Chapter 25, Electronic Music from Japan, China, and The Asia-Pacific. Works Recommended from my book, Electronic and Experimental Music
Welcome to the Archive of Electronic Music. This is Thom Holmes.
This podcast is produced as a companion to my book, Electronic and Experimental Music, published by Routledge. Each of these episodes corresponds to a chapter in the text and an associated list of recommended works, also called Listen in the text. They provide listening examples of vintage electronic works featured in the text.
The works themselves can be enjoyed without the book and I hope that they stand as a chronological survey of important works in the history of electronic music. Be sure to tune-in to other episodes of the podcast where we explore a wide range of electronic music in many styles and genres, all drawn from my archive of vintage recordings.
There is a complete playlist for this episode on the website for the podcast.
Let’s get started with the listening guide to Chapter 25, Electronic Music in Japan and The Asia-Pacific from my book Electronic and Experimental music.
Playlist: ELECTRONIC MUSIC IN JAPAN AND THE ASIA-PACIFIC
Introduction –Thom Holmes
1. Toshiro Mayuzumi, “Les Œuvres Pour La Musique Concrète X, Y, Z” (1953). Early work of tape music.
2. Toru Takemitsu, “Vocalism Ai (Love)” (1956). For magnetic tape (condensed from a 72-hour tape montage.
3. Makoto Moroi and Toshiro Mayuzumi, “Shichi No Variation (7 Variations)” (1956). Tape music for sine wave generators.
4. Toru Takemitsu, “Sky, Horse And Death (Concrete-Music)” (1958). For magnetic tape.
5. Group Ongaku, “Object” (1960). Recorded on May 8, 1960, at Mizuno’s house. Performers were Chieko Shiomi, Mikio Tojima, Shukou Mizuno, Takehisa Kosugi, Yasunao Tone, and Yumiko Tanno.
6. Toru Takemitsu, “Water Music” (1960). For magnetic tape.
7. Michiko Toyama, “Aoi No Ue (Princess Hollyhock) (Music Drama for Tape and Narration).” For magnetic tape and reader.
8. Group Ongaku, “Metaplasm Part 2” (1961). Live performance, 1961, at Sogetsu Kaikan Hall, Tokyo. Tadashi Mori (conductor),
9. Akira Miyoshi (composer), opening excerpt to Ondine (1961). For orchestra, mixed chorus and electronic sounds.
10. Joji Yuasa – “Aoi No Ue” (1961). For voice and tape and based on The Tale of Genji written by Murasaki Shikibu in 11th century. Tape parts realized at NHK Electronic music studio.
11. Kuniharu Akiyama, “Noh-Miso” (track 1) (1962). Tape music. Hitomi-Za is an experimental puppet theatre group. They had performed in February 13-17 in 1962 at Sogetsu Kaikan Hall. This program was consisted of three parts, and Joji Yuasa, Kuniharu Akiyama and Naozumi Yamamoto composed background sound for each part.
12. Toshi Ichiyanagi, “Parallel Music” (1962). Tape music recorded at NHK Electric Music Studio, Tokyo Japan.
13. Kuniharu Akiyam, “Demonstration of Nissei Theater” (excerpt) (1963). “Demonstration of Nissei Theater” composed in 1963 for a public demonstration of the stage machinery of the newly opened Nissei Theatre in Tokyo.
14. Toshi Ichiyanagi, “Sound Materials for Tinguely” (1963). “Music For Tinguely” was composed at the studio of Sogetsu Art Center. This rare track comprises sound materials used for that composition.
15. Joji Yusa, Tracks 1-4 (1963). Incidental music for NHK Radio, based on Andre Breton's "Nadja". "The actual chart of constellations was played by three players (violin, piano, vibraphone) which was supposed as the music score. And birds' voices, electronic sound, sound generated from inside piano, through music concrete technique and constructed at the NHK Electronic Music Studio."
16. Maki Ishii, “Hamon-Ripples (For Chamber Ensemble, Violin And Taped Music)” (1965). Tape piece for violin and chamber orchestra.
17. Joji Yuasa, “Icon on the Source Of White Noise” (1967). Tape work using white noise as material and designed for a multi-channel system. In the original version, several sound images of various widths (e.g. three loudspeakers playing simultaneously) moved at different speeds around the audience, who were positioned inside the pentagonal loudspeaker arrangement.
18. Makoto Moroi, “Shosanke” (1968). Tape work fusing electronic sounds with those of traditional Japanese instruments.
19. Minao Shibata, “Improvisation for Electronic Sounds” (1968). Tape piece for electronic sounds.
20. Toshi Ichiyanagi, “Love Blinded Ballad (Enka 1969)” from the Opera "From The Works Of Tadanori Yokoo" (1969). Tape collage.
21. Toshi Ichiyanagi, Music for Living Space (1969, Bijutsu Shuppan-Sha), composed for the Electric Faculty of Engineering of Kyoto University. Early Computer Music combined with Gregorian chant for Osaka Expo '70.
22. Toshiro Mayuzumi, “Mandara” (1969). Tape piece for electronic sound and voices.
23. Takehisa Kosugi, “Catch-Wave” (Mano Dharma '74)” (1974). “Mano-Dharma '74” is an excerpt from a meta-media solo improvisation performed by Takehisa Kosugi. From his notes: “Sounds speeding on lights, light speeding on sounds music between riddles & solutions. ‘the deaf listen to sounds touching, watching.”
24. Yoshi Wada – Earth Horns with Electronic Drone, excerpt, (1974). Electronics by Liz Phillips. Pipehorn players Barbara Stewart, Garrett List, Jim Burton, Yoshi Wada. Composed by, recorded by Yoshi Wada. Recorded at Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, Sunday 2-5pm, February 24, 1974.
25. Matsuo Ohno, Takehisa Kosugi, “B.G.M. Parts A-F” (1963). Music and effects later used for Astroboy.
26. Joji Yuasa, “My Blue Sky (No. 1)” (1975). Tape parts realized at NHK Electronic music studio.
Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes.
My Books/eBooks: Electronic and Experimental Music, sixth edition, Routledge 2020. Also, Sound Art: Concepts and Practices, first edition, Routledge 2022.
See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation.
For a transcript, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.
Original music by Thom Holmes can be found on iTunes and Bandcamp.
