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Mari Takano Homepage/What do I compose now? What's new?
  1. New works
    I composed several new works in 2007... Here some informations about these works.

    LigAlien III
    On June 12, 2007, former students of Ligeti organized a Ligeti Memorial Concert in Hamburg. The third part of my LigAlien series, for violin and harp, was written for this concert and performed by Barbara Lueneburg (vl) and Gesine Dreyer (hp).

    Ancient Tales of Japan
    As a matter of fact, the true title is (in English) "Ancient Tales of Beautiful Japan". The title was not my idea (Mr. Abe, former prime minister, was very fond of "beautiful-country"-rethorics, you know) and my music just serves as background for a children's narrative about ancient Japanese tales. But we had a lot of fun recording the music (in an old Tokugawa style house in Tokyo), and if you ever have the chance to get a hand on a readable adults' version of old Japanese tales, you will find some really spicy issues.
    The CD with the narrative will be released in the beginning of 2008.

  2. CD Project

    A CD of my flute concert will in all probability be released by BIS in autumns 2008. See below.

  3. Concert information

    Ellen Ugelvik, a Norway pianist who commissioned my "Jungibility", will also give its first Japanese performance on February 18, 2008. The concert will take place in the Matsuo Hall, Hibiya (Hibiya Marine bldg.,1-5-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, phone 03-3539-1711). If you are interested, please contact me (maricatmusic@yahoo.co.jp).


Recording in Orebro

LigAlien IV, the last piece of my LigAlien series, is almost finished. As usual, I will make minor revisions in the next few months. But the piece found its way from the beginning to the end; when I start to write a new piece I find it difficult to tell where it wants to go. This difficult question has been answered, as far as LigAlien IV is concerned. What else in 2007?

In May I was in the charming little town Orebro in Sweden because my flute concerto was being recorded for BIS. We had all in all four days for rehearsal and recording - not exactly plenty of time, but due to the fantastic quality of the musicians, everything went very smoothly. It was fantastic.

The string orchestra-which consisted of members of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra Orebro- was one of these amazing Scandinavian orchestras. Incredibly professional, very enthusiastic and gifted with high musical intelligence, they had a keen sense of rhythm and swing as well as a very beautiful tone. Sharon Bezaly, the soloist, is one of the best flute players in the world. I feel very honored to write for her and work with her together. And the conductor, Anne Manson was on a par with Sharon. She understood my flute concerto so well that I hardly needed to explain anything. It goes without saying that she, as an American, does indeed know how to swing and how to convey her feel for rhythm to the orchestra.

On the last night of our recording sessions Sharon Bezaly invited Anne and I to dinner. As usually at such occasions: Everybody is tired, but there is less tension too, and then there are lots of interesting topics to talk about. For example, Sharon and Anne both have children, and for them, balancing their career and family is sometimes a very difficult task. I don't have any children to care for, although sometimes housework gets on me... can't help admiring them. Of course, we talked about politics and the environment, too. As it is inevitable to do so today.

After parting with Anne and Sharon, I went to a pub that had a television; Italy was playing against England in the UEFA Champion League Final. (It is customary for Japanese women to support the team with the best-looking players.) In the pub, about all Italian and English guys in Orebro at that time were there, and we watched the game standing with a beer in our hands (I wonder what they thought about that little Japanese woman among them)... For me, the time I spent in Sweden was quite relaxing. The chief sound engineer might have had a different impression. He had looked tired.

Because of the lack of recording time, the general manager of the orchestra got nervous about whether the recording could be finished, and on the last day he stayed with the engineer all day, even during the breaks. They didn't panic, however. One has to admit that men are better at staying composed in difficult situation than women.

So, you see, meanwhile I was still watching the soccer game. After the Italian team won, the English guys pulled a face and left the bar, while the Italian guys stayed and continued to drink, relaxed like male lions waiting for the return of the female lions that would bring them the chase of the day.


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©2006 Mari Takano
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