Takemitsu’s “November Steps”

Toru Takemitsu explores a number of ideas in his piece November Steps, his main theme is the clash of traditional Japanese “sound” with the traditional western classical “sound”, he also explores his philosophy (shared in a way with John Cage) on silence.

According to the composer, the sound of the shakuhachi is timeless, resonating – as if it were coming from the earth itself. (This is a loose quote, from Confronting Silence by Toru Takemitsu).

The form of the piece itself is related to the shakuhachi, that is it lacks any form in the western sense of the word, but rather is an ongoing stream of sound, much like the effect of the shakuhachi. Each sound generated by the orchestra, biwa and shakuhachi is complete and beautiful on its own and should be listened to rather than performed: “here the role of the performer is not to produce sound but to listen to it, to strive constantly to discover sound in silence”, more on silence later.

To provide a sense of unity between Japanese music and western music where there might not be any, the composer uses mimicry between the Japanese instruments and the western orchestra, he achieves this through notated instructions to use the “pizzicato a la Bela Bartok” on the strings, which is to snap the string against the neck of the instrument the way rockabilly double bass players perform their “slap” technique (which is different to conventional electric bass slap technique), this ’causes a sound vaguely similar to the biwa. The mimicry of the shakuhachi is more subtle, usually achieved through musical gestures on the strings.

There is a marking of a giant fermata with an arrow saying “KEEP QUIET” during a biwa solo in the second half of the piece; this really highlights Takemitsu’s philosophy on silence: all art is an expression of self against the silence; all sound comes from silence and returns to silence. The metaphor applies to everything living, and embodying this idea into music is very beautiful.

The thing I got out of this piece when I first studied it sans-score last year was the treatment of instrument sections within the orchestra, and indeed the shakuhachi and biwa, as sound “modules”, expressing themselves when it is strategically the right time to be expressed in ornamentation, support or dissonance with the other instruments. Sound as sound rather than “music”, using an orchestra to achieve this.

Incidentally, I believe there is some research going on at Monash concerning the relationship between the shakuhachi and the didjeridoo.

From Wikipedia:

“He expressed his unusual stance toward compositional theory early on, his lack of respect for the “trite rules of music, rules that are [...] stifled by formulas and calculations”; for Takemitsu it was of far greater importance that “sounds have the freedom to breathe. [...] Just as one cannot plan his life, neither can he plan music”.

If that is not worth paying attention to, I’m not sure what is.

Vin

Takemitsu’s “November Steps”

Hey guys,

Isn’t it kinda appropriate that I should review a piece with “November” in its title in semester two? Anyway, following my discussion with you Peter this week I have  decided to review this work.

And let me say that I am very glad that I did! “November Steps” is written for ochestra with shakuhachi (a Japanese end-blown flute) and Biwa (a Japanese plucked lute). this results in a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar sounds. Now, the reason why I was glad I listened to this was it helped me better understand how i listened to music. When I listen to music with a familiar instrumentation, I have a series of ideas in mind about what it should sound like. This means that if i listen to an orchestral piece, i often pay attention for the melody and harmony. if i listen to music with instruments that i am unfamiliar with, I don’t really have any set ideas about how it should sound. In fact, i listen for the sounds produced. This piece, with its mixture of familiar and unfamiliar, “opened my ears” to the possibilities of the orchestra, I think. Because i had to listen to instruments i had never heard before, I payed attention to colour rather than melody.

Now I thinks it’s time to talk about the piece, and not myself! I like how Takemitsu “spacialised” the music by separating the strings into two groups across the soundstage. I think this could be useful by demonstrating that their are two focal points of the music – especially as the strings are the most fundamental section of an orchestra – namely, these points are the two Japanese instruments. By placing the woodwinds and brass at the furthest end of the stage and having them engage in an almost background role Takemitsu appears to conjure a sense layering – and I enjoyed hearing sounds produce others. Layering also occurs between the strings, so that the music appears to gain a sort of “dimension.” And finally, i liked the contrast between the harps and the soloists – the Shakuhachi has a rather airy tone, whilst the biwa is quite percussive. The harps effectively were the “leaders” of the orchestral interludes, which seemed like a beautiful choice as there sound is somewhere between a  Shakuhacandhi and a biwa.

Toru Takemitsu- November Steps (1967)

I originally planned to study this for my very first listening study, but was put off by it so I instead did ‘Rain Tree Sketch.’ I figured I’d give this a second chance.

The conception for this piece was a transitional period for Takemitsu, as in the past he was reluctant to compose traditional Japanese instruments because he felt their sound “always recalled the bitter memories of war.” Throughout the early 60′s upwards however he began to incorporate such instruments into his pieces. The instruments used here include the shakuhachi (end blown flute), biwa (a short neck lute) and your typical Western orchestra.

The overall intention was to portray the contrasting differences between both traditional Japanese instruments and Western instruments. Tokemitsu’s arrangement seems to indicate that the shakuhachi be considered the dominant instrument, with the orchestra and biwa acting as an accompaniment, though the two groups often alternate, portraying the contrasting timbre qualities of the western orchestra and traditional Japanese instruments.

Listening to this, the difficulty of composing this piece becomes more prevealant and is what I most learned from. The frustration Takemitsu must’ve experienced in terms of combining these instruments together, which relates directly to when composers began to categorize the role of instruments in the Baroque period (or Renaissance) according to their sound colour. This fusion of cultures defies that and tries something unique, which is what I appreciate most about this piece.

Shannon