Tōru Takemitsu [武満 徹] Music for Films

Takemitsu’s contribution to film music was considerable; in under 40 years he composed music for over 100 films, some of which were written for purely financial reasons (such as those written for Noboru Nakamura). However, as the composer attained financial independence, he grew more selective, often reading whole scripts before agreeing to compose the music, and later surveying the action on set, “breathing the atmosphere” whilst conceiving his musical ideas. One notable consideration in Takemitsu’s composition for film was his careful use of silence (also important in many of his concert works), which often immediately intensifies the events on screen, and prevents any monotony through a continuous musical accompaniment. For the final battle scene of Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, Takemitsu provided an extended passage of intense elegiac quality that halts at the sound of a single gun shot, leaving the audience with the pure “sounds of battle: cries screams and neighing horses”.

Takemitsu attached the greatest importance to the director’s conception of the film; in an interview with Max Tessier, he explained that, “everything depends on the film itself [...] I try to concentrate as much as possible on the subject, so that I can express what the director feels himself. I try to extend his feelings with my music.”

[from wikipedia]

 

Takemitsu wrote the music for 93 Japanese films. He was closely associated with film-makers of the Japanese new wave, and provided the score for such Japanese classics as Teshigahara’s Woman in the Dunes and Kurosawa’s Ran. His film music was as important to him as his concert music, chiefly because of his obsession with the cinema. He was the ultimate film-buff, and boasted that he saw around 300 films a year, his tastes embracing Hollywood blockbusters, westerns, art movies and trash. When visiting a strange country, would often head straight for a cinema as his first port of call, whether or not he understood the language. He drew parallels between music and film, in their manipulation of time, perception and memory.

‘I learn a great deal about people through movies…even if I can’t understand what they are saying and don’t know anything about their culture. By watching them in the movies, I can get a sense of their feelings and their inner lives. I come to understand foreign people in ways that are different from talking to them…it’s a musical way of understanding’.

[+]

 

In the early 90s there was an edition of six cds [unsure if there was a vinyl version also], released and sold individually, featuring Toru Takemitsu’s film music. From what I can tell this series did not get wide distribution outside Japan and the small number of copies available is long now gone [after some careful googling there is a slight chance of tracking some last ones, three or four months ago seen a couple of them @ a European distribution site which name I cannot recall, but certainly not the entirety of the series]. In 2006, a box edition, featuring the cds mentioned above plus one with audio documents and interviews, was released and distributed only in Japan. To the best of my knowledge it is already out of print, thus presented in Merzbau.

CD 1

[artwork is faithful to the design of the original releases, bearing slight differences]

1.Kwaidan
2.Seppuku
3.Moeru Aki
4.Karamiai
5.Nihon No Seishun
6.Kaseki

part1

part2

CD 2

1.Kaseki No Mori
2.Chinmoku
3.Utsukushisa To Kanashimi To
4.Ansatsu
5.Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke
6.Hanaregoze Orin
7.Akanegumo

part1

part2

Documentary on Takemitsu’s soundtracks

found on youtube where it was uploaded by the musician Edward Lawes, keeper of Complement.Inversion.Etc blog.

part 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Extra: Do not miss a Xenakis interview also uploaded by Lawes on youtube [part 1 / 2 / 3]