Subscription Concert A Series

Subscription Concert No.959 A Series
≪Sadao Bekku 100 – Three Concertos≫

This concert is over. Date: Fri. 30. September 2022 19:00 (18:00)

Venue: Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Venue Info Seat

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Artists

Tatsuya SHIMONO, Conductor
Shion MINAMI, Violin
Timothy RIDOUT, Viola
Yuya OKAMOTO, Violoncello

Profile

Tatsuya SHIMONO (Conductor)

Permanent Conductor of NHK Symphony Orchestra since October 2023, Principal Guest Conductor of Sapporo Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra since April 2024.
Born in Kagoshima in 1969, Tatsuya Shimono cemented his international reputation as a conductor by winning the First Prize and the Hideo Saito Award at Tokyo International Music Competition for conducting in 2000 and the First Prize at the 47th Besançon International Competition in 2001. Since then he has guest conducted major orchestras such as Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Czech Philharmonic, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra(OBC),Sinfonia Varsovia, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra among others.
Shimono served as Resident Conductor and then Principal Guest Conductor of Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (2006-2017) ,guest conductor and then Principal Guest Conductor of Kyoto Symphony Orchestra (2014-2020),general music director of Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra (2017-2024)
He is also holding the title of Music Director of Hiroshima Wind Orchestra since 2011.
In addition to his activity with orchestra he also regularly conducts Opera at New National Theatre Tokyo,Nissay Theatre and Nikikai Opera among others.
photo ©Nanako Ito

Shion MINAMI (Violin)

With her second prize of Long-ThibaudInternational Competition, Shion Minami attracted a great deal of international attention in 2005. She was awarded the Second Prize of the Joseph Joachim Hannover International Violin Competition in 2015. She played with French National Orchestra at the Gala Concert in 2006, Lille National Orchestra in 2007, San Carlo Theatre Orchestra, La Scala Chamber Orchestra and many other Japanese orchestras. She joined the Japan tour of Bilbao Symphony Orchestra conducted by Juanjo Mena in July 2009.
The Beethoven Violin Sonata complete Concert in 2020 was highly evaluated. Released her first recording in 2008 from UNIVERSAL MUSIC, since then she has released 3 CDs.She based her activities in Hannover, she has performed in Japan and in many european countries actively.
Winner of the Fukuoka Prefecture culture Awards in 2006, and the 11th Hotel Okura Award in 2010. In 2011 she was awarded the Music Prize by the Idemitsu. She was also awarded Kita-Kyusyu Prefecture Culture Prize of the Year in 2017.

Photo: ©Kei Uesugi

Timothy RIDOUT (Viola)

Born in London in 1995, Timothy Ridout studied at the Royal Academy of Music graduating with the Queen’s Commendation for Excellence. He completed his Masters at the Kronberg Academy with Nobuko Imai. In 2016 Ridout won 1st Prize in the Lionel Tertis Competition and was selected by Young Classical Artists Trust. He has worked with conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, David Zinman, Gabor Takács-Nagy, Sylvain Cambreling and Sir Andras Schiff, and orchestras such as BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. He frequently appears at the Wigmore Hall and throughout the UK, Europe and Japan. His Festivals invitations encompass BBC Proms, Lockenhaus, Heimbach, Bergen, Evian, Boswil Sommer, Heidelberger-Frühling, Montpellier, Aspen, the Enescu Festival; whilst his chamber music collaborators include Joshua Bell, Isabelle Faust, Janine Jansen, Christian Tetzlaff, Nicolas Altstaedt, Steven Isserlis, Kian Soltani, Benjamin Grosvenor, Lars Vogt and Christian Gerhaher, among many others.

Photo: ©Kaupo Kikkas

Yuya OKAMOTO (Violoncello)

HE WON SECOND PRIZE
and Eugène Ysaÿe Prize - ELGIAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PRIZE,awarded by the Belgian Science Policy
QUEEN ELISABETH INTERNATIONAL MUSIC COMPETITION of BELGIUM 2017
Born in Tokyo 1994. Yuya Okamoto received his first cello lessons at the age of six. In 2008 he won the Prize “Diploma of Merit” at the Gasper Cassado International Cello Competition in Hachioji (Tokyo). In 2011 he won first prize, Masuzawa-, Kuroyanagi-, Tokunaga-, Iwatani- (Audience-) prizes at the 80th Japan Music Competition.
He participated in Saito Kinen Chamber Music Study Group and Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-Juku. From 2010 to 2013 he attended the Music High school attached to the Faculty of Music, Tokyo University of the Arts and studied under Prof. Nobuko Yamazaki. Since 2013 he studied at Hochschule für Musik und Theater München under Prof. Wen-Sinn Yang and since 2017 he has been studying at Graduiertenschule(Graduate School) under Prof. Julian Steckel, Ana Chumachenco and Hariolf Schlichtig. Also he took part in masterclasses and lessons of Prof. Wolfgang Boettcher, Prof. Miklos Perenyi, Prof. Gustav Rivinius, Prof. Natalia Gutman, Prof. Jens-Peter Maintz, Prof. Antonio Meneses, and Prof. Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi.
As a soloist, he has performed with the following orchestras:
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble of Tokyo, Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Wallonie Royal Chamber Orchestra and Bad Reichenhaller Philharmonie ,etc.
In the chamber music field, he has performed with pianists Michie Koyama and Kazune Shimizu, violinists Vadim Repin, and Arabella Miho Steinbacher, etc. It is special mention that Brahms' Piano Quartets with pianist Krystian Zimerman co-starred in Italy and Japan in the fall of 2019, Monaco and Switzerland in June 2021 with great success in each country.
He received the 25th Shin-nittetsu Sumikin Music Prize in 2015, 16th Hideo Saito Memorial Fund Award in 2017, 28th Idemitsu Music Award in 2018 and 20th Hotel Okura Music Award in 2019.
He is Ezoe Memorial Foundation 42nd scholarships and Rohm Music Foundation Scholarships year 2013/2014 and 2014/2015.

Photo by Shigeto Imura

Program

Sadao Bekku: Cello Concerto "Autumn"(1997/2001)

Program Notes
Sadao Bekku: Viola Concerto (1971)

Program Notes
Sadao Bekku: Violin Concerto (1969)

Program Notes

Three Concertos for the 100th birth-anniversary of Sadao Bekku　
Takayuki Komuro
(translated by Tadashi Mikajiri)

　Even after ten years since Sadao Bekku (1922-2012) passed away, there remains a persistent question where to position him in the critical assessment. Depending on the different viewpoints of the critics, his assessment can vary from ‘a Classicist’ to ‘the last Romanticistʼ, ‘an anachronistic nostalgistʼ, or ‘a forerunner of post-modernismʼ.

　School days

　In 1943, Bekku enrolled in Tokyo Imperial University (currently The University of Tokyo), The Facul-ty of Science, physics major. Feeling unable, however, to give up western music with which he had av-idly familiarized himself, he privately started to study in the same year with the famed composer Tomojiro Ikenouchi (1906-91), who was yet to be the professor of Tokyo School of Music (currently Tokyo University of the Arts, The Faculty of Music). Bekku started to learn harmony and counterpoint in the style of the French school, and after the 2nd World War, entered The Music Competition (cur-rently The Music Competition of Japan), where he won the second prize in 1946 with “Two Chapters for Orchestra” and the first prize in 1948 with the song sequence “Light-coloured Pictures for voice and piano” in a style which he admits as being close to Schumannʼs. Although written in a youthful fash-ion, the latter has been, and still is, performed more frequently than most of Bekkuʼs works. He thus confessed that he was embarrassed and was wondering whether to express pleasure or bitterness.
　After graduating from physics major, Bekku enrolled in The Faculty of Letters, philosophy major, of the same university in 1947. Around this time, he started approaching Classicism. The famous critic, Hidekazu Yoshida (1913-2012) and the composer Ro Ogura (1916-90), both of whom were a little sen-ior to Bekku, devoted themselves to this Classicism in those days, and he titled his dissertation for the bachaelorʼs degree “What is romantic in Beethovenʼs style”. There he tried to clarify, by means of mu-sic analysis, that romantic harmony in Wagner was already present in Beethovenʼs works. This excer-cise convinced him that ideal music is the one where ‘structural formʼ of classicism and ‘lyric contentsʼ of romanticism combine to bring synergetic effect and impress the listeners, and this conviction stayed with him until the end of his life.

　Le Conservatoire de Paris

　In 1951, Bekku entered Le Conservatoire de Paris, together with Akio Yashiro (1929-76) and Toshiro Mayuzumi (1929-97), both of whom had also studied with Ikenouchi. There he studied composition with Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) and music analysis with Olivier Messiaen (1908-92). He kept con-tacts with those masters throughout their lives; Mihaud wrote to him just two months before his death in 1974 “Write a lot of good melodies”; when Bekku consulted Messiaen of his embarrassment in facing avant-garde music, Messiaen told him “You should write down what you love and what you feel, re-gardless of varying tastes of the time”, the words which represent Bekkuʼs own faith in creation.

　Symphonies and Concertos

　Bekku returned to Japan in September 1954. “Deux prières” for orchestra (1955-56), which he regard-ed as a milestone putting an end to his period of apprenticeship, is actually a combination of a prelude and a fugue, reflecting how he went well with academic community, and has become the most famous work from his youth. On the other side, Bekku decided to face the long-held dream of writing a large scale work in the four-movement style, typical of Beethoven. The completed First Symphony (1961) was constructed in the ‘structural formʼ, but its sounds are mixture of various elements: we hear the echoes of such composers as Roussel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Honegger, all of whom charmed him while he was in Paris.
　After spending large amount of his time between 1961 and 1968 on operas, including “Arima-no Miko (Prince Arima)” based on a play with the same title by Tsuneari Fukuda (1912-94), Bekku came back to large scale instrumental music with his Violin Concerto (1969). Having tried an approach to Bartok-like atonality in the third movement of his Sonata for Violin and Piano, completed in 1967, he made a further effort to step out of tonality in his own fashion. Bekku himself defines this to be the most atonal among his works. Objectively speaking, however, he avoided settling on major or minor chords in the concerto and explored the narrow path between the tonality and atonality with the highly sophisticat-ed technique in harmony and counterpoint.
　Two years later in 1971, Viola Concerto appeared. Bekku said he “tried to make it unlike the Violin Concerto since it came about after a short interval, and it became quite different”, but looking back calmly from today, they are brothers with individual characters. Instrumental sounds with such high tension reach their peak in the Second Symphony (1975/78/2004). Bekku tried to further develop the sound of the Violin Concerto − especially the mystic and unstable sound at the beginning of its first movement − which his fellow composers highly acclaimed.
　Although Bekku himself was far from being satisfied with the symphony, Messiaen sent him comments of praise when he received the score and the recording. The gap between his own evaluation and such high esteem by fellow composers of the time must have distressed the creator in Sadao Bekku. In the following Piano Concerto (1979-81), he made a grave decision: he dared to ignore the words of fellow composers and turned to extremely romantic sound. It became “my most popular work among the non-professional listeners”, he said.
　In February 1980 when he was composing the Piano Concerto, Bekku was a judge in a competition of young composers. There he found Takashi Yoshimatsu (1953-) who was to become the standard-bearer of anti-modern music, and recommended him to revise his “Threnody to Toki” written then for a smaller ensemble. Bekku himself may have sensed the shift of tide then. He said he added the title “Spring” to his next large scale work, the Third Symphony, because musical idea came to him while ski-ing in the spring time, but we cannot help thinking he was declaring the end of tonalityʼs winter.
　Nevertheless, we cannot simply call Bekku an anachronistic nostalgist. In the late 1980s, he wrote his Fourth Symphony “Summer 1945” (1986-89), where he once again faced up to atonal dissonances, and made them admirably co-exist with tonality and scales, without giving an impression of chaos like the First Symphony. Bekku himself regarded it as his masterpiece.
　In the natural order of things, the subtitle “Autumn” should have been given to his Fifth Symphony (completed in 1999, and revised in 2001 and given the subtitle of “Human Beings”), but in April 1994, his wife, 4 years elder than him, had a stroke and was paralyzed on the right side of the body, and he was to take constant care of her. After she was settled in a nursing home and gave him some freedom, he wrote Cello Concerto as if to escape from anxiety, and the subtitle “Autumn” was given to this con-certo. On hearing its opening, one might think it is just a return to romanticism, but it is like a self-portrait of Bekku who was distressed by the fear of losing his loved one. His wife Akiko passed away in March 1998, before its premiere.

Sadao Bekku: Cello Concerto "Autumn"(1997/2001)

　The work consists of two movements, with a cadenza in-between in the place of a slow movement. This structure is the same as the Violin Concerto, but the sounds are quite different.
　First Movement (Allegro moderato) is in the sonata form with unique ideas. From the beginning, a rhythmic theme is repeated by the wind instruments, and the cello solo starts singing the listless first theme (C・G／C・E♭ − D). When the soloistʼs masterful passage with double stop technique subsides, the second theme comes in. English hornʼs gentle melody stands out at first, but its later reprise is se-cretly played by lower brass, and the theme (A♭ − ／G − C／F − ／E♭ − ) is played again by the flute, hidden in the background of cello solo.
　A codetta (small ending) there leads to tremolo of strings which marks the beginning of the develop-ment section. The rhythmic theme and the first theme intertwine with each other, creating tension. While the solo cello displays technical passages, violins suddenly jump in with transparent melody which reveals itself to be a recapitulation of the second theme! (The recapitulation is inserted in the development section.) After the development section gradually regains its tension, there comes anoth-er codetta, which now leads to the recapitulation of the first theme.
　The Cadenza catches on the end of the first movement, and displays unaccompanied solo passage de-rived from the first and the second themes that had already been introduced.
　Second Movement (Allegro giocoso con grazia) starts as the orchestra comes back. It is in a rondo-sonata form with more unique ideas, but listeners can enjoy it as a generous three-part form. The theme of the main section which the solo cello presents is taken from the codetta of the first move-ment, although it isnʼt easy to identify it only by the ear. This theme is entangled by neighbor tones tak-en from the cadenzaʼs ending, and by motives repeating the same rhythm (the rhythm is equivalent to the insert section of the rondo form). In the middle section, oboe plays a graceful melody, and then the main section comes back. This is not a simple recapitulation but functions also as the development sec-tion, where various materials are worked on. Towards the end of all, elements of the first movement are quickly revisited to make you feel the late autumn of life around yourself.
　Takayuki Komuro

Composed in 1997, and revised in 2001.
Premiere: July 3, 1998 at Nakano ZERO Hall
Cello solo: Ko Iwasaki
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kazuyoshi Akiyama
Premiere of the revised version: March 7, 2001 at Suntory Hall
Cello solo: Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi
Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hiroshi Wakasugi
　

Sadao Bekku: Viola Concerto (1971)

　On the surface, this work looks like a traditional fast-slow-fast three-movement concerto, and its mel-ody and rhythm show influences from Bartok, but it has unique structure in it and is considerably complicated.
　First Movement (Adagio - Allegro moderato) is in a generous sonata form, with the following musical sequence. The usage of 〔Inserted phrase］ is unique.
　〔Introduction: (1)Orchestra → (2)Viola solo〕
　〔Exposition: First theme → Inserted phrase (Variation of second material (2) from the Introduction) → Second theme〕
　〔Development: Introduction → First theme〕
　〔Recapitulation: First theme → Inserted passage → Second theme〕
　〔Coda〕
　Introduction displays fragments of various musical materials, which are to appear later. When the solo viola and flute alternately play the melody (A・B♭／D・C♯), it is the beginning of the first theme. Rep-etition of 5-beat rhythm by violas tells us the start of the inserted phrase, which was derived from the solo viola in the introduction section. It is oboe that presents the second theme to the rocking strings. Celesta resonates in the background, whose melody derives from the first theme. When this second theme is worked on and reaches its peak, the movement goes into the development section. First, the fluteʼs melody at the beginning of the introduction, followed by a melody originating from the solo vio-la in the introduction, and then the first theme: all are developed and gradually lead to the recapitula-tion section. After the reprise of the second theme, the coda revisits various materials as highlights.
　Second Movement (Adagio affetuoso) is written in three-part format. The theme of the main body of this chapter is presented in a chorale-like harmony, presented chiefly by the brass. The solo viola de-velops a melody deriving from the first movement. Broken chords of celesta and vibraphone tell the beginning of the middle section. Over the chords, the oboe plays a variation of the second theme of the first movement. The main body of this movement is recapitulated afterwards.
　Third Movement (Andante - Allegro moderato) is also based on sonata form, but the inserted elements are more numerous than in the first movement, and it is almost a fantasy or a capriccio. The cores of this movement are the first theme presented by tuba 〔G・A♭ − G − ／D・F〕, which is a vertical re-versal of 〔F・E・F・A♭・F〕 played by the solo viola in the introduction of the first movement, and the second theme presented later by clarinet (alternating between 6/8 and 3/4), but a number of mate-rials from the first movement reappear and are added to the sound, obscuring the formal structure. When rhythms subside, the middle section which is also the development section starts, but it is re-visited by the second theme of the first movement. The cadenza of solo viola plunges into the recapitu-lation as well as the coda that quickly culminates into the climactic finale.
　Takayuki Komuro

Composed in 1971.
Broadcast Premiere: October 28, 1971 on NHK FM.
Viola solo: Nobuko Imai
NHK Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hiroshi Wakasugi
Stage Premiere: March 3, 1972 at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan
Viola solo: Nobuko Imai
NHK Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tadashi Mori
　

Sadao Bekku: Violin Concerto (1969)

　As stated above, the concerto has the two-movement structure, with cadenza in the place of slow movement. It is unusual but is simpler than the viola concerto.
　First Movement (Moderato) is in sonata form, with the latter portion of the exposition being long. The fragmental theme, which the solo violin presents from the beginning, is worked on and develops grad-ually. The core of the first theme consists of initial four notes （B − A♯／A♯・G） played by the solo violin. After a transitional passage with impressive chords of flute and celesta, oboe introduces the sec-ond theme in somewhat Japanese mood, and the solo violin takes it over. The music changes to triple time, the tempo quickens, and variation of the first theme starts. This sounds like the beginning of the development section, but it is still in the exposition and Bekku takes ample time to culminate it until it reaches a climax in D-minor. When the tempo calms down and unstable sound comes back, the true development section begins, but it is short and soon passes through another transition into the clear recapitulation with the second theme. The first theme is compactly reprised in the coda.
　As if to make up for the short development section, the theme is thoroughly developed in The Cadenza played in the place of a slow movement.
　The orchestra comes back to start Second Movement (Andante - Allegro ma non troppo), which shows clearer influence of Bartok than the viola concerto. After the initial connecting section, flute ticks the rhythm in a quicker tempo and leads to the main body of the three-part movement (precisely speak-ing, it is a generous rondo-sonata form). The solo violinʼs signal-like theme （D・E♭・B −） stands out as the core of the main body. It was transformed from the second theme of the first movement, and some other motives also derive from materials in the first movement. The chief theme in the middle section with calmer tempo is almost identical with the viola concertoʼs second theme in its first movement, which we just heard. When the main body returns, the music runs up to the final climax.
　Takayuki Komuro

Composed in 1969.
Broadcast Premiere: November 13, 1969
Violin solo: Yuriko Kuronuma
NHK Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hiroshi Wakasugi
Stage Premiere: March 27, 1973 at Tokyo Yubin Chokin Kaikan (currently Hall of Mielparque Tokyo)
Violin solo: Toshiya Eto
NHK Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hiroshi Wakasugi
　

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