‘Music and the Non-Human’ Concert 2

‘Music and the Non-Human’ Concert 2 is a concert revolving around the sounds of winter sky at night, the river of stars, and the spirits and shadows that move under water and through fields. The featured piece, which comprises the entire climax of the concert, is the simultaneous performance of John Cage’s ‘Winter Music’ for 2 pianos and his ‘Atlas Eclipticalis’ for violin and cello, together giving us an aural map of the sky in winter.
The first half is a solo recital by Kawai Takuji, invoking the Inari spirits with his own ‘I-nari Songs 2016’, and Takahashi Yuji’s evocation of the ineffable sound of shadows under water. Eva-Maria Houben’s ‘constellations – consolations’ (2021) leads us from the spirits of the earth towards the stars – through Houben’s more personal impression of the night sky, leading us toward the second half Cagean finale.

Programme:
John Cage: Winter Music (1957) and Atlas Eclipticalis (1961)
Takuji Kawai: ‘Another Story of Atago Field’ (from I-nari Songs 2016)
Yuji Takahashi: Moving Shadows Underwater (2014) #1
Eva-Maria Houben: constellations – consolations (2021)

Performers:
Takuji Kawai (piano): all pieces
Reina Nishioka (piano): Winter Music only
Maya Egashira (violin): Atlas Eclipticalis only
Kenta Uno (cello): Atlas Eclipticalis only

Series Concept:
This year’s concert series ‘Music and the Non-Human’ is part of a three-year research project that draws on Japanese philosophy and aesthetics rooted in premodern, non-Western ontologies to interpret the relationship between human and non-human sounds from a new perspective.
The composers explore their relationship with nature and spiritual elements, drawing inspiration from pre-modern philosophy and nō theatre works. Inspiration from nature, field recordings and contemporary music with traditional instruments intersect to define meaningful ways of creating, listening to, sharing (and discussing) music in unstable times.