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Just an FYI
When listened to this and posted it in the Currently Listening VIII thread I noted that it was fantastic!
I do enjoy these pieces you post here.
10 Living Composers talk to TC
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When listened to this and posted it in the Currently Listening VIII thread I noted that it was fantastic!
I do enjoy these pieces you post here.
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On a personal note i thank you for your incredible support. I have worked very hard with the composers for one year to achieve my initial presentation. I will continue to present new works from the 10 selected composers, as this is the thread that is the closest to my heart. Each of these composers have an incredible catalogue (still developing), so I will present at least one additional work each week. I hope one day our members will realise what this thread means.
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I would not hold my breath. Trying not to be negative, it frustrates me daily how "old school" most seem to be.
Luckily we do have a few posters like yourself and @SanAntone who are true gifts to the forum.
I think my good fortune and open ears in enjoying new pieces is a product of lack of classical exposure most my life. Also, by nature, in all facets of life, I am an early adapter.
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Toshio Hosokawa was one of my original choices for the 10 living composers, but could not participate in time due to extensive commitments.
To my great joy he has now chosen his favourite work, the opera Matsukaze and sent me a text that describes his ideas about the work.
11 Toshio Hosokawa 1955
Bio
Toshio Hosokawa was born in Hiroshima in 1955 and moved to Berlin in 1976 to study with the Korean master, Isang Yun. He also studied with Klaus Huber in Freiburg, but subsequently returned to Japan to create a very personal body of work which is a mix between Western classical and Japanese music and culture.
Hosokawa has updated the traditional Noh culture and his best operatic works Matsukaze and Hanjo are both based on Noh masterpieces.
He is also moved by tragic past and contemporary events, like the Hiroshima bombing and the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster and therefore dedicated pieces to the memory of these events.
His compositions encompass all musical classical genres like orchestral music, ensemble music, chamber music, piano music, solo music and opera. He often uses traditional classical Japanese instruments in his compositions.
He is truly one of the important composers of our times and is revered by younger composers and performers.
11.1 Matsukaze Opera 2010
Toshio's words:
In the past few years, I became interested in Shamanism, and have been composing with the idea that musicians are like a miko, a Japanese shrine maiden who connects the world and the other world. My opera Matsukaze composed in 2010 is based on the Japanese Noh. In many stories in Noh, the protagonist is a spirit and has a story structure where a soul with deep sorrowness that was unhealed in this world once again returns to this world, and by singing, dancing and talking about its sorrow in front of a monk, the soul is healed and once again returns to the other world. The story of my opera Matsukaze also has this plot. Beautiful sisters Matsukaze and Murasame died without severing their feelings for the man they loved, and return to this world to talk about their persisting feeling once again. These two sisters for me, are mikos or shamans that connect this world and the other world. And these two are for me, a woman's Yin and Yang, two women as an embodiment of one woman. By singing and dancing, they try to be united with the vast energy flowing through the universe.
To my great joy he has now chosen his favourite work, the opera Matsukaze and sent me a text that describes his ideas about the work.
11 Toshio Hosokawa 1955
Bio
Toshio Hosokawa was born in Hiroshima in 1955 and moved to Berlin in 1976 to study with the Korean master, Isang Yun. He also studied with Klaus Huber in Freiburg, but subsequently returned to Japan to create a very personal body of work which is a mix between Western classical and Japanese music and culture.
Hosokawa has updated the traditional Noh culture and his best operatic works Matsukaze and Hanjo are both based on Noh masterpieces.
He is also moved by tragic past and contemporary events, like the Hiroshima bombing and the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster and therefore dedicated pieces to the memory of these events.
His compositions encompass all musical classical genres like orchestral music, ensemble music, chamber music, piano music, solo music and opera. He often uses traditional classical Japanese instruments in his compositions.
He is truly one of the important composers of our times and is revered by younger composers and performers.
11.1 Matsukaze Opera 2010
Toshio's words:
In the past few years, I became interested in Shamanism, and have been composing with the idea that musicians are like a miko, a Japanese shrine maiden who connects the world and the other world. My opera Matsukaze composed in 2010 is based on the Japanese Noh. In many stories in Noh, the protagonist is a spirit and has a story structure where a soul with deep sorrowness that was unhealed in this world once again returns to this world, and by singing, dancing and talking about its sorrow in front of a monk, the soul is healed and once again returns to the other world. The story of my opera Matsukaze also has this plot. Beautiful sisters Matsukaze and Murasame died without severing their feelings for the man they loved, and return to this world to talk about their persisting feeling once again. These two sisters for me, are mikos or shamans that connect this world and the other world. And these two are for me, a woman's Yin and Yang, two women as an embodiment of one woman. By singing and dancing, they try to be united with the vast energy flowing through the universe.
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Toshio did me the great favour of sending me a visual copy of his favourite piece, his opera Matsukaze in the Luxemburg version of 2011. I was familiar with the music but of course this opera is also about movement (Noh), the physical relationships between human beings and their emotional interactions. It is one of he greatest operas of our time.
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Could it be shared with those of us who are interested?
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Unfortunately i am not allowed to share it, for copyright reasons.
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I'm looking forward to seeing what Anna Þorvaldsdóttir has to say on this (and on her work in general)!
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You can find comments from Anna on this specific work on You-Tube. Moreover she has a great personal web-site where she explains a lot about her works and where critics give comments as well. Go to annathorvalds.com
Although we are friends it is difficult to convince her to participate to projects like mine, but she is one of the female contemporary composers i prefer.
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Yes, I'm familiar with her website – indeed, very nicely laid out and she gives some really good insights on her work there.
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