UDC: 78.071.1 Такемицу Т.

COBISS.SR-ID 59639049 CIP - 6
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Received: Dec 25, 2021
Reviewed: Jan 05, 2022
Accepted: Jan 15, 2022

#7 Comparing Toru Takemitsu’s Musical Language to Messiaen and Debussy

Hai JinConservatory of Music, PianoDepartment, University of Cincinnati, USAhaihai0516@gmail.com

Citation: Jin, Hai. 2022. "Comparing Toru Takemitsu’s Musical Language to Messiaen and Debussy." Accelerando: Belgrade Journal of Music and Dance 7:7

Acknowledgement: This paper was a lecture-recital proposal submitted to The CCM Graduate Thesis and Research Committee in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTSin the Performance Studies Division of the College-Conservatory of Music PianoDepartment, University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Special thanks to Professor Christopher M. Segall, Ph. D., and the rest of Committee members.

Abstract

This paper examines how Toru Takemitsu’s musical language in his piano music shows influence from Messiaen and Debussy. Takemitsu has acknowledged that Messiaen and Debussy have both influenced his music, but the full extent of his influence has not been examined in detail. Through analysis of pitch, rhythm, and texture, the author will explore how Takemitsu finds Japanese elements in the French music of Messiaen and Debussy. The author will compare Takemitsu and Messiaen’s music, focusing on Takemitsu’s Rain Tree Sketches I & II, dedicated to Messiaen, Messiaen’s “Première Communion de la Vièrge” from Vingt regards sur L’Enfant-Jésus, and Debussy’s “Ondine,” from Preludes, Book 2. Further, the author will examine these three composers’ musical language for use of the octatonic collection, rhythmic patterns and ostinatos, and contrasting textural patterns, and formal structure, to explore how Takemitsu absorbed Messiaen’s and Debussy’s musical styles. In conclusion, the study not only observes similarities in musical language between Messiaen and Debussy, but also shows how Takemitsu draws on the language of these composers to create his own style.

Keywords:

musical language, analyses, Takemitsu, Debussy, Messiaen, musical style

Introduction

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore how Takemitsu uses elements of musical language from Messiaen and Debussy to inform his own music and aesthetics. As his piece Rain Tree Sketch II was dedicated to Messiaen, Takemitsu admires Messiaen. He is also an admirer of Debussy and French music more broadly (Isshiki 2001, 57).

Takemitsu first encountered Messiaen’s music in the latter’s Preludes for Piano, written in 1929. Takemitsu realized that this music was perfectly suited his concept of “ideal sound.” He struggled to write his first piece for piano, but after he heard Messiaen, he found his way out from the tunnel (Ibid., 57-58).

Takemitsu has also acknowledged an appreciation for Debussy’s orchestration style. In his essay, “Dream and Number,” he wrote:

Unlike the orchestration of German composers, that of Debussy has many musical focuses. Debussy’s music is unique in that, rather than emphasizing one principal theme, it displays multiple aspects of timbre. This may have something to do with French music, which shows special attention to color.” (Takemitsu 1995, 97)

He also said that he learned not only from its sonority, but also the concept of form and color, especially in Debussy’s Preludes, Book 2, which fit his sense completely (Ibid.)

From Takemitsu’s documented admiration of these composers, we can explore what features of Takemitsu’s pieces show influence from the earlier French composers. To explore influential musical language from Messiaen and Debussy, the author will examine three features in order to focus on the associations between three composers: the use of octatonic scales, ostinatos, and a texture created by using two contrasting patterns. These comparisons will show that Takemitsu did not follow Messiaen’s and Debussy’s musical language exactly; rather, he studied their musical concepts to create his own musical style. The author will show how he creates his own characteristics differently from Messiaen and Debussy.

Background

In 1950, Takemitsu worked on his first composition, Lento in Due Movimenti for piano solo. It took more than six months to finish this composition and he made revision after revision (Tachibana 1992, 225-226). Takemitsu tried to create a new pentatonic system derived from a Japanese pentatonic scale in this piece. While he was struggling with this composition, Takemitsu had another sensational encounter. His composer friend, Toshi Ichiyanagi, invited Takemitsu over to his house where there was a score of Preludes for Piano, written in 1929, by Oliver Messiaen. After studying the score, Takemitsu realized that this music was perfectly suited his concept of “ideal sound” (Ibid.). He admired:

the sensual sound and the abundance of colorful resonance. I thought this sound was what I was looking for. It matched my sense completely. When I was writing the first piano piece, it was going nowhere, but after I heard Messiaen, I found my way out from the tunnel. (Ibid.)

When Takemitsu first encountered Messiaen’s Preludes, he had been thinking a lot about sonority and timbre, and he was very impressed with the abundant tone color and distinctive harmonic vocabulary of Messiaen’s music. Takemitsu analyzed the characteristics of Messiaen’s music in an interview:

Messiaen uses tonality but he emphasizes the third of the chord, rather than the root. (...) Western tradition’s foundation is based on the root of the chord. (...) Tonality needs a stabilized structure. However, in Messiaen’s case, he uses tonality but he doesn’t value the root, so the structure becomes unstable. It is unstable, but the sound color becomes rich because the timbre is affected by the third of the chord. The sonority and the abundance of timbre are determined not by the root but by the spectrum of the overtone which is put on top of the root. Timpani is often used in German music in order to solidify the root. But Messiaen doesn’t use timpani. And I don’t use it either. (Ibid., 225)

Takemitsu was partly identifying his music with Messiaen’s non-Germanic musical characteristics.

Another important factor that Takemitsu identifies in Debussy’s and Messiaen’s music is a notion of time that is closer to the Japanese than to the German tradition. In Debussy’s music, Takemitsu felt that the sense of time came from another dimension, which was very different from the Western tradition. In Lento in due Movimenti, he wanted to destroy the conventional concept of time.

In an interview with Roger Reynolds, Takemitsu describes his concept of time in his music. He says:

What I do is to translate an extremely specific plan of a garden into music. The point is that there are many different ‘times’ in garden (...) the movement of vegetation, the ‘time’ of vegetation growing, the fast changes of elements like grass (...) there are rocks (...) and sand (...). I’m interested in this sort of traversing of multiple ‘times’, and as much as possible I want to understand the orchestra in this way. (Roger and Takemitsu 1996, 65)

When listening to the Rain Tree Sketch, there is a static quality when thinking about how time moves in the piece. Although many things happen, we are left feeling that not much has changed. It is like capturing a moment of observing different layers of time, without disrupting them as they fade in and out.

Conventionally, a multi-movement work includes a fast movement and a slow movement in order to make a contrast. But Takemitsu wanted to put two slow movements side by side and create a different type of contrast. He thought of making a richer expression by using soft sound and slow tempo rather than with big sound and fast tempo:

There is a limit to a big sound, but there is no limit to a soft sound. There is a limit to a fast tempo, but there is no limit to a slow tempo. (Ibid., 59)

In Debussy’s music, Takemitsu sensed many non-Western aspects which were closer to a Japanese sensibility. When Takemitsu was trying to invent his own language, it is possible that he was studying pentatonicism in Debussy’s and Messiaen’s music as well. According to Seiko Ito (2000) Takemitsu was awakened by the non-European, Japanese elements in the music of Debussy and Messiaen rather than by the French music itself. These non-Western elements, such as silence and nature, were not truly Japanese, but rather, a hybrid of the two contrasting cultures (Ibid., 43).

Literature Review

The existing resources of comparing Toru Takemitsu to Messiaen and Debussy are relatively few and many of them emphasize Takemitsu’s own musical language. A great deal of scholarly literature is available on Takemitsu, such as Noriko Ohtake’s introduction to Takemitsu’s aesthetics in his own words( 1993), Hwee Been Koh’s comprehensive studies of Takemitsu’s aesthetics and Eastern philosophy (1998), Fukuchi (1998) examines the pitch content and compositional techniques of Takemitsu’s recent solo piano works, and traces the evolution of his techniques in his solo piano works during his career. Fukuchi also discusses how Takemitsu projects his philosophy and aesthetics of musical composition through Western musical idioms (Ibid.).

Useful research can be found in studies centering on the relationship between Takemitsu and Messiaen. Taniguchi (2008) mentions that Takemitsu was mostly self-taught, being strongly influenced by Debussy and Messiaen. Unlike most composers, Takemitsu’s musical influence began with modern Western music and then gradually transitioned backwards to classical music, all the while becoming aware of his own Japanese musical tradition. She also mentioned the influences of Messiaen and Debussy. The same effect can be also seen in Timothy Koozin’s dissertation (1989). He applies set theory analysis to Takemitsu’s piano works and argues convincingly how Takemitsu constructs linear and vertical pitch structures from octatonic or whole-tone referential cells in the solo piano works before 1988.( Ibid.) His work has informed the author's understanding of Takemitsu’s use of the octatonic collection, but does not necessarily prove a connection with Messiaen or Debussy.

In the author’s research so far, the only document that has discussed her topic directly is Glen Charles Halls’ Compositional Applications of Sonority: Analysis and Discussion of Select Twentieth Century works (Halls 1995). Glen Charles Halls discusses innovations in the application of sonority of eleven twentieth-century composers including Takemitsu, Messiaen, and Debussy. Within this document, Halls suggests new possibilities for musical form and long-range processes. He uses chord and interval analysis to explore potential applications of sonority both as a perceptible process at the musical surface and in the articulation of musical structure (Ibid.). Although his research is related to the author’s manuscript, he did not directly compare Takemitsu with Debussy and Messiaen, but his studies will be essential for finding such connections.

The author’s thesis focuses on a new perspective of comparison that has never been directly covered in existing research. There are three features to focus on: scale (use of the octatonic collection), rhythmic patterns (use of ostinato), and the use of different textures in each hand (two contrasting aspects with two hands). It will be illustrated in the next section to show how to compare the similarities between three composers.

Analysys Methodology

The author will analyze Takemitsu’s Rain Tree Sketch through comparison with Messiaen’s and Debussy’s music.

Not only was Rain Tree Sketch II dedicated to Messiaen, but furthermore Takemitsu was influenced by Messiaen (Isshiki, 2001, 57). As a representative example, Messiaen’s Première Communion de la Vièrge from Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus has similar sonorities to the Rain Tree Sketches. They share several features in common, as demonstrated through analyzing and comparing the two pieces.

When compared to other composers who use the octatonic scale in their compositions, we can see that in the selected pieces, these three composers use the octatonic scale in a similar way. Taking advantage of the intevallic possibilities of the octatonic scale, all three composers favor dissonant intervals such as m2, M7, m9, etc. This leads to a mysterious overall atmosphere that adds to the timeless quality of the piece as a whole.

The author will compare Debussy’s Prelude No. 8, Ondine, to Takemitsu’s Rain Tree Sketch. On the surface, there is a connection in that both composers use the octatonic scale throughout the composition. However, the author in her lecture will argue that the connection is deeper. She has examined four ways to focus on the associations between three composers: use of octatonic scales, ostinatos, contrasting textural patterns.

Preliminary Findings

Example 1. The opening of Rain Tree Sketches, this musical example is octatonic collection of C, D, E flat, F, F sharp, G sharp, A

The octatonic scale is a very important element of Takemitsu’s musical language. In the Rain Tree Sketches, there are numerous octatonic pitch collections. In Rain Tree Sketch I, there are several octatonic figures (Example 1).

Mostly octatonic figures can be found in Rain Tree Sketch II (Example 2). In Messiaen’s Première Communion de la Vièrge (Example 3), frequent use of octatonic scales and even chromatic scales leads to sonorities similar with Takemitsu’s Rain Tree Sketches.

Example 2. Rain Tree Sketch II, the first measure is octatonic collection which is C sharp, D, E, F sharp, G, A, B flat.

Example 3. Messiaen’s "Premiere Communion De La Vierge" m.2, is built upon octatonic collection of C sharp, D, E, F, G, A flat, B flat, B.

Example 4. Debussy’s prelude book II, No. VIII. m.8 as octatonic collection.

Likewise, Debussy also uses the octatonic collection in his music, suggesting that Takemitsu also took this musical characteristic from Debussy’s music in addition to Messiaen. It is obvious that Debussy’s Prelude not only used octatonic scales, but also used whole tone scales and the Lydian scale (Example 4). Thus, Examples 1–4 are examples of octatonic collections in each of the four pieces.

As Messiaen used ostinato with three chords played by the left hand, three chords appear in the left hand throughout the whole of “Première Communion de la Vièrge.” It continues to repeat ostinato chords to create steady and heavy effect (Example 5). Takemitsu imitates Messiaen’s ostinato and two contrasting gestures. The opening of Rain Tree Sketch II features two rhythmic complexities: the combination of the groupings of sixteenth notes between the two hands, lower voice in the left hand, which are two groupings of sixteenth notes to create ostinato lines (Example 6). Thus, Examples 5 and 6 both have ostinato in the left hand. A similar thing happens in both composer’s music.

Example 5. The ostinato line in m.1 and m.2 of Messiaen’s Premiere Communion De La Vierge.

Example 6. The ostinato line in m.1 and m.2 of Rain Tree Sketch II by Takemitsu.

The third category is textures with two contrasting figures (see Example 7). In Messiaen’s piece, the left- hand plays three different chords, forming a heavy and strict line. Contrastingly, the right hand has a free moving gesture in sixty-fourth notes.

Example 7. The two contrasting lines in m.1 of "Premiere Communion De La Vierge" by Messiaen

Example 8. Takemitsu’s Rain Tree Sketch II

There are also two contrasting voices in Takemitsu’s Rain Tree Sketch II (Example 8). The left hand has two groupings of sixteenth notes, but the right hand plays a free and moving gesture, which is a totally different and contrasting gesture. The right hand has three groupings of sixteenth notes to create two contrasting layers

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Conclusion

The large-scale form of both Rain Tree Sketche is roughly ABA form. Messiaen’s Première Communion de la Vièrge is also a rough ABA form, but it can divide sections with dynamic markings. However, both forms do not have regular sections; it has ambiguous sections. Takemitsu’s choice of ABA form helps to convey his sense of time as well. The motives that appear at the beginning recur at the end of the piece, mostly unchanged, which helps create a timeless quality.

There are many aspects that prove that Takemitsu was influenced by Messiaen and Debussy, but Takemitsu still has his own writing and aesthetics.

Takemitsu’s “Japanese” sound is created by combining various musical elements from Western sources (Messiaen and Debussy) with Japanese aesthetics within an abstract music language. He reveals the “irrational” nature of free compositional decisions that characterize the music of Takemitsu. It is an “imaginative mixture of “Western” analytical tools and “Eastern” aesthetic speculations (Hosokawa 2003, 505-509).

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