Castle Classics Takemitsu, Toru (Japanese 1930-1996)

T Takemitsu: Arc. Green - Rolf Hind, piano; London Sinfonietta; Oliver Knussen, conductor

Label - London Sinfonietta

Cat. No. - SINFCD32006

Recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall during the 1998 Toru Takemitsu festival, Oliver. Knussen conducts the London Sinfonietta with Rolf Hind as the soloist in Arc.
Price: £7.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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T Takemitsu: A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden - Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop, conductor

Label - Naxos

Cat. No. - 8557760

Including Spirit Garden; Solitude Sonore; Three Film Scores for String Orchestra: Music of Training and Rest (from José Torres); Funeral Music (from Black Rain); Waltz (from Face of Another); Dreamtime; A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden

Now regarded as one of the most important composers of the second half of the twentieth century, Toru Takemitsu was the first Japanese composer to gain international status. "Takemitsu's music is essentially sensuous and evocative; one might almost count him a Japanese Debussy." The Penguin Guide

The works on this disc span Takemitsu's career. Solitude Sonore (1958) is an early work, and already bears the stamp of Takemitsu's distinctive personality with his brilliant command of orchestral colour. Inspired by a dream, A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden (1977) is notable for the interweaving of silences, surges of dissonance and delicate fragmentary melodies. It has become one of Takemitsu's most performed works. Spirit Garden was written two years before the composer's death. Takemitsu described it as "my experiment with and on-going inquiry into orchestral colour and melody". It has a mysterious, ritualistic quality.

Marin Alsop and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra have provided Naxos with a long list of immensely successful releases of contemporary music on Naxos in the American Classics series (such as Adams, Barber, Bernstein, Glass), but this is their first foray into the realm of Japanese music.
Price: £5.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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T Takemitsu: How Slow the Wind - Tadaaki Otaka, conductor; Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo; Christian Lindberg, trombone

Label - BIS

Cat. No. - BISSACD1078

Super Audio Hybrid CD (SACD). Playable on all CD players. This disc does not include a surround sound version.
Price: £13.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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T Takemitsu: Piano Music - Kotaro Fukuma, piano

Label - Naxos

Cat. No. - 8570261

Including Romance (1949); Lento in due movimenti (1950); Pause ininterrompue (Uninterrupted Rest Nos. 1-3) (1952, 1959); Piano Distance (1961); For Away (1973); Les yeux clos (1979); Les yeux clos II (1988); Rain Tree Sketch (1982); Rain Tree Sketch II (1992); Piano Pieces for Children (1978); No. 1 Breeze; No. 2; Clouds; Litany (recomposition of Lento in due movimenti) (1989)

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T Takemitsu: Chamber Music - New Music Concerts Ensemble; Robert Allen, flute

Label - Naxos

Cat. No. - 8555859

Including And then I knew 'twas wind; Rain Tree; Toward the Sea; Bryce; Itinerant; Voice, Air; Rain Spell

Gramophone Editor's Choice Award, November, 2003

"Outstanding release that showcases these musicians' empathy with Takemitsu's world" - Gramophone
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T Takemitsu: Corona - Roger Woodward, piano

Label - Explore Records

Cat. No. - EXP0016

Including Corona (London version); For Away; Piano Distance; Undisturbed Rest
Price: £8.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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T Takemitsu: A String Around Autumn - Sharon Bezaly, flute; Noriko Ogawa, piano; BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Tadaaki Otaka, conductor

Label - BIS

Cat. No. - BISCD1300

Including I Hear the Water Dreaming; Riverrun; A String Around Autumn; A Wat a Lone II.

Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice Award, Jan. 2003
Price: £13.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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J S Bach; T Takemitsu; F Schubert: Les Yeux Clos - Piano Works by Bach, Schubert & Takemitsu - Takuhiro Murayama, piano

Label - Genuin

Cat. No. - GEN03027

Including J S BACH Toccata BWV 910; SCHUBERT Sonata in G major D894; TAKEMITSU Les Yeux Clos

Price: £11.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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C Debussy; R R Bennett; T Takemitsu: Debussy's Corner - Works for flute, viola & harp - Trio Medicis

Label - Cypres

Cat. No. - CYP1637
Price: £13.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

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