#takemitsu

[mikrokosmos]

In the middle of making a winter playlist, music that's on the isolated or cold side, thinking of a grey winter day, or the eerie glow of a winter night. Please let me know what other music could fit this vibe

[ssarotto]

i don’t know the exact reason but i ssseriouslyyy love takemichi and mitsuya’s relationship <3 <3

[marxsound]

Toru Takemitsu, Rain Coming - Ensemble intercontemporain moos for today  #2   happy sunday don*t think i will ever arrive at the kind of calm, patient questioning that takemitsu does..in my life or my music (oh well). love the alto flute too

[sylestial]

Literally

[agravain-r]

are they,,,, you know?

[hotguysfugue]

top 100 pieces of western art music (2020 edition)

it’s been approximately a year since i posted my 2019 list, so here goes nothing!

100. Antonin Dvorak - Symphony No. 8

99. Bohuslav Martinu - String Trio No. 1

98. György Ligeti - String Quartet No. 1

97. G.F. Haas - String Quartet No. 2

96. Arnold Schoenberg - Verklärte Nacht

95. William Walton - Violin Concerto

94. Samuel Barber - Violin Concerto

93. Maurice Ravel - Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé

92. Bela Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra

91. Krysztof Penderecki - Threnody

90. G.F. Handel/Johan Halverson - Passacaglia

89. Max Grafe - Moon Cycles

88. John Cage - 59 ½ for a string player

87. J.S. Bach - Harpsichord Concerto No. 1

86. Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 1

85. Jennifer Higdon - blue cathedral

84. Sergei Prokofiev - Violin Concerto No. 1

83. George Crumb - Makrokosmos III (Music for a Summer Evening)

82. Paul Hindemith - String Quartet No. 4

81. Alban Berg - Violin Concerto

80. Dmitri Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 10

79. Luciano Berio - Sequenza XIVb

78. Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

77. Charles Ives - The Unanswered Question

76. Eugene Ysaye - Solo Sonata No. 2

75. Tomás Luis de Victoria - O magnum mysterium

74. Sergei Prokofiev - Sinfonia concertante

73. Maurice Ravel - String Quartet

72. György Ligeti - String Quartet No. 2

71. Witold Lutosławski - Partita (for Violin & Orchestra)

70. Pierre Boulez - Anthemes

69. Augusta Read Thomas - Incantation

68. Erwin Schulhoff - Five Pieces

67. Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 6

66. Krysztof Penderecki - Cadenza

65. Steve Reich - Music for Pieces of Wood

64. John Luther Adams - Dream of the Canyon Wren

63. Caroline Shaw - Valencia

62. Brian Ferneyhough - String Quartet No. 6

61. G.F. Haas - Solo (for viola d’amore)

60. Paul Hindemith - Viola Sonata

59. Iannis Xenakis - Metastasis

58. Andy Akhio - to wALk Or ruN in wEst harlem

57. Dmitri Shostakovich - Violin Sonata

56. Jessie Montgomery - Starburst

55. John Corigliano - Symphony No. 1

54. Kate Soper - Ipsa Dixit

53. Grazyna Bacewicz - Concerto for Strings

52. Alfred Schnittke - Concerto for Piano and Strings

51. Ben Johnston - String Quartet No. 4

50. Igor Stravinsky - Petrouchka

49. Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 10

48. Arnold Schoenberg - Pierrot Lunaire

47. Folke Rabe - Basta

46. Bela Bartok - String Quartet No. 4

45. Jennifer Higdon - Viola Concerto

44. Elizabeth Maconchy - String Quartet No. 11

43. György Ligeti - Lux aeterna

42. Herbert Howells - Elegy

41. Olivier Messiaen - Quatuor pour la fin du temps

40. J.S. Bach - Violin Sonata No. 2

39. Arvo Pärt - Fratres

38. Alberto Ginastera - Piano Concerto No. 1

37. Igor Stravinsky - L’oiseau de feu

36. John Luther Adams - The Wind in High Places

35. Alberto Ginastera - Harp Concerto

34. Silvestre Revueltas - La noche de los Mayas

33. William Grant Still - Afro-American Symphony

32. George Rochberg - String Quartet No. 3

31. Jessie Montgomery - Source Code

30. Ben Johnston - String Quartet No. 7

29. Bedrïch Smetana - String Quartet No. 1

28. Caroline Shaw - Entr’acte

27. Igor Stravinsky - Le sacre du printemps

26. Alberto Ginastera - Violin Concerto

25. Kaija Saariaho - Nocturne

24. Grazyna Bacewicz - Quartet for Four Violins

23. György Ligeti - Sechs Bagatellen/Musica Ricercata

22. Salvatore Sciarrino - Capricci per violino solo

21. Dai Fujikura - Fluid Calligraphy

20. Sky Macklay - Many, Many Cadences

19. Alberto Ginastera - String Quartet No. 1

18. György Ligeti - Violin Concerto

17. Luciano Berio - Sequenza III

16. Jessie Montgomery - Strum

15. George Crumb - Black Angels

14. Dmitri Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 8

13. Iannis Xenakis - Naama

12. Luciano Berio - Sequenza VIII

11. Toru Takemitsu - Rain Spell

10. Andy Akhio - NO one to kNOW one

9. Alberto Ginastera - String Quartet No. 2

8. Alfred Schnittke - Concerto Grosso No. 1

7. Caroline Shaw - Partita for Eight Voices

6. John Luther Adams - Canticles of the Sky

5. György Ligeti - Mysteries of the Macabre

4. Maurice Ravel - Introduction & Allegro

3. Jennifer Higdon - Violin Concerto

2. György Ligeti - Requiem

1. Kate Soper - Voices from the Killing Jar

[twistedcell]

[avithenaftali]

Reading Joyce’s Dubliners for the first time and it led me towards a train of thought that ended improbably at “wow, but composers’ Wikipedia pages can give you really inaccurate idea of what their music is like, and you can only get how misleading it is if you know enough to not need the Wikipedia page”

I remember being a teen and reading Sofia Gubaidulina’s wiki page which, at the time, not only talked about her symphony as if it was The Most central piece she’d written, but also described her entire musical style as “innovative in how it uses silence”.

Like... I can see that being a quote pulled from a review of someone attending Gubaidulina’s symphony, because of that memorable moment in the symphony when the conductor is conducting a silent orchestra. But that doesn’t describe her music at all. You might as well say “Gerard Grisey’s music is innovative in how it uses silence!” based on the last minute of Partiels where a cymbalist dramatically draws their cymbals apart instead of crashing them together! The theater of it! (Also, the cuteness of the score!)

To wrap up this thought, however: 

When thinking about composers who are actually innovative in how they use silence, my answer is Toru Takemitsu.

The more you listen to his music and the more you read his writings, the clearer it is how much weight he gave to silence, and space, within the texture of his music.