Deutsche Grammophon Reissues Two Classic Tōru Takemitsu Pieces On Vinyl
‘Quatrain’ and ‘A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden’ were originally released as part of the label’s Avantgarde Series.
Deutsche Grammophon is reissuing their 1980 recordings of Tōru Takemitsu’s Quatrain and A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden on vinyl. Originally released as part of Deutsche’s Avantgarde Series, Takemitsu’s blend of Western modernism and Japanese tradition exemplifies a forward-thinking idea of classical music. Seiji Ozama directs the Boston Symphony Orchestra in these immortalized performances of Takemitsu’s work.
In Quatrain, scored for clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and orchestra, Takemitsu evokes the Japanese concept of ma—the space between things—through fluid shifts of timbre and atmosphere. He likened the work to an emaki, a picture scroll unfolding scene by scene, where each musical idea is independent yet interwoven.
A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden was inspired by a dream the composer had after seeing a photograph taken by fellow artistic innovator Man Ray. The piece’s “flock” motif, first heard in the oboe, descends into a shimmering harmonic field created by the strings—the “garden.” Here, Takemitsu’s sense of time and space becomes immersive and cyclical.
“My music is like a garden, and I am the gardener,” Takemitsu once said. “Listening to my music can be compared with walking through a garden and experiencing the changes in light, pattern and texture.”
The 180g vinyl pressing will be released in limited and numbered editions, featuring original artwork, a newly designed collector’s sleeve, and new liner notes by Bradford Bailey. The recordings have been mixed & cut from the original analogue 1 inch 8-track master tapes by Rainer Maillard and Sidney Claire Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios.
Nearly six decades ago, Deutsche Grammophon began the Avantgarde Series, which presented the most forward thinking and daring music of the time. The trailblazing series achieved cult status, and now, many of the titles will be returning to vinyl for the first time.
Buy Tōru Takemitsu’s Quatrain / A Flock Descends Into The Pentagonal Garden here.
