Search - Toru Takemitsu, Dominique Visse, François Couturier :: Takemitsu: Songs

Toru Takemitsu, Dominique Visse, François Couturier
Takemitsu: Songs
Genres: Folk, Pop, Soundtracks, Classical

Track Listings (20) - Disc #1
1. Sayonara, song for voice & piano
2. In a Small Room (Chiisana Heya de), song for chorus & piano
3. I Just Sing (Utau dake), song for voice & piano
4. The Game of Love (Koi no kakurembo), song for voice & piano
5. A Song of Circles and Triangles (Maru to Sankaku no Uta), for voice & piano
6. Small Sky (Chiisana Sora), song for chorus & piano
7. La Neige (Yuki), song for voice & piano (theme song for the film 'Shiro to kuro')
8. Take off for the Clouds (Kumo ni mukatte tatsu), song for voice & piano (for the TV drama 'Kumo ni mukatte tatsu')
9. Unseen Child (Mienai Kodomo), song for voice & piano
10. A Marvelous Kid (Subarashii Akujo), song for voice & piano (theme song for the film 'Subarashii Akujo')
11. In the Month of March (Sangatsu no uta), song for voice & piano (theme song for the film 'Saigo no Shinpan')
12. All that the Man Left Behind When He Died (Shinda otoko no nokoshita mono wa), song for voice & piano
13. Waltz (Warutsu), song for voice & piano (theme song for the film 'Tanin no kao')
14. The Encounter (Meguriai), song for voice & piano (theme song for the film 'Meguriai')
15. Glowing Autumn, film score: Moeru Aki
16. Wings (Tsubasa), song for chorus
17. To the Island (Shima e), song for chorus
18. Will Tomorrow, I Wonder, Be Cloudy or Clear? (Ashita ha hare kana, kumori kana), song for chorus
19. All Alone (Potsunen), song for voice & piano
20. Yesterday's Spot (Sakujitsu no shimi), song for voice & piano

CD Details

All Artists: Toru Takemitsu, Dominique Visse, François Couturier
Title: Takemitsu: Songs
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Hanssler Classics
Original Release Date: 1/1/2007
Re-Release Date: 11/13/2007
Album Type: Import
Genres: Folk, Pop, Soundtracks, Classical
Styles: Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 4010276019657

Synopsis

Album Description

While Takemitsu's reputation as one of the 20th century's greatest modernists is recognized around the world, his accomplishments as a songwriter are largely unknown outside of Japan. This recital displays his stylistic versatility and knowledge of popular song idioms.Throughout his highly creative life, Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996) composed numerous concert works; over a hundred film scores; many incidental scores for radio, TV, and theater; a detective novel; and critical works for music, film, and literature. He was a leading intellectual with an insatiable appetite for popular culture (especially film) and possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of Western popular music.The songs on this program come from all stages of Takemitsu's life, from the 1950's to the year of his death, and each is a superbly crafted miniature - by turns tuneful, elegant, and fragile.

CD Reviews

Not What I Was Expecting

James S. Eisenberg | 05/14/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Toru Takemitsu's serious music seems to blend in equal parts Webern, Debussy AND Japanese traditional music. I was expecting Webern-like art songs. In fact, these are pop songs that Takemitsu wrote, mostly for American, European and Asian produced films and television shows. Most of the texts are in English. The composer crafts attractive if unremarkable tunes. One or two of them stand out above the rest, especially a haunting pacifist song "All That The Old Man Left Behind When He Died".

Sixty minutes of a French countertenor singing pop songs in English with piano accompaniment was not an easy sell for me, but Dominique Visse won me over by the end. He doesn't put too much pressure on the voice and handles the lyrics nicely. Francois Couturier is the excellent pianist, and the sound recording is flattering to Visse's voice.

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