Has John Williams ever conducted music written by a Japanese composer?

[Jay 37,359]

Anyone know?

[Thor 7,504]

He conducted a recording of Toru Takemitsu's "Tree Line" on the FIVE SACRED TREES CD. Off the top of my head. I'll try to think of others.

[Jay 37,359]

Please do, thanks!

[Jilal 569]

He conducted Ryuichi Sakamoto's theme for The Last Emperor for a 1997 compilation.

 

https://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Emperor-Theme/dp/B006P8F4KM

[Jay 37,359]

Oh wow, that album has a pretty diverse set of music for Williams to conduct, neat!  I'll check it out!

 

Oh, its on Spotify!

 

https://open.spotify.com/album/4efOFjHRGxnKvq9n26fm55

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I'm curious, why the question?

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,359]

11 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

I'm curious, why the question?

 

Couple things; I've been listening to a lot of Japanese scores lately and loving them, and a recent discussion of JW conducting others' works got me thinking about what he's chosen to conduct over his years.  I figure anything he conducted for a concert or CD he studied the music for, and possibly was later influenced by, who knows

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I wonder what he studied for Memoirs Of A Geisha.

[Thor 7,504]

1 hour ago, Bartokus Novus said:

He conducted Ryuichi Sakamoto's theme for The Last Emperor for a 1997 compilation.

 

https://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Emperor-Theme/dp/B006P8F4KM

 

Yeah, I was thinking that he must have conducted LAST EMPEROR at some point during his Boston Pops stint, but the Hollywood Sound CD completely left my mind! 

 

I'm trying to think of all the Japanese connections here. The music in films like NONE BUT THE BRAVE, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, 1941, EMPIRE OF THE SUN. The collaboration with Stomu Yamashta on IMAGES. The piece he wrote for Sejii Ozawa, the album he did with Keisuke Wakao (who -- I assume -- are both Japanese-Americans rather than Japanese). Maybe the odd TV episode thing.

 

But conducting something by a Japanese composer?

 

I've scoured his Boston Pops albums, but found nothing (of course, he may have performed some in concerts).

 

There is a Toshiro Mayuzimi piece on the ASV album that includes Williams' tuba concerto, but the album is conducted by David Snell.

 

Hmm...beyond the two mentioned so far, this is tricky.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I know of no more instances than those listed here, but as far as influence, Jay, Takemitsu is a huge presence in Williams' music. 

[Jay 37,359]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

I've scoured his Boston Pops albums, but found nothing (of course, he may have performed some in concerts).

 

Yea, I actually wasn't expecting there to be much on CD, but figured there might be a few things from his live concerts over the years

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 minutes ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

Takemitsu is a huge presence in Williams' music. 

 

Ooooh, interesting!  Tell me more!

[Jilal 569]

It's more apparent in his concert works. Listen to Takemitsu's Viola Concerto (A String Around Autumn) here:

 

 

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Indeed.  Takemitsu brought the language of Debussy, Ravel, Milhaud, Koechlin, and even the already contemporary Messiaen and Dutilleux fully into the present day.  He, along with Schuller, was among the first to really exploit the potential that lush idiom had for a subtle melding with jazz stylings - as opposed to the more overt, delineated attempts at injecting jazz into concert music by some other composers like Stravinsky and Gershwin, and the aforementioned Ravel and Milhaud.  

 

As Schuller was the one to coin the whole "Third Stream" idea, it isn't surprising to find him as one of the first to really achieve it, but Takemitsu, in my opinion at least, was even more successful with it.  Alex North had taken it quite a distance as well, and he obviously was a presence for the young Williams, along with Mancini who also did this.  But Takemitsu's earthy, mystical, nature-infused aesthetic must have really seized on Johnny's sensibilities.  Look no further than the early flute concerto - that could easily be mistaken for a piece of Toru's.  

 

I know when Williams' "influences" are talked about, the favorite candidates are always Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Wagner... but I think those are mostly rather facile guesses.  Takemitsu is where it's at.

[Jay 37,359]

Wow, fascinating, guys!  Thanks for the info!  I will have to give his stuff a listen!

[Will 2,215]

4 hours ago, Bartokus Novus said:

It's more apparent in his concert works. Listen to Takemitsu's Viola Concerto (A String Around Autumn) here:

 

 

 

Wow, 10 seconds in, already sounds like Heartwood (at least to me!)

[karelm 2,913]

6 hours ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

I know of no more instances than those listed here, but as far as influence, Jay, Takemitsu is a huge presence in Williams' music. 

 

I think there is alot of Takemitsu in JW from the start.  Such as this:

 

 

Check out the Ran suite. 

 

EDIT: Ok, Ran was written in 1985 and CEOTK was 1978 but that Takemitsu sound within JW is more of what I meant.

[nightscape94 965]

I'm only passingly aware of Takemitsu through "Tree Line", which appears on the Williams-conducted bassoon concerto CD (as mentioned previously).  Interesting composer.  Not someone I can listen to frequently, but in the right doses he can work wonders.

[karelm 2,913]

I would also add that JW, Stravinsky, RVW, and Takemitsu were strongly influenced by the French.  Debussy's La Mer, Nocturne, and Ravel's masterpiece Daphnis et Chloe which cast a very long shadow that should not be diminished. So much of CEOTK is based on Ravel who also beautifully influenced Takemitsu too. For me, Daphnis et Chloe is one of the seminal 20th century works along with Rite of Spring. Everyone borrows something from those works.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Great composers don't borrow, they steal!