Japan Flute 1997

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Perhaps not the most accessible CD reviewed ever here on motion, this collection is nonetheless extraordinary in its own right. Flautist and contemporary music specialist Eberhard Blum claims to have first come across Japanese contemporary concert music in 1962. In the three decades or so since then he has regularly included pieces by living Japanese composers alongside those of such Orientally-influenced Western composers as John Cage. This CD, however, sees the first time he has recorded a set of exclusively Japanese works, all for either solo or accompanied flute. The set features work by Yoritsune Matsudaira, Yoriaki Matsudaira (a piece for flute and percussion), Takehito Shimazu, Makoto Shinohara (a piece for amplified stereo bass flute), Tashio Hosokawa and, of course, that giant of contemporary Japanese music, Toru Takemitsu. The range of this music - formally, melodically, timbrally and in terms of arrangement - is very broad, but what comes across overall is the refinement here, with the tiniest musical gesture obviously considered with absolute care. How this music sits in relation to the Japanese musical tradition and the rest of the Western contemporary canon - issues which Blum says concern him greatly - is a very big question indeed. Certainly, the impression left at the end of time spent listening to this music is, to these ears, a peculiar mix of serenity and tension, and that, in itself, is perhaps a clear example of the western experience of Japanese culture. For all that, this is very beautiful music indeed.