ed t

o fi

x th

e m

elo

dic

pat

tern

s p

reci

sely

, b

ut

serv

ed p

rim

aril

y as

an

au

xili

ary

mn

emo

nic

dev

ice

for

carr

iers

of

the

trad

itio

n (

Ko

mo

da/

No

gaw

a 2

00

2:

57

3).

Co

nse

qu

entl

y, u

nti

l th

e la

un

ch o

f th

e M

eiji

go

vern

men

t’s

mo

der

niz

atio

n p

rogr

am,

a co

mm

on

pra

ctic

e w

as n

ever

pro

mo

ted

, an

d a

n a

bu

nd

ance

of

rep

erto

ire-

, gu

ild

-, a

nd

in

stru

men

t-sp

ecifi

c n

ota

tio

nal

sty

les

dev

elo

ped

(5

73

-58

3).

Th

ou

gh a

do

pti

ng

Wes

tern

no

tati

on

, T

akem

itsu

als

o i

nve

nte

d n

ove

l fe

atu

res

and

ex

plo

red

gra

ph

ic n

ota

tio

n in

Cor

ona

and

Cro

ssin

g (b

oth

fro

m 1

96

2).

Th

is w

as in

spir

ed b

y W

este

rn a

van

t-ga

rde

com

po

sers

su

ch a

s Jo

hn

Cag

e, m

any

of

wh

om

, fo

r th

eir

par

t, w

ere

dee

ply

insp

ired

by

Eas

tern

aes

thet

ics.

Fu

rth

erm

ore

, th

e la

ck o

f m

eter

an

d t

he

pro

min

ence

o

f p

oly

rhyt

hm

co

ntr

ibu

te t

o t

he

amb

igu

ity

face

d w

hen

per

form

ing

Tak

emit

su’s

mu

sic.

T

hat

is,

in

flu

ence

ru

ns

in b

oth

dir

ecti

on

s, a

nd

on

e ca

n o

nly

po

int

to p

arti

cula

rly

stri

kin

g si

mil

arit

ies

and

su

gges

t ce

rtai

n p

oss

ible

co

nn

ecti

on

s, b

ut

no

t cl

aim

th

eir

exis

ten

ce i

n a

ny

inco

ntr

ove

rtib

le w

ay.

In a

dd

itio

n t

o s

imp

lici

ty, r

elat

ed c

on

cep

ts li

ke ‘e

mp

tin

ess’

or,

mo

re g

ener

ally

, ‘ab

sen

ce’,

pla

y a

pro

min

ent

role

in

Jap

anes

e cu

ltu

re a

s w

ell.

Th

e la

rge,

em

pty

exp

anse

s in

vis

ual

art

an

d t

he

Bu

dd

his

t st

rivi

ng

tow

ard

s ‘s

elf-

tran

scen

den

ce’ (

nir

van

a)b

ear

wit

nes

s to

th

is.

In

trad

itio

nal

mu

sic

this

man

ifes

ts i

tsel

f as

sil

ence

, wh

ich

exi

sts

ind

epen

den

tly

fro

m s

ou

nd

in

th

e co

nce

pt

of

ma,

th

e n

ou

n f

orm

of

the

pre

po

siti

on

‘bet

wee

n’. A

cco

rdin

g to

Tak

emit

su,

‘[s]

ilen

ce is

th

e m

oth

er o

f th

e so

un

ds’

(B

eck

man

19

86

: 4).

Th

e si

gnifi

can

ce h

e as

crib

ed t

o

sile

nce

is

mo

st s

tro

ngl

y ev

iden

t in

lat

er p

iece

s su

ch a

s R

ain

Tre

e Sk

etch

an

d i

ts s

equ

el i

n

wh

ich

em

pty

bar

s ar

e in

stru

men

tal i

n c

reat

ing

a sk

etch

y ap

pea

ran

ce w

ith

ple

nty

of

roo

m

for

pen

sive

nes

s (E

xam

ple

8).

In

tere

stin

gly,

in

su

ch p

iece

s, a

bso

lute

sil

ence

is

rep

lace

d b

y ‘r

ever

ber

atio

n’ r

epre

sen

tin

g a

spec

ial

kin

d o

f ‘a

bse

nce

’.T

akem

itsu

’s r

ever

ber

atio

n a

ssu

mes

var

iou

s fo

rms.

I w

ill

ther

efo

re d

isti

ngu

ish

bet

wee

n

‘pas

sive

’ an

d ‘a

ctiv

e’ r

ever

ber

atio

n, t

he

latt

er o

ccu

rrin

g in

eit

her

‘ab

stra

ct’ o

r ‘c

on

cret

e’ f

orm

. W

her

eas

actu

al n

ote

s ar

e p

laye

d in

‘act

ive

reve

rber

atio

n’,

sou

nd

s ar

e m

od

ified

in o

ther

way

s in

‘pas

sive

rev

erb

erat

ion

’; fo

r in

stan

ce, b

y p

ress

ing

the

key

sile

ntl

y to

ob

tain

fp-

effe

cts

(For

A

way

,P

ian

o D

ista

nce

).18 I

n ‘

con

cret

e’, ‘

acti

ve’

reve

rber

atio

n,

no

tes

are

rep

eate

d,

oft

en i

n

com

bin

atio

n w

ith

so

fter

dyn

amic

s o

r te

mp

o fl

uct

uat

ion

. Mo

re p

reva

len

t is

‘ab

stra

ct’, ‘

acti

ve’

reve

rber

atio

n w

her

e re

verb

erat

ion

is n

ot a

car

bo

n c

op

y, b

ut c

on

stit

ute

s an

ab

stra

ct c

om

men

t to

th

e p

rece

din

g m

usi

c (E

xam

ple

1).

Th

is p

hen

om

eno

n is

no

t u

niq

ue

to T

akem

itsu

’s m

usi

c;

it a

lso

ch

arac

teri

zes,

fo

r in

stan

ce, O

livi

er M

essi

aen

’s p

ian

o t

extu

res.

In n

o_

, th

e re

verb

eran

t si

len

ce (

yo-i

n)

foll

ow

ing

the

dru

m b

eat

is c

on

sid

ered

su

per

ior

to t

he

bea

t it

self

(B

eck

man

19

86

: 5).

Lik

ewis

e, m

a d

esig

nat

es t

he

inte

rval

bet

wee

n s

ou

nd

s an

d h

old

s a

cru

cial

po

siti

on

(O

hta

ke 1

99

3:

54

-55

). I

n c

on

tras

t to

its

sig

nifi

can

ce i

n

Jap

anes

e cu

ltu

re, e

mp

tin

ess

is o

ften

ass

oci

ated

wit

h a

cer

tain

fea

r in

th

e W

est,

so

met

imes

re

ferr

ed t

o a

s h

orro

r va

cui,

a t

erm

bo

rro

wed

fro

m A

rist

ote

lian

ph

ysic

s an

d a

rt c

riti

cism

. In

th

is c

on

text

em

pti

nes

s ea

sily

ass

um

es a

n e

xist

enti

al d

imen

sio

n,

un

exp

ecte

d s

ilen

ce i

s aw

kw

ard

in

so

cial

sit

uat

ion

s, a

nd

pau

ses

in m

usi

c ar

e u

sual

ly c

ou

nta

ble

un

its

enta

ilin

g a

pro

mis

e o

f co

nti

nu

atio

n. M

ore

ove

r, p

ause

s se

rve

mer

ely

to s

epar

ate

ph

rase

s in

lan

guag

e o

r m

usi

c ra

ther

th

an a

chie

vin

g si

gnifi

can

ce o

n t

hei

r o

wn

. T

hes

e im

pli

citl

y as

sum

ed

bo

un

dar

ies

bet

wee

n m

usi

c an

d s

ilen

ce (

and

in

ad

dit

ion

, b

etw

een

so

un

d a

nd

mu

sic)

in

W

este

rn m

usi

cal t

ho

ugh

t w

ere

the

on

es w

hic

h t

he

zen

-in

spir

ed J

oh

n C

age

aim

ed t

o m

ake

his

Wes

tern

au

die

nce

s aw

are

of

wh

en h

e ca

lled

for

a p

ian

ist t

o r

emai

n s

ilen

t at t

he

pia

no

for

seve

ral

min

ute

s in

his

4’3

3’’.

Nam

ing

the

ran

do

m s

ou

nd

s su

rro

un

din

g th

e p

erfo

rman

ce

an e

ssen

tial

par

t o

f th

e p

erfo

rman

ce,

Cag

e in

sist

ed t

hat

his

wo

rk n

ot

be

con

ceiv

ed o

f as

p

ure

sil

ence

, bu

t ra

ther

as

mo

re o

r le

ss a

leat

ori

c so

un

ds

con

ceal

ed in

, an

d d

ivu

lgin

g fr

om

,

sile

nce

. In

Pia

no

Dis

tan

ce,

Tak

emit

su r

efer

s to

a c

erta

in k

ind

of

sile

nce

wh

ich

is

dis

tin

ct

fro

m t

he

pen

sive

rev

erb

erat

ion

in

lat

er p

iece

s an

d m

igh

t b

e re

late

d t

o t

he

Wes

tern

u

nd

erst

and

ing

of

abse

nce

an

d e

mp

tin

ess

refe

rred

to

ab

ove

. M

ore

sp

ecifi

call

y, h

e w

rite

s a

‘lo

ng’

fer

mat

a, s

up

po

rted

by

the

text

‘b

e si

len

t’ a

nd

an

in

dic

atio

n o

f n

o p

edal

. T

he

sub

seq

uen

t, ‘s

ud

den

ly’ o

ccu

rrin

g, d

isso

nan

t sf

-ch

ord

is a

n o

bvi

ou

s re

leas

e o

f ac

cum

ula

ted

en

ergy

. Th

is p

hen

om

eno

n i

s n

ot

un

kn

ow

n i

n W

este

rn p

ract

ice.

Als

o, t

he

po

siti

on

of

the

ferm

ata

in t

he

app

roxi

mat

e G

old

en S

ecti

on

(5

0/7

9 b

ars

= 0

,63

3)

test

ifies

to

a s

trin

gen

t fo

rmal

co

nst

ruct

ion

wh

ich

hin

ts a

t W

este

rn p

oin

till

ism

an

d d

iffe

rs s

ign

ifica

ntl

y fr

om

th

e sk

etch

y ap

pea

ran

ce o

f T

akem

itsu

’s l

ater

pie

ces.

On

th

e o

ther

han

d,

the

con

cep

t o

f m

ad

raw

s at

ten

tio

n t

o p

reci

sely

th

e ac

cum

ula

tio

n a

nd

rel

ease

of

ener

gy;

for

inst

ance

, in

no_

sile

nce

sh

ou

ld b

e ‘p

erfo

rmed

’ in

a m

ann

er c

on

veyi

ng

the

ten

sio

n o

f w

hat

is

to c

om

e.

Incl

usi

on

of

late

r p

iece

s th

us

clar

ifies

th

at T

akem

itsu

’s u

nd

erst

and

ing

of

sile

nce

dev

elo

ped

th

rou

gho

ut

his

car

eer.

Ho

wev

er, b

oth

kin

ds

of

sile

nce

hav

e p

rece

den

ts b

oth

in

tra

dit

ion

al

Jap

anes

e an

d i

n W

este

rn m

usi

c.N

ois

e el

emen

ts c

on

stit

ute

a fi

nal

infl

uen

ce f

rom

Jap

anes

e ae

sth

etic

s o

n T

akem

itsu

’s p

ian

o

mu

sic.

Th

e ex

ten

ded

pla

yin

g te

chn

iqu

es c

alle

d f

or

in g

rap

hic

ally

no

tate

d p

iece

s, c

lust

ers,

sf

z-ef

fect

s, a

nd

rev

erb

erat

ion

of

sile

ntl

y p

laye

d k

eys

are

all

goo

d e

xam

ple

s o

f th

is. M

ore

ove

r,

dis

son

ant

son

ori

ties

are

ad

ded

, p

oss

ibly

in

spir

ed b

y th

e em

bai

tech

niq

ue.

Fo

r in

stan

ce,

Tak

emit

su’s

use

of

par

alle

l m

ajo

r se

ven

ths

is a

n e

xtra

ord

inar

ily e

xpre

ssiv

e va

riat

ion

of

the

un

iso

n.

In t

rad

itio

nal

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c al

l so

un

ds

wer

e el

igib

le o

n e

qu

al t

erm

s si

nce

mo

st m

usi

c o

rigi

nal

ly s

erve

d d

ram

atic

pu

rpo

ses

(Mik

i 2

00

8:

3).

Th

ere

wer

e n

o ‘i

nh

arm

on

ic s

ou

nd

s’,

and

dis

cord

did

no

t ex

ist

as a

co

nce

pt.19 N

ois

e, l

ike

sile

nce

, bec

ame

an i

nd

isp

ensa

ble

par

t o

f Ja

pan

ese

aest

het

ics

and

was

del

iber

atel

y ad

ded

to in

stru

men

ts im

po

rted

fro

m m

ain

lan

d

Ch

ina

so t

hat

, fo

r ex

amp

le, s

hak

uh

ach

i an

d b

iwa

bec

ame

mu

ch n

ois

ier

than

th

eir

Ch

ines

e co

un

terp

arts

, xia

o an

d p

ipa.

Sim

ilar

ly, o

n t

he

sham

isen

, no

ise

sou

nd

s (s

awar

i) p

rod

uce

d

sym

pat

het

ical

ly b

y th

e lo

wes

t st

rin

g ar

e h

igh

ly a

pp

reci

ated

(K

ish

ibe

et a

l. 2

00

9).

Co

ncl

usi

on

Th

is s

tud

y d

emo

nst

rate

s th

e o

mn

ipre

sen

ce o

f in

flu

ence

s fr

om

tra

dit

ion

al J

apan

ese

mu

sics

in

all

five

sty

list

ic p

erio

ds

of

Tak

emit

su’s

co

mp

osi

tio

nal

car

eer.

Th

ese

incl

ud

e: v

ario

us

stra

tegi

es o

f es

cap

ing

met

er;

tric

ho

rdal

org

aniz

atio

n o

f m

elo

dic

mo

tifs

; av

oid

ed o

ctav

e eq

uiv

alen

ce;

chro

mat

ical

ly d

esce

nd

ing

lead

ing

no

tes;

nu

clea

r p

itch

es;

stab

le h

arm

on

y (k

oto,

biw

a, a

nd

sh

o_

ch

ord

s);

inst

rum

enta

l im

itat

ion

s; d

esce

nd

ing

dyn

amic

s to

war

ds

ph

rase

en

din

gs; c

lust

er c

ho

rds;

un

iso

n p

assa

ges;

het

ero

ph

on

y; i

mit

atio

n t

ech

niq

ues

fro

m

gaga

ku; m

ult

idim

ensi

on

al d

ynam

ic t

extu

re; s

ub

tle

dyn

amic

s; a

nd

aes

thet

ic c

on

cep

ts s

uch

as

sim

pli

city

, am

big

uit

y, s

ilen

ce, r

ever

ber

atio

n, a

nd

no

ise.

Esp

ecia

lly

in la

ter

pie

ces,

cle

arly

n

ot

all

infl

uen

ces

rep

rese

nt

mer

ely

‘eas

tern

aes

thet

ics’

as s

ugg

este

d b

y L

ee (

19

91

: 57

), b

ut

som

e d

o in

dee

d r

elat

e to

tec

hn

ical

det

ails

co

nce

rnin

g T

akem

itsu

’s c

om

po

siti

on

al m

eth

od

. T

ech

nic

al i

nfl

uen

ces

are

mo

re s

ub

tly

pre

sen

t in

ear

ly p

oin

till

isti

c w

ork

s in

wh

ich

th

e co

mp

ose

r al

lege

dly

aim

ed a

t av

oid

ing

them

.N

ever

thel

ess,

mo

st o

f th

ese

char

acte

rist

ics

also

ap

pea

r in

tw

enti

eth

-cen

tury

mu

sic

by

Wes

tern

co

mp

ose

rs. P

oin

till

ism

is

kn

ow

n f

rom

Web

ern

, rev

erb

erat

ion

is

char

acte

rist

ic o

f M

essi

aen

’s p

ian

o te

xtu

res,

an

d J

apan

ese

mu

sic

has

no

mo

no

po

ly o

n c

lust

ers,

no

ise

sou

nd

s,

het

ero

ph

on

ic e

lem

ents

, d

ynam

ic s

ub

tlet

ies,

sil

ence

, an

d s

pec

ific

mel

od

ic m

oti

fs e

ith

er.

Mo

reo

ver,

th

ese

char

acte

rist

ics

are

no

t p

rese

nt

sim

ult

aneo

usl

y in

a s

ingl

e co

mp

osi

tio

n,

and

Tak

emit

su n

ever

ad

her

ed c

on

sist

entl

y to

co

mp

osi

tio

nal

ru

les,

alw

ays

refr

ain

ing

fro

m

sim

ply

co

pyi

ng

elem

ents

fro

m J

apan

ese

mu

sic.

Rat

her

he

crea

ted

in

ven

tive

syn

thes

es

such

as

his

ch

rom

atic

ait

ake

clu

ster

s an

d h

is p

rom

inen

t u

se o

f th

e tr

ito

ne,

rep

laci

ng

the

Page 9: ®+BQBOFTF JO 5SBEJUJPO 8FTUFSO JO *OOPWBUJPO¯ …

fou

rth

of

Jap

anes

e m

usi

c, i

n m

elo

dic

mo

tifs

an

d a

s in

terv

al b

etw

een

nu

clea

r p

itch

es. A

s m

enti

on

ed, t

he

trit

on

e ca

n b

e as

crib

ed t

o b

oth

th

e o

ctat

on

ic s

cale

of

Wes

tern

mu

sic

and

th

e h

emit

on

ic, p

enta

ton

ic s

cale

s o

f Ja

pan

ese

mu

sic.

In

sofa

r th

e co

nce

pt

of

‘in

flu

ence

’ is

a s

uffi

cien

t co

nce

pt

at a

ll t

o d

escr

ibe

cult

ura

l ex

chan

ges,

th

ese

fact

s m

ake

it

extr

emel

y d

iffi

cult

to

d

isti

ngu

ish

b

etw

een

Ja

pan

ese

infl

uen

ce,

Wes

tern

in

flu

ence

, an

d T

akem

itsu

’s p

erso

nal

sty

le.

Ho

wev

er,

juxt

apo

siti

on

of

tech

nic

al c

har

acte

rist

ics

fro

m s

ever

al t

rad

itio

nal

gen

res

in T

akem

itsu

’s p

ian

o w

ork

s is

in

it

self

an

im

po

rtan

t in

no

vati

on

dep

arti

ng

fro

m t

rad

itio

nal

pra

ctic

e w

her

e ge

nre

s w

ere

har

dly

mix

ed.

Th

us,

it

seem

s th

at T

akem

itsu

did

in

dee

d f

ulfi

ll h

is w

ish

to

dev

elo

p a

s a

Jap

anes

e in

tra

dit

ion

an

d a

s a

Wes

tern

er i

n i

nn

ova

tio

n.