November Steps
Encyclopedia
is a musical composition by the Japan
ese composer
Tōru Takemitsu
, for the traditional Japanese musical instruments
, shakuhachi
and biwa
, and western orchestra
. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic
on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, and premiered in November 1967 by the orchestra under the direction of Seiji Ozawa
.
to Masaki Kobayashi's 1962 film, Harakiri. Other film soundtracks in which Takemitsu used traditional instruments include Shinoda
's Assassination and Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan
(both 1964). Takemitsu's first concert composition for traditional Japanese musical instruments
was Eclipse (1966) for the biwa
performer, Kinshi Tsuruta, and the shakuhachi
player, Katsuya Yokoyama. When Seiji Ozawa played Leonard Bernstein a tape of Eclipse, Bernstein suggested combining the instruments in a composition with the western orchestra.
Of the title to November Steps, Takemitsu offered two explanations. Taking a literal view of the title, he wrote, "It was performed in November, and to me that project represented a new step: thus, I titled the work November Steps." He further explained, "In Japanese music, danmono are the equivalent of western variations
, and the word dan means step. My 'November Steps' are a set of eleven variations."
's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (1894) and Jeux
(1912). At first intending unite the Japanese and the western musical instruments in the composition, he came to the decision early on that the differences between the two musical traditions were too vast to overcome. On the brink of abandoning the project, he instead decided to make the difference between the two traditions a theme of the work. Takemitsu later wrote, "It might well be that as a composition it would fail, but I completed the work in order to show as great a difference between the two traditions without blending them."
Following this line of thought, Takemitsu stated that he did not attempt to integrate the Japanese and western sounds, but to display them in juxtaposition to one another, thereby emphasizing their differences. Nevertheless, the work does present correspondences between the two sounds. The plucking of the biwa with the plectrum
is echoed in the orchestra by percussive effects on the strings. The shakuhachis breath effects are echoed by clusters
and glissandi
in the strings. In this way, Takemitsu creates a harmony between the two instrumental bodies while maintaining their unique sound characteristics.
Takemitsu reported that the natural sounds, such as birds and wind, at first disturbed his concentration. When he began listening to them more carefully, he came to view these sounds as not different from his own music. Later, when listening to November Steps while working in Africa, the cultural anthropologist Junzo Kawada commented that the sounds of nature did not interfere with the enjoyment of Takemitsu's composition.
, Krzysztof Penderecki
, Aaron Copland
and other prominent musicians. Takemitsu expressed the view the positive reception of the work was proof that if a sound has value it will appeal to all people, not just to particular nationalities.
Shortly after the premier, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
, under its conductor Seiji Ozawa
, gave November Steps its second performance in Toronto
's Massey Hall
. The work was distributed widely in the West when Ozawa and the Toronto Symphony included it on the fourth side of an LP of Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony recorded in December 1967. Under Ozawa, this orchestra also gave the work its first televised performance, in a 1970 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
program, "East-West Concerto". In 1970 November Steps also had the distinction of being the only Japanese-composed music performed at Expo '70
when Ozawa conducted it in Suita, Osaka
, Japan
, which was replaced with a "stream of sound". Green (1967), composed for orchestra at the same time as November Steps, is more conventional, shows the influence of the two Debussy scores in a more direct way than does November Steps. In contrast, November Steps does not adhere to traditional western concepts of musical form
, but takes the view that each sound is the focus of attention.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Tōru Takemitsu
Toru Takemitsu
was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu possessed consummate skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre...
, for the traditional Japanese musical instruments
Traditional Japanese musical instruments
Traditional Japanese musical instruments comprise a wide range of string, wind, and percussion instruments.-Plucked:*Biwa - pear-shaped lute*Ichigenkin - one-string zither*Koto - long zither*Junanagen - 17-stringed zither...
, shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
and biwa
Biwa
The is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, often used in narrative storytelling. The biwa is the chosen instrument of Benten, goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Shinto....
, and western orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, and premiered in November 1967 by the orchestra under the direction of Seiji Ozawa
Seiji Ozawa
is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:...
.
Background
In his early career, Takemitsu had been reluctant to make use of traditional Japanese music in his compositions, as he said this music "always recalled the bitter memories of war". He began experimenting with traditional Japanese instruments in the early 1960s, using them in the soundtrackSoundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to Masaki Kobayashi's 1962 film, Harakiri. Other film soundtracks in which Takemitsu used traditional instruments include Shinoda
Masahiro Shinoda
is a Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s.-Career:...
's Assassination and Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan
Kwaidan (film)
is a 1964 Japanese portmanteau film directed by Masaki Kobayashi; the title means 'ghost story'. It is based on stories from Lafcadio Hearn's collections of Japanese folk tales. The film consists of four separate and unrelated stories. Kwaidan is the archaic transliteration of Kaidan, meaning...
(both 1964). Takemitsu's first concert composition for traditional Japanese musical instruments
Traditional Japanese musical instruments
Traditional Japanese musical instruments comprise a wide range of string, wind, and percussion instruments.-Plucked:*Biwa - pear-shaped lute*Ichigenkin - one-string zither*Koto - long zither*Junanagen - 17-stringed zither...
was Eclipse (1966) for the biwa
Biwa
The is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, often used in narrative storytelling. The biwa is the chosen instrument of Benten, goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Shinto....
performer, Kinshi Tsuruta, and the shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
player, Katsuya Yokoyama. When Seiji Ozawa played Leonard Bernstein a tape of Eclipse, Bernstein suggested combining the instruments in a composition with the western orchestra.
Of the title to November Steps, Takemitsu offered two explanations. Taking a literal view of the title, he wrote, "It was performed in November, and to me that project represented a new step: thus, I titled the work November Steps." He further explained, "In Japanese music, danmono are the equivalent of western variations
Variation (music)
In music, variation is a formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these.-Variation form:...
, and the word dan means step. My 'November Steps' are a set of eleven variations."
Composition
During the composition of November Steps, Takemitsu secluded himself to a mountain villa, taking with him the scores to DebussyClaude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (1894) and Jeux
Jeux
Jeux is the last work for orchestra written by Claude Debussy. Described as a "poème dansé" , it was originally intended to accompany a ballet, and was written for the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev to choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky. Debussy initially objected to the scenario, but...
(1912). At first intending unite the Japanese and the western musical instruments in the composition, he came to the decision early on that the differences between the two musical traditions were too vast to overcome. On the brink of abandoning the project, he instead decided to make the difference between the two traditions a theme of the work. Takemitsu later wrote, "It might well be that as a composition it would fail, but I completed the work in order to show as great a difference between the two traditions without blending them."
Following this line of thought, Takemitsu stated that he did not attempt to integrate the Japanese and western sounds, but to display them in juxtaposition to one another, thereby emphasizing their differences. Nevertheless, the work does present correspondences between the two sounds. The plucking of the biwa with the plectrum
Plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...
is echoed in the orchestra by percussive effects on the strings. The shakuhachis breath effects are echoed by clusters
Tone cluster
A tone cluster is a musical chord comprising at least three consecutive tones in a scale. Prototypical tone clusters are based on the chromatic scale, and are separated by semitones. For instance, three adjacent piano keys struck simultaneously produce a tone cluster...
and glissandi
Glissando
In music, a glissando is a glide from one pitch to another. It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French glisser, to glide. In some contexts it is distinguished from the continuous portamento...
in the strings. In this way, Takemitsu creates a harmony between the two instrumental bodies while maintaining their unique sound characteristics.
Takemitsu reported that the natural sounds, such as birds and wind, at first disturbed his concentration. When he began listening to them more carefully, he came to view these sounds as not different from his own music. Later, when listening to November Steps while working in Africa, the cultural anthropologist Junzo Kawada commented that the sounds of nature did not interfere with the enjoyment of Takemitsu's composition.
Reception
The performers of the New York Philharmonic were openly skeptical of playing with the two Japanese instruments, however, after hearing the first extended passage for the biwa and shakuhachi, concerns began to wane. Shouts of "Bravo!" came from the orchestra after the end of the first rehearsal. The first performance received compliments from Leonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
, Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
and other prominent musicians. Takemitsu expressed the view the positive reception of the work was proof that if a sound has value it will appeal to all people, not just to particular nationalities.
Shortly after the premier, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
, under its conductor Seiji Ozawa
Seiji Ozawa
is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:...
, gave November Steps its second performance in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
's Massey Hall
Massey Hall
Massey Hall is a venerable performing arts theatre in the Garden District of downtown Toronto. The theatre originally was designed to seat 3,500 patrons but, after extensive renovations in the 1940s, now seats up to 2,765....
. The work was distributed widely in the West when Ozawa and the Toronto Symphony included it on the fourth side of an LP of Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony recorded in December 1967. Under Ozawa, this orchestra also gave the work its first televised performance, in a 1970 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
program, "East-West Concerto". In 1970 November Steps also had the distinction of being the only Japanese-composed music performed at Expo '70
Expo '70
was a World's Fair held in Suita, Osaka, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. The theme of the Expo was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese Expo '70 is often referred to as Ōsaka Banpaku...
when Ozawa conducted it in Suita, Osaka
Suita, Osaka
is a city located in northern Osaka, Japan. As of August 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 356,751 and the density of 9,880 persons per km². The total area is 36.11 km²....
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
Legacy
The process of writing November Steps, and its success, resulted in a new direction for Takemitsu's music. Takemitsu wrote that the effort in writing the piece, "somehow liberated music from a certain stagnation and brought to music something distinctly new and different". One of the ways in which the work changed Takemitsu's music was in a less traditional approach to musical formMusical form
The term musical form refers to the overall structure or plan of a piece of music, and it describes the layout of a composition as divided into sections...
, which was replaced with a "stream of sound". Green (1967), composed for orchestra at the same time as November Steps, is more conventional, shows the influence of the two Debussy scores in a more direct way than does November Steps. In contrast, November Steps does not adhere to traditional western concepts of musical form
Musical form
The term musical form refers to the overall structure or plan of a piece of music, and it describes the layout of a composition as divided into sections...
, but takes the view that each sound is the focus of attention.
Sources
- Burt, Peter (2001). The Music of Toru Takemitsu. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521782201.
- Narazaki, Yoko and Kanazawa, Masakata. "Takemitsu, Tōru." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 3 Jul. 2008
- Ohtake, Noriko (1993). Creative sources for the Music of Toru Takemitsu. Scolar Press. ISBN 0859679543.
- Takemitsu, Tōru (1995). Confronting Silence. Fallen Leaf Press. ISBN 0914913360.
- Takemitsu, Tōru (1967). November Steps. New York: C.F. Peters Corporation. Edition Peters 66299.
- Takemitsu, Tōru (1989). "Sound of East, Sound of West" in Confronting Silence. Fallen Leaf Press. ISBN 0914913360.
Further reading
- Chan, Hing-yan. (1996). Symmetry & Large-Scale Continuity in Toru Takemitsu's November Steps. Research project (D.M.A.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. OCLC: 37036163 - Day, Kikutsubo Galathea Mikhailovna Mizuno. (2005) Takemitsu Tōru: November Steps: Bringing "East" and "West" Together or Auto-Exoticism? Mills CollegeMills CollegeMills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
Theses. Thesis (MFA). OCLC: 64446322 - Nakatani, Yoko. (2005). "November steps" and "Autumn": A Comparative Analysis of Two Orchestral Works. Ann Arbor, Mich. : UMI Dissertation Services. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brandeis UniversityBrandeis UniversityBrandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
. OCLC: 156744204. - Smaldone, Edward, "Japanese and Western Confluences in Large-Scale Pitch Organization of Tōru Takemitsu's November Steps and Autumn", Perspectives of New Music, vol. 27 no.2 (Summer, 1989).