Toshio Hosokawa: Awakening

Toshio Hosokawa

• Two Japanese Folk Songs

• Serenade

• Renka I

• Voyage IX 'Awakening'

• 12 Japanese Songs

Jacob Kellermann (guitar)

Ilse Eerens (soprano)

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra

conductor CHRISTIAN KARLSEN

This recording presents the entire output to date for guitar of Toshio Hosokawa, one of Japan’s most prolific composers for the instrument. His affinity for the guitar stems from his familiarity with popular songs accompanied by the guitar and from his knowledge of the koto, a traditional Japanese instrument from which he has adopted certain playing techniques.

Although the works gathered here call for a variety of forces – guitar solo, guitar and voice, guitar and instrumental ensemble – they all present a fundamental aspect of Toshio Hosokawa’s output: the music seems to be born like a calligraphic line ‘at the limit of time and space’. Here, the guitar is no longer just an instrument familiar to both classical and popular music; in Hosokawa’s works, it is a medium that transmits the primordial motion of the soul.

Kuula: Spotify