Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996)

Introduction
Toru Takemitsu, Japanese composer born October 8th, 1930 and passed away February 20th, 1996, also a writer on aesthetics and music theory. "Takemitsu spent his childhood in China, and fell in love with western classical music when he heard it on American forces radio in Japan after the war." ( the guardian) Toru Takemitsu is mostly a self taught musician, famous for his style of combining Oriental and occident philosophy to create a sound unique to himself; also for fusing traditional and innovate sound together. Taking two contrasting sounds appealed to Toru Takemitsu making him widely known for this. "His 1957 Requiem for string orchestra attracted international attention, led to several commissions from across the world and established his reputation as one of the leading 20th-century Japanese composers." ( wiki) Toru Takemitsu had received many awards and honorable mentions also the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award is named after him. Some accomplishments: ( wiki)
 * Composed hundred independent works of music
 * Scored more than ninety films
 * published twenty books
 * Founding member of the Jikken Kobo ( experimental workshop) in Japan.

Works
Toru Takemitsu:

Romance

Toward the Sea- 1981 In works like Towards the Sea, Toru use motives through notes like E flat and E-A to set a surrounding musical landscape of water. This is repeated in other works that have a motive of water, for example: Rain Tree Sketch (1982), I Hear the Water Dreaming (1987).

Comparisons
Comparing Romance by Toru Takemitsu a piece played in Alba to the other songs played in the festival. Romance stands out as a piece that is soft, slow tempo, and drags out notes leaving minimal spacing for distinguishing the next note. Other pieces with the motive of romance have a clearer message of understanding that also hold the interest of the listener.

Observations
Romance- (May 28th) Ensemble A few flutes start softy, gradually increasing volume into a crescendo. Toru Takemitsu's sound is dissonant giving a anxious and uncomfortable feeling. Some parts are dull. Adagio of 60-90bpm perhaps. Horns sound off giving the impression of calling to war. This piece feels like the romance is stressed and anxiety is built up with sadness.
 * Instruments
 * Piccolo
 * Alto, bass flute

Work Cited
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toru_Takemitsu

https://youtu.be/i1gEEv5Q-g0

https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2013/feb/11/contemporary-music-guide-toru-takemitsu