Until the launch of Deutsche Grammophon's Echo 20 21 series, many to most of the excellent recordings of contemporary music the esteemed German label made from the 1950s through the 1970s had gone AWOL from the active catalog. That Deutsche Grammophon had anything to offer in terms of Takemitsu may come as a surprise to some, so long has it been since this material has been available. Yet A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden is the fourth Takemitsu release on Echo 20 21 since the inception of the imprint in 1998, more discs than for any composer in the series. A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden features Seiji Ozawa's 1977 and 1978 recordings of Quatrain and the popular title work with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, both then premieres.
Takemitsu's adherents will want this automatically, and yet there are other reasons to love Deutsche Grammophon's A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden. These excellent orchestral performances come not only as a revelation to the benefit of Takemitsu, but also for Ozawa, as well. At about the time he stepped down as director of the Boston Symphony, critics were blaming Ozawa for practically everything up to and including bad weather in Boston. Yet he had outstanding abilities in such music, and although other recordings of A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden have come along since, none has been nearly as good as this one, and features the outstanding chamber group Tashi.
The filler is a surprise -- rare recordings of Takemitsu's early chamber music made for Polydor's Japanese affiliate in 1969. These pieces; Stanza I, Sacrifice, Ring, and Valeria, possess a "keeping up with the Joneses" quality in terms of demonstrating solidarity with the hyper-serialist trends then current in Darmstadt. Though even as Valeria strongly recalls the early music of Boulez, there are parts that are more reminiscent of Takemitsu's film music of that time. Additionally, it is a delight to hear the young Keiko Abe, playing vibes this time, and Yuji Takahashi playing an acetone organ of the kind popularized in Italian films of the early '60s. by Uncle Dave Lewis
Tracklist
1 Quatrain 17:02
Cello – Fred Sherry
Clarinet – Richard Stoltzman
Conductor – Seiji Ozawa
Orchestra – Boston Symphony Orchestra
Performer – Tashi
Piano – Peter Serkin
Violin – Ida Kavafian
2 A Flock Descends Into The Pentagonal Garden 13:08
Cello – Fred Sherry
Clarinet – Richard Stoltzman
Conductor – Seiji Ozawa
Orchestra – Boston Symphony Orchestra
Performer – Tashi
Piano – Peter Serkin
Violin – Ida Kavafian
3 Stanza I 7:11
Conductor – Hiroshi Wakasugi
Guitar – Harumi Ibe
Harp – Mari Nagasako
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Yonaku Nagano
Piano, Celesta – Yuji Takahashi
Vibraphone – Keiko Abe
4 Sacrifice 6:25
Conductor – Hiroshi Wakasugi
Flute [Alto] – Ryu Noguchi
Lute – Mitsuhiko Hamada
Vibraphone, Cymbal [Antique] – Keiko Abe
5 Ring 9:31
Conductor – Hiroshi Wakasugi
Flute – Ryu Noguchi
Guitar [Terz] – Harumi Ibe
Lute – Mitsuhiko Hamada
6 Valeria 6:28
Cello – Yoshio Hattori
Conductor – Hiroshi Wakasugi
Guitar – Harumi Ibe
Organ [Electric] – Yuji Takahashi
Piccolo Flute – Ryu Noguchi, Takeshi Koizumi
Violin – Saburo Ueki
