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This study examines the influence of Modern Art on the piano compositions of Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996) to demonstrate how he was inspired by visual art and integrated its ideas into his music. From his youth, Takemitsu was aware of the relationship between music and visual art, exploring different genres, especially Surrealist poetry and modern painting, as well as Japanese gardens, then harmonizing and incorporating these ideas within his music. In doing so, he established his own philosophy and musical structure, combining colorful sonorities with spatial effects of timelessness, which became cornerstones of his music. This document explores and identifies ideas from Modern Art - primarily visual works of Paul Klee, Odilon Redon, Kagaku Murakami, and other Surrealists - that Takemitsu adapted and wove into his compositions to create visual imagery, rich in color, within his music. The use of these ideas is discussed in an analysis of two of Takemitsu's most profound and mature solo piano works, Les Yeux Clos - In Memory of Shuzo Takiguchi (1979) and Les Yeux Clos II (1989), both inspired by Odilon Redon's series of paintings, entitled Les Yeux Clos (1890).Following Chapter I, the introduction, Chapter II discusses Takemitsu's early influences, film music, legacy, and contribution to society. Chapter III examines Takemitsu's encounter with Surrealism and the four artists– Shuzo Takiguchi, Paul Klee, Odilon Redon, and Kagaku Murakami - that influenced him the most by demonstrating the importance of breaking with convention and freely exploring one's inner world. Chapter IV identifies the principles and ideas of Modern Art and Surrealism that appealed to Takemitsu, and how he adapted them into his compositions. The ideas fall into four categories: philosophy, structure, color, and space. Chapter V presents original analyses of two solo piano works, Les Yeux Clos and Les Yeux Clos II, demonstrating how the principles and ideas of different art forms are integrated into Takemitsu's works. Concluding remarks in Chapter VI include a brief discussion of how an understanding of Takemitsu's complex artistic journey can deepen a performer's understanding and interpretation of Les Yeux Clos and Les Yeux Clos II.

Denna uppsats är en studie i hur en utövare kan förhålla sig till en kompositörs filosofiska och ideologiska ideal i tolkningen av dennes musik. Arbetet sker utifrån kompositören Toru Takemitsu som sedan 1960-talet har skrivit flera artiklar och uppsatser där han tar upp sin syn på allt ifrån natur och komponerande till japansk estetik. Jag går först igenom Takemitsus idéer och sedan applicerar jag dem på två av hans verk för sologitarr – Equinox och All in twilight – för att se hur Takemitsus musik förhåller sig till hans idéer. Då Takemitsus musik ofta är tekniskt svår för gitarr är det ibland svårt att följa den detaljerade notbilden, men jag går igenom ett par olika förslag på hur man kan förhålla sig till både Takemitsus filosofi och japansk estetik. Den tillhörande inspelningen är ett utdrag ur min examenskonsert från den 4 maj 2018 i Nathan Milsteinsalen. Jag spelar här sats två till fyra ur All in twilight och Equinox.

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.

Forgotten Lyres is a musical response to Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem Mutability, which depicts the fragility and unpredictable nature of human life. Four independent chamber ensembles make up the performing forces of Forgotten Lyres; the musicians evoke the topics of Shelley's text as they interact and coordinate with one another according to a variety of paradigms and without the use of a conductor. This essay focuses on the approaches to coordination within and between ensembles, and the ways in which the musicians' interactions can evoke and convey Shelley's texts. The essay also examines works by Mel Powell, Toru Takemitsu, Witold Lutoslawski, and Pierre Boulez as examples and precursors for the coordination strategies employed in Forgotten Lyres.

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.