This study presents the three solo flute works of Toru Takemitsu and their common traits, in order to create a comprehensive understanding of the works individually, and as a subgroup of Takemitsu’s works. Each piece makes use of the Japanese concept of ma, or space, as a structural device, hollow-tone trills and multiphonics, and the layering of several nonmusical programmatic inspirations are featured in each work. Voice was inspired by the poetry of Shuzo Takiguchi and combines theatrical elements in the style of Japanese Noh theater. Itinerant: In Memory of Isamu Noguchi was Takemitsu’s dedication to his friend, the artist Isamu Noguchi. The two shared an interest in international identities, which Takemitsu sought to create using wind and shakuhachi flute as programmatic references. Finally, Air was written as a sketch for a flute concerto. It contains each of Takemitsu’s compositional traits in a more traditional Western framework. Takemitsu’s flute works imitate the shakuhachi and Noh flutes as Takemitsu’s attempt to bridge Japanese and Western musical elements. Each of these compositional elements appears throughout Takemitsu’s catalog, which this study discusses briefly, and are especially prevalent in his works for solo flute. / School of Music

Leung Tai-wai David. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-110). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgments --- p.iv / Table of Contents --- p.vi / List of Tables --- p.vii / List of Music Examples --- p.viii / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Methodology and Analytical Issues --- p.11 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- The Sea Motive --- p.26 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- The Sea of Tonality --- p.73 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- "Conclusion: Reframing the ""Sea""" --- p.100 / Selected Bibliography --- p.107

The purpose of this study is to examine the pitch content and compositional techniques of Takemitsu's recent solo piano works, which have not been analyzed by Koozin, and to trace the evolution of his techniques in his solo piano works during his career. It also discusses how Takemitsu projects his philosophy and aesthetics of musical composition through Western musical idioms.

Toru Takemitsu (1930--96) composed several musical works which adopt as their titles quotations from James Joyce' s final and most revolutionary novel, Finnegans Wake. In this thesis I focus on one of these compositions, Far Calls. Coming, Far! (1981) for solo violin and orchestra. I explain the ways in which Takemitsu and Joyce possess similar philosophies and aesthetics, and examine their mutual interest in the phenomena of dreams. The Wake explores one night of a family's unconscious sleep activity and is heavily influenced by Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams. I argue that Takemitsu composes Far Calls. Coming, Far! as a "dreamwork" modelled after Joyce's similar literary endeavour. Accordingly, I categorize the analogous dream structures between Takemitsu's music and Joyce's text. These are: The Dreamer, Language, Time and Water, which I discuss in turn.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the various signatures of compositional style as manifested in the keyboard percussion trios Rain Tree by Toru Takemitsu and Wind Trace by Toshi Ichiyanagi. Significant personal interaction between the aforementioned Japanese composers and American composer John Cage justifies an investigation of his influence on their compositional styles. Toru Takemitsu is currently one of the most prolific Japanese composers. In 1981, Takemitsu composed the percussion trio Rain Tree. Three years later (1984) the Japanese concert pianist Toshi Ichiyanagi composed Wind Trace using Rain Tree's identical instrumentation of marimba, vibraphone, and crotales. Rain Tree and Wind Trace are very similar in compositional style. Formally, both works are single-movement compositions employing rhythmic tension, harmonic dissonance, and visual imagery created by the use of polyrhythms, aleatory, nonfunctional harmony, and extra-musical references. This study investigates the Japanese philosophy of ma and its influence in Rain Tree and Wind Trace. Ma is the natural pause or interval between two or more phenomena occurring continuously. According to Takemitsu, ma is living space, more than actual space. Both compositions utilize space as an essential compositional technique to either connect compartmentalized activity or to complement melodic material. With the utmost respect for nature, Toru Takemitsu and Toshi Ichiyanagi have synthesized elements of Oriental and Occidental music into compositional styles that are unique yet universal. Functioning within both composer's strong personal aesthetics, the affective use of aleatoric and polyrhythmic structures reflect John Cage's influence. Takemitsu's decision to reevaluate the qualities of Japanese traditional music, and to consciously attempt to express the qualities of nature within his music, are attributable to his associations with John Cage. Rain Tree and Wind Trace are virtuosic vehicles of musical expression for which an understanding of the subtle elements within the Eastern and Western art forms is essential.

Toru Takemitsu's piano works reveal a new scope to the concept of sound in modern piano literature. He achieves originality through his imagination and his Japanese cultural and musical heritage. Subtle Japanese elements, which have been embedded for centuries in Japan's culture and music, lend a unique, but not outwardly Japanese, feeling to this work.