Work of the Week - Toru Takemitsu: From me flows what you call Time
From me flows what you call Time was commissioned by Carnegie Hall in celebration of its 100th anniversary. As Toru Takemitsu explains, 'this work is not an ordinary concerto', it isn’t written to show off the virtuosity of the soloists. Nor is it music with 'the superficial intensity and liveliness of the usual percussion concerto. The ruling emotion of the work is one of prayer'.
"5" is the key number determining important aspects of the work: 5 soloists, 5 tones composing the principal motif of the work within a perfect 5th, 5 ribbons extended from the stage to the wind chime set, and 5 handkerchiefs showing from the shirt pockets of the soloists in 5 colours — white, blue, red, yellow and green, thus referencing the Tibetan 5 colouredflag used as an amulet for prayer, ”Rlung-rta“ (Wind Horse).
The title is taken from a line of a poem by Makoto Ooka, a Japanese poet and friend of the composer. Takemitsu describe how he 'suddenly imagined 100 years of time flowing through this man made space, so full of special meaning, called Carnegie Hall. It was as if I could hear the Hall murmuring from the numberless cracks between the layers of those years, From me flows what you call Time.'
Under the baton of Yutaka Sado, the Berlin Philharmonic will perform From me flows what you call Time on 20, 21 and 22 May. There will also be a performance in Dresden on 22 May with Jun Märkl conducting the MDR Symphony Orchestra. Two more concerts in Berlin will feature Takemitsu's work on 25 and 27 June when the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Youth Orchestra presents the piece at Jacobi Church and Emperor Wilhelm Memorial Church.
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