Earplay Performs "And then I knew 'twas Wind" (1992) by Toru Takemitsu 

"And then I knew 'twas Wind" (1992) by Toru Takemitsu
for flute, viola, and harp
Performers:
Tod Brody, flute
Ellen Ruth Rose, viola
Meredith Clark, harp
Recorded on 03/20/2017 at ODC Theater in San Francisco by David Ogilvy.
ABOUT THE PIECE:
The title of And then I knew 'twas Wind is from a poem by Emily Dickinson:
Like Rain it sounded till it curved
And then I knew 'twas Wind
It walked as wet as any Wave
But swept as dry as sand.
Takemitsu wrote that the work "has as its subject the signs of the wind in the natural world and of the soul, or unconscious mind (or we could even call it 'dream'), which continues to blow, like the wind, invisibly, through human consciousness."
One can hear that And then I knew 'twas Wind pays homage to Debussy, for not only does Takemitsu use the same instrumentation as Debussy’s Sonata No. 2 for flute, viola, and harp, he quotes it in a rising figure that is first presented in the viola. The composition features a continuous stream of interconnected episodes, with a smooth, rhythmically varying flow that incorporates both sound and silence. The work uses modal melodies and subtle changes in tone color; and while it features complex harmonies, it is mostly calm and meditative. Takemitsu's exquisite musicality and his exceptional sense of instrumental technique and color are on full display in this piece.
- B. B.
ABOUT TORU TAKEMITSU:
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996) is universally considered the greatest of the modern Japanese composers who worked within the tradition of western classical music. A subtle designer of instrumental color, his combining and re-combining of Japanese and European musical aesthetics in delicately etched compositions brought him to international attention as early as the late 1950’s. An auto-didact, Takemitsu was enormously prolific, producing not only concert music, but nearly a hundred film scores, as well as twenty books of writings on music theory and aesthetics.
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