Toshiro Mayuzumi: Bacchanale (1954) / Mayuzumi & Tokyo City Philharmonic [Eng sub]

Toshiro Mayuzumi [黛敏郎] (1929~1997, Japan)

「饗宴」から第2部

"Bacchanale" - the 2nd part

Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra
Toshiro Mayuzumi, conducting
Broadcast: February 24, 1984, TV program "Ongaku no hiroba (Music Square)" (音楽の広場)

Toshiro Mayuzumi was born in 1929 in Yokohama, Japan. His father was a captain of a major shipping company and later became an executive. Although he did not have a particularly musical background, he enjoyed music at Yokohama-Icchu, where he spent his high school years, joining the school harmonica band and chorus club. He also started composing music around that time. In April of the year the war ended, he entered the composition department of the Tokyo Music School. At that time, he also played the piano in a jazz band as a part-time job. In 1951, he went to Paris to study, and after returning to Japan the following year, he released a number of high-profile works. His many works include "Nirvana Symphony," "Mandala Symphony," and the opera "Kinkakuji."
(From a message in the broadcast)

-The third conductor is Mr. Mayuzumi, so the piece is...

Mayuzumi: "The piece is called 'Bacchanale.' Bacchanale means 'banquet,' and I wrote it as a banquet 'of sounds.' I will be performing the last part of the two part. At the time, I was interested in avant-garde music and jazz, so I tried to use new compositional techniques in this piece."

-I see... so, please get ready.
Mr. Akutagawa, what about this piece?

Akutagawa: "Well, it's called 'Bacchanale,' and Mayuzumi is a kind of...how should I say it...extraordinary talent, that one. He's a kind of genius, yeah..."

-Mr. Dan...

Dan: "This piece in particular, it's very fresh. Like a young man's shout, modern, and brilliant. I still remember it."

-Then, please...
(From the same broadcast, hosted by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi)

"Bacchanale" was composed between the fall of 1953 and the beginning of the following year, and was presented by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the composer at the first concert of the "Sannin no Kai (Group of 3 composers)" on January 26, 1954. What I intended by this music is a banquet of sounds, and therefore the title "Bacchanale" has no literary or pictorial meaning. [...] The entire purpose of this work was to dynamically compose the sound energy emanating from a triple-wind orchestra with five saxophones in the most effective way. [...]

by Toshiro Mayuzumi from TOCE-9431 "Toshiro Mayuzumi: Mandala Symponie, Pieces for Prepared Piano and String Quartet & Bacchanale" booklet

"Sannin no Kai (Group of 3 composers)" ... A musical group formed in 1953 by Yasushi Akutagawa, Toshiro Mayuzumi, and Ikuma Dan. In contrast to post-war creative groups that, for a variety of reasons, mainly presented chamber music, the group formed by these three composers, who were in the journalistic limelight at the time, presented orchestral works with orchestras in spectacular fashion. In an interview, they said as follows
"We want to be free to develop our talents without belonging to any organization or being bound by anything, and we want to actively call out and connect with the world through our compositions instead of just publishing research. For this purpose, it is more powerful to have three people together than one, and it is more reasonable to do film music, opera, ballet and more in consultation with each other, criticize each other, and stimulate each other." (Ongaku Shinbun, No. 546)

At the first concert of their works in January 1954, they presented Dan's "Sinfonia Burlesca," Mayuzumi's "Bacchanale," and Akutagawa's "Sinfonia," and thereafter gave five concerts until 1962. Some of the most representative orchestral works of postwar Japan, such as Akutagawa's "Ellora Symphony," Mayuzumi's "Nirvana Symphony," and Dan's "Silk Road," were produced at the concerts of this group.

from "Extra Issue of Ongaku Geijutsu: Japanese Composition in the 20th Century" (Ongaku no Tomo Sha, 1999)


黛敏郎…1929年(昭和4年)横浜生まれ。父は大手船会社の船長で後に重役となった。とくに音楽的な生活環境ではなかったが、中学時代をすごした横浜一中は音楽が盛んで、学校のハーモニカバンドや合唱部に加わり、音楽を楽しんだ。またそのころから作曲を始めた。終戦の年の4月、東京音楽学校作曲科に入学。そのころアルバイトとしてジャズ・バンドでピアノをひいたこともある。昭和26年、パリに留学、翌年帰国してからは次々と話題の作品を発表した。「涅槃交響曲」、「曼荼羅交響曲」、オペラ「金閣寺」など数多くの作品がある。
（放送内のテロップより）

――それでは、お三人目の指揮は、黛さんですけれども、曲は…

黛「『饗宴』という曲でしてね、饗宴っていうのは『うたげ』っていうことですが、『音の』うたげのつもりで書いた曲の、二部あるうちの最後の部分を演ります。これはまあ、当時わたくしはね、まあ割と前衛的なことに興味持ってたりジャズなんかもやってたんで、そういう新しい作曲法というのを採り入れた、つもりの作品です。」

――そうですか…それではご用意をお願いいたしまして…
芥川さん、この曲は…

芥川「ええ、『饗宴』っていうんですけどね、まあ黛君は一種の…何と言いますか…並の才能じゃないですよ、あのひとは。一種の天才でしょう、ええ…」

――團さん…

團「殊にこの曲はなんかね、もう非常にフレッシュでね。青年のね、雄叫びがあるようなね、モダンなね、輝かしいもんでしたね。いまでも覚えてますよ。」

――ではお願いいたしましょう…
（同放送内の談話（司会：黒柳徹子）より）

饗宴…1953年の秋から翌年初めにかけて作曲され、1954年1月26日、“3人の会”第1回交響作品演奏会において、作曲者指揮の東京交響楽団により発表された。私が、この音楽によって意図したことは、音響の饗宴であり、従って「饗宴」というタイトルは何らの文学的ないし絵画的意味を持たない。[...]5個のサクソフォーンを加えた3管編成のオーケストラから発せられる音響のエネルギーを、最も効果的な方法で、ダイナミックに構成することが、この作品の目的のすべてであった。[...]
（黛敏郎、TOCE-9431『黛敏郎 曼荼羅交響曲、プリペアド・ピアノと弦楽のための小品、饗宴』解説書より）