1. Introduction. Toru Takemitsu s Film Music and Its Corresponding Film Genres

Transcription

1 Toru Takemitsu s Film Music and Its Corresponding Film Genres Lena Pek Hung Lie, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia Abstract: Music has played an important role in films and is a significant element in the narrative design of this cinematic art form. Composers map music unto a film either to reflect, accentuate or add an other space/dimension to its existing narrative structure. Amongst its various functions in films, music can be used to color the atmosphere in a scene, illustrate a character, anticipate an impending condition and move the emotions of the audience. To best epitomize a film, composers score what they deem as the most suitable musical language for the film in question. In this regard, the musical content of a film is very much governed by the context and genre of the film. Music, narrative structure and genre therefore coexist as an organic entity that determines the aesthetics of films. This paper attempts to identify the relationship between film genres and musical language in selected Japanese films which Toru Takemitsu ( ) scored both the music and sounds. A comprehensive investigation based on raw data analysis shows that Takemitsu s film scores exhibit a variety of musical styles, such as jazz, late Romantic chromaticism, 20 th century advant-garde idioms, traditional Japanese music and the sounds of nature. In addition to music, Takemitsu also utilized unusual sound production procedures to project a particular timbre to create suspense and heighten cinematic effects. A study of various genres of these selected films and their corresponding film music and sounds will reveal Takemitsu s highly unique treatment of ideas onto the various films and his musical aesthetics with respect to film genres. Keywords: Toru Takemitsu, Film Music, Film Genre, Japanese Films. 1. Introduction An understanding of the importance of a close correlation between the music and soundscape of a film and its images is essential in the making of a total cinematic art work, the Gesamtkunstwerk in films. When music is present in a film, it functions to reflect a certain idea, accentuate suspense, anticipate an impending situation, personify a metaphysical concept embedded in the narrative, and many more as a tool to aid further the cinematic process in unfolding of the narrative structure. As a secondary narrative element in films, music serves a significant function in communicating what the audience ought to experience and to recognize. An implicit dimension in the narrative, music holds the key to elevate an otherwise ordinary and mundane moment into a memorable scene, one that would be aesthetically charged. Besides these fundamental roles, if skillfully applied, music has the potential of becoming an indispensable tool to add an other space of equal importance to the existing narrative construct. A musical motif, a subtle harmonic nuance or a specific instrumental timbre may rouse our

2 senses and prompt us to feel, acknowledge and possibly identify with the underlying concept of the accompanying image. This paper attempts to explore and identify the relationship between musical styles and film genres in selected films scored by Toru Takemitsu ( ). Subsequently an analysis of how Takemitsu employed the sounds of nature, unusual sound production procedures, traditional Japanese music and a variety of Western musical styles in his film scores which is based on raw data that comprises of soundtracks, original music manuscripts and films as well as interviews with primary Takemitsu scholars conducted in Tokyo 1. Takemitsu s representative film music and its corresponding film will be examined within the framework of aesthetics to uncover the composer s diverse compositional approaches. 2. Toru Takemitsu: The Man and His Music Toru Takemitsu, the most influential Japanese art music composer on the international scene, was an exceptionally prolific and versatile composer who not only had contributed immensely to Western contemporary art music, but had also scored music for more than 100 films, TV dramas and documentaries just under a span of 40 years. Moreover, as a very spiritual person, he drew inspiration from nature; the silence of the old trees, lyrical landscape of the ruined Chikuhō coal field (Takemitsu, 1995), the sound of the waves or the rustle of leaves in a bamboo grove fascinated him greatly. He emphasized in many of his writings the symbiotic relationship between human beings and nature, and the concept of living harmoniously with nature which constantly occupied his thoughts and motivated his compositional process (Takemitsu, 1995). Takemitsu s affinity for gardens and Zen Buddhist temples is strongly reflected in one of the last films he scored for, Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden (1992), which is named after Musō Kokushi ( ) the landscape designer of Kokedera. 2 Takemitsu s art music is graceful, atmospheric, slow pace and elegantly philosophical. He wished to capture in his music the aesthetics of the kaiyūshiki, the traditional Japanese landscape garden, where a variety of elements all dwell in harmony without a single detail overly assertive. (Takemitsu, 1995) Another interesting aspect of the composer and his musical style is that he had hardly written anything in tempo vivace. In his book Toru Takemitsu: Towards the Sea of Sonority Takashi Funayama aptly describes Takemitsu as the lento composer. Slow, hyper-controlled musical movements characteristically found in his music can also be attributed to Japanese aesthetics closely observed in its culture such as the tea ceremony, Noh theatre and butoh. These musical characteristics permeate his film music for multiple film genres such as drama, thriller, documentary, war film, epic, biopic, period film, horror movie and short film. Takemitsu s film music Eclectic, flexible, and experimental are fitting adjectives to describe Takemitsu s compositional facility for film music. The first thing he always tried to achieve in his film scores was a unique 1 This research and field work was carried out in Tokyo in 2009 under The Japan Foundation Japanese Studies Fellowship Program. 2 Kokedera, also known as Saihō-ji, is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto most famous for its peaceful moss garden where 120 species of moss spread across the entire temple ground.

3 sound that would be significant and memorable in the film. For someone who loved films and had boasted of watching three films a day, Takemitsu had developed enough critical insights to view the purpose of music in films as not to add musical sounds onto the narrative but to breathe life into a scene, a strategic moment in the narrative. Takemitsu had successfully achieved a harmonious synthesis of music with narrative in films by combining the stylistic traits of his art music with his flexible approach in adapting a variety of musical styles for his film scores and bold experimentation with new compositional means. By and large Takemitsu s sonic approach 3 for films may be clustered together under three main categories i.e., acoustic music, electronic music and electro-acoustic music. Under each of these categories are a number of subgroups which are further labelled according to musical styles 4. The sound source in all of the film scores stem from traditional instruments - Japanese musical instruments, non-traditional instruments - Western musical instruments and exotic instruments, synthesizer, tape music, sounds in the environment and noise. Representative works of Takemitsu s large corpus of film music output are selected to illustrate the composer s overall sonic approach and musical styles in multiple film genres and his mode of translation of the visual narrative to music or conversely. On the broad spectrum, acoustic music appears to be the composer s sonic approach for dramas - period drama and contemporary drama, romance, war films and documentaries. Electronic music - musique concrète and music created by electronic manipulations, is often applied to fantasy, thrillers and horror films. Interestingly, there is no specific trend in the utilization of electro-acoustic music; this sonic approach is found in all the film genres where acoustic and electronic music co-exist in various films. Although the way in which Takemitsu imposed certain musical style onto a particular film genre appears to be consistent, there are exceptions which go off at a tangent. These exceptions demonstrate his non-consistency in the correlation between musical styles and film genres - explicitly reveal his eclectic, flexible nature in film scoring. Complexities further surface where some films do not fall under one specific genre but can be treated as hybridized, for instance Empire of Passion, Rikyu and Ran. Overall, for Takemitsu, a film genre did not necessarily have a fixed musical stylistic association. Sonic Approach and Musical Styles Acoustic music Within acoustic means, Takemitsu had created different musical styles for films of similar genres as exemplified in With Beauty and Sorrow (1965), Double Suicide (1969), and Empire of Passion (1978). Acoustic western musical instruments are used to create ambient music for the 3 Sonic approach refers to musical sonority produced acoustically, electronically or electro-acoustically. This classification presents a general concept and perception on the composer s sonic approach and should not be taken literally to mean that the film scores which are classified under acoustic sonic approach are strictly acoustic and those under electronic approach are strictly electronic as there is a considerable overlap between approaches in various films. 4 Musical style refers to musical sounds and gestures distinctively characteristic to a particular musical traditional or culture. In this paper I have taken the liberty to group the musical styles into three categories, i.e., traditional, non-traditional and ambient music. Firstly, traditional music denotes musical style of the composer s own culture which is Japanese. Secondly, non-traditional music includes Western, exotic and music of other cultures outside of the Japanese musical tradition. And last but not least, ambient music refers to music which solely evokes atmospheric sounds.

4 Table 1: Acoustic Music Acoustic Music Film Genres Musical Style Sound Source Notes Traditional Music Non-Traditional Music Ambient Music Traditional Instruments Non-Traditional Instruments Sounds of the Environment DRAMAS Harakiri (Masaki Kobayashi; 1962) Sharaku (Masahiro Shinoda; 1995) With Beauty and Sorrow (Masahiro Shinoda; 1965) Double Suicide (Masahiro Shinoda; 1969) Empire of Passion (Nagisa Oshima; 1978) Ran (Akira Kurosawa; 1985) Black Rain (Shohei Imamura; 1989) Period drama Period drama/biopic New Orleans Dixieland Jazz Romance Period drama Balinese Gamelan, Turkish shawm and drum Period drama/thriller/romance/horror Epic/ War Mahlerian symphonic music War Symphonic music Lacrima for String Orchestra DOCUMENTARIES Jose Torres (Hiroshi Teshigahara; 1959) Jazz Jose Torres II (Hiroshi Teshigahara; 1965) The Legend for the Future (NHK Tokushu production; ) Prophecy (Susumu Hani; 1982) Tokyo Trial (Masaki Kobayashi; 1983) Dream Window (John Junkerman; 1992) Contemporary music In the Heart of the Universe is also used in one of the thirteen episodes of Carl Sagan s Cosmos series War Symphonic music Lacrima for String Orchestra War Symphonic music Lacrima for String Orchestra Japanese Gardens

5 contemporary drama With Beauty and Sorrow. Unusual choice of musical style is illustrated in another romance film, Double Suicide in which unconventional approach is adapted and exotic instruments are utilized. Music of the Balinese gamelan, the ringing tone of the telephone and a phone conversation between the director Masahiro Shinoda and Taeko Tomioka are heard from the onset of the film which also shows Shinoda on the phone, back stage activities of a bunraku performance, bunraku puppets and puppet handlers clad in black uniform. 5 Gidayu singing 6 and bunraku music which narrate the plot in a live bunraku performance are incorporated in this modern day adaptation of Chikamatsu Monzaemon s 1720 bunraku play. Takemitsu s choice of scoring the final scenes with the shrill and mournful Turkish shawm and drum has effectively presented the rusticity of this period drama and the doomed romance between the married merchant and the courtesan. Qualities of period drama, romance, thriller and horror film in the narrative content of Empire of Passion bring forth attributes of hybridity in terms of its genre. Takemitsu s sonic approach for this hybrid genre is strictly acoustic in which Japanese and western instruments are used to create ambient music that successfully heightens suspense throughout the narrative. Two period dramas that further demonstrate Takemitsu s diverse musical styles for films of similar genre are Harakiri (1962) and Sharaku (1995). The soundtrack for Harakiri, a period samurai drama directed by Masaki Kobayashi was the composer s first film project that included traditional Japanese musical instruments. Mournful biwa music is used to intensify images in the sorrowful scenes of sepukku and the death of an ill infant child. Western orchestra, prepared piano, quijada and vigorous strumming of the biwa are used to create ambient music which projects the urgency and suspense of the plot, duels and final attack on the ronin in the closing scenes. Takemitsu s last film score, Sharaku, was also his last collaboration with Masahiro Shinoda whom Takemitsu had scored most of the latter s films. In this film, Takemitsu revealed his unusual choice of musical style by including New Orleans Dixieland jazz in the closing 7 scenes. From a filmic standpoint it is rather odd that jazz is applied in a period drama; incidentally Takemitsu did mention his intention was to effectuate a marked contrast with hougaku, traditional Japansese music, and to reflect the rebellious, anti-institutional behavior among adolescents (O hara, 2003). With hindsight, Takemitsu s affinity with jazz actually goes back to Craze Fruit (1956), one of his earliest film scores. For war films, string orchestra is used for the music of two documentaries and a drama on the impact of the Hiroshima bombing of 1945 on civilians. Besides sharing similar orchestral sonority and Western symphonic musical style, Prophecy (1982), Tokyo Trial (1983) and Black Rain (1989) also share similar thematic characteristics. Lacrima for String Orchestra in 5 Bunraku is a type of traditional Japanese puppet theatre founded by Takemoto Gidayu in Osaka in the late 17 th century. A bunraku performance is presented by a narrator who tells the story while performing multiple characters through chanting, a shamisen player and puppeteers who are fully dressed in black complete with a hood. The bunraku puppets are nearly life-sized and are displayed on a theatre stage by one to three puppeteers. 6 Gidayu, originated from traditional puppet theatre in the Edo period ( ), is the style of musical narrative with shamisen accompaniment developed by Takemoto Gidayu ( ). This narrative style also includes the chanting of texts by Chikamatsu Monzaemon ( ) with whom Takemoto Gidayu collaborated to produce plays which combine musical narrative and puppets. 7 This New Orleans Dixieland jazz soundtrack was arranged by Takayuki Hattori.

6 Prophecy is the fundamental idea for thematic construction in all three films. Takemitsu s sonic approach and musical style for these three films are consistent at many levels which imply the psychological effects of the bombing on the Japanese civilians. In Ran (1985), the notable war epic directed by Akira Kurosawa, Takemitsu was strongly encouraged to adopt acoustic music in a Mahlerian symphonic style which literally saturates the war scenes. The soundtrack which models after the funeral march in the third movement of Mahler s Symphony No.1 maps onto the scenes in which Lord Ichimonji s and Saburo s remains are marched away from the war zone. Traditional Japanese music is also used to set the tone at various strategic scenes, such as in the opening scenes where Lord Ichimonji decides to abdicate in favor for his three sons, demonstrates Takemitsu s ability to combine both traditional and non-traditional musical styles within the same film. Takemitsu had also scored for several other documentaries for films and television besides Prophecy and Tokyo Trial. The acoustic music written for Jose Torres (1959) and Jose Torres II (1965) are in the style of jazz and contemporary western popular music of the 1950s-60s respectively. Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden (1992) utilizes Western orchestra to create ambient music which matches the serene scenes in a Japanese Zen Buddhist garden. Another documentary which utilizes acoustic instruments to create non-melodic sonic timbre is Inside the Heart of the Universe ( ) for The Legend for the Future, a NHK documentary on the flourishes and declines of civilization. The soundtrack Inside the Heart of the Universe, is an orchestral piece with a translucent and ethereal texture which projects a mysterious ambience and the sounds of silence in outer space. This film score was adopted in one of the 13 episodes of Carl Sagan s Cosmos series. Therefore it should be noted that film soundtracks that are accredited to Takemitsu do not always mean that they were originally scored for that film by the composer. The above films reveal Takemitsu s multiple musical styles and unique orchestration techniques through acoustic sonic approach whereby traditional and non-traditional acoustic instruments are skillfully utilized in the creation of a wide-ranging musical style that is appropriated onto various film genres. On the whole, it seems that ambient music scored for a combination of traditional and non-traditional instruments is the general musical style for dramas as exemplified in Harakiri, Double Suicide, Empire of Passion, Sharaku and Ran. Ambient music is also mostly applied to the other documentaries with the exception of jazz and contemporary music for the two documentaries on Jose Torres, and symphonic music played by a string orchestra for war documentaries. Electronic music Takemitsu s sonic approach for thrillers, horror films and fantasy may be exemplified in several 1960s film scores in which his outstanding achievements in electronic music are documented. Pitfall (1962) and Woman in the Dunes (1964) are Teshigahara s thrillers based on Kobo Abe s novels of the same title which clearly reveal Takemitsu s experimental phase in film music. His first attempt in creating electronic music for films most probably began with Pitfall, a collaborative project with Toshi Ichiyanagi and Yuji Takahashi. Improvised music played on

7 prepared piano 8 and cembalo were recorded and mixed for some of the music in the soundtrack of this film. Woman in the Dunes has earned Takemitsu international acclaim for his experimental approach in utilizing electronic means in film music where high strings, the sound of wind and the moving sand were combined and electronically manipulated to represent the sand. 9 It has been noted and mentioned that this sand motive is so lifelike and tangible to the extent it becomes one of the three central characters in the narrative, i.e. the woman, the man and the sand. Table 2: Electronic Music Electronic Music Film Genres Musical Style Sound Source Notes Traditional Music Non-Traditional Music Ambient Music Traditional Instruments Non-Traditional Instruments Sounds of the Environment DRAMAS Pitfall (Hiroshi Teshigahara; 1962) Woman in the Dunes (Hiroshi Teshigahara; 1964) The White Dawn (Hiroshi Teshigahara; 1964) Kwaidan (Masaki Kobayashi; 1965) Thriller Electronically manipulated acoustic music Thriller Sounds of the wind and the moving sand Omnibus - Short film Jazz Industrial noise Horror Musique concrète DOCUMENTARIES Antonio Gaudi (Hiroshi Teshigahara; 1984) Sounds of the waves and the winds The famous horror film, Kwaidan (1966) directed by Masaki Kobayashi further demonstrates Takemitsu s bold experimental approach in electronic music. It is said that the soundtracks of Kwaidan which he spent three months in the studio to create is a major experimental work in the history of film music. Environmental sounds, the cracking sounds of bamboo, wood and ice, and 8 Upon returning from the United States in August 1961, Toshi Ichiyanagi introduced Takemitsu to the music of John Cage and prepared piano; this artistic sharing had exerted a strong influence on the latter s musical style that is attested by the soundtrack for Pitfall in which prepared piano was used for the first time in his film music. 9 Sounds from the environment i.e. wind, moving sand, etc., as incorporated in the soundtrack of Woman in the Dunes are a significant sound source which characterizes Takemitsu s mature music style for films.

8 the sounds of whistling arrows were electronically processed with the sounds of musical instruments to create ambient music in the first story White Hair. Takemitsu used the sound of shakuhachi to mimic the whistling sound of snow storm in Snow Woman. In the third story Hoichi the Earless, a drone and electronically created sounds are used to depict dark atmosphere of the underworld in the scenes where Hoichi recites Don-na-ura to the spirits of the Heiki clan. In this regard, Takemitsu had also realized the accompanying music to function as both music and sound effects. The White Dawn aka Ako 16 ans japonais (1964) is an episode of the omnibus Le Fleur de l Age ou Les Adaloscents (1964) on a theme on the life and aspirations of four adolescents in four countries across the globe. 10 Acoustic jazz music, industrial noise in a bread factory and street sounds were combined and developed electronically to narrate 16 year-old teen Ako s one day rendezvous with her acquaintances. Hiroshi Teshigahara s Antonio Gaudi (1984) illustrates a different side of Takemitsu s musical aesthetics for documentaries. In this non-narrated documentary which takes the audience on a tour of Gaudi s buildings, Takemitsu s music takes on the role of a narrator and musically describes the images of the architect s gothic designs. A total of 55 minutes of highly descriptive electronic music includes four Catalonion folk songs and ambient music played on various western instruments and glass harmonica. These folk songs together with the sounds of the wind and the waves were electronically manipulated and applied to the images of Gaudi s unique organic designs and structures in various buildings. For example, while the sound of waves mixed with electronically altered sound of glass harmonica is designed to narrate the interior structures of Gaudi s Casa Batlló, electronically distorted sounds are mapped onto the images of the unique designs of Casa Mila and Church of Colònia Güell. Takemitsu chose to electronically re-orchestrate The Testament of Amèlia to translate the extensiveness of La Sagrada Familia in terms of its architectural dimension, temporal duration of the construction, 11 and most significantly Gaudi s personal spiritual connection with this project. Although The Testament of Amèlia is about the death of a heartbroken Amèlia, the beauty of its lyrical melodies played on glass harmonica seems to resonate far and wide throughout the church ground and beyond. A contrapuntal arrangement of this sorrowful folk song which accompanies the only spoken segment in the documentary 12 not only brings out the greatness of this aweinspiring architecture but also Gaudi s legacy. Music written for these selected films which covers thrillers, a contemporary short-film and a documentary, reveals Takemitsu s experimental traits as manifested in many unique and outstanding soundtracks as early as in the early 1960s for Pitfall and Woman in the Dunes. By using electronics, Takemitsu was able to create captivating sonic qualities apart from his usual acoustic language. His definitive film scoring techniques for electronic music are exhibited in 10 Le Fleur de l Age, ou Les Adaloscents is a Canadian production. The film consists of four episodes: 1. Geneviève 2. Marie-France et Véronique 3. Fiammetta 4. Ako directed by Michel Brault, Jean Rouch, Gian Vittorio and Hiroshi Teshigahara respectively. 11 Gaudi s La Sagrada Familia is still under construction at the time this paper is written. 12 An interview with Isidro Puig Boada is the only spoken segment in this documentary.

9 Antonio Gaudi in which pre-existing folk songs are adapted, skillfully combined with original soundtrack and electronically processed to take on the role of musical narration. Electro-acoustic music Electronic procedures as a means of sonic approach in film scoring became a significant stylistic language in Takemitsu s film music ever since his initial experimentations with electronics in Teshigahara s Pitfall and Woman in the Dunes. Besides composing electronic music for many films as discussed above, tape music, electric guitar and electric bass were incorporated in some of the soundtracks of various films from 1968 to By using two sonic approaches - acoustic music and electronic procedures, in isolation or simultaneously in the music of a film as in The Ruined Map (1968) and Hymn to a Tired Man (1968), Takemitsu had created electro-acoustic music as a third sonic approach at his disposal. Table 3: Electro-acoustic Music Electro-Acoustic Music Film Genres Musical Style Sound Source Notes Traditional Music Non-Traditional Music Ambient Music Traditional Instruments Non-Traditional Instruments Sounds of the Environment DRAMAS The Face of Another (Hiroshi Teshigahara; 1966) Hymn to a Tired Man (Masaki Kobayashi; 1968) The Ruined Map (Hiroshi Teshigahara; 1968) Rikyu (Hiroshi Teshigahara; 1989) Rising Sun (Philip Kaufman; 1993) Sci-fi German Waltz, Voice Drama Exotic instruments Tape music Mystery Exotic instruments Tape music History Synthesizer Mystery/Thriller Synthesizer Exotic instruments The music in The Face of Another (1966), a sci-fi film, consists of a theme song in waltz rhythm that is scored for acoustic instruments and voice, and electronically designed sounds. The latter is mapped onto the scenes where the protagonist and his psychiatrist work towards creating a new face for the former. It is an irony that a lyrical song in lively German waltz is written to translate the protagonist s metaphysical challenges and identity dilemma after a lab accident that

10 leaves his face badly disfigured. Takemitsu explained in an interview that he had deliberately used a lyrical German waltz to accentuate the protagonist s warped intention of seducing his wife by wearing the face of another (O hara, 2003). Rikyu (1989) is a period drama directed by Teshigahara which focuses on the late stages of life of the 16 th century Buddhist monk, Sen no Rikyu. Takemistu used a wide range of musical instruments and synthesizer to score the music of this drama which contains Josquin De Prez s chanson Mille Regretz and ambient music. 13 Portrayed as a man of principle whose dedication to aesthetics and perfection in the art of tea ceremony and ikebana, Rikyu is musically characterized by a brief serene, pointilistic music which is mapped onto the image of his minimalistic ikebana arrangement that greets Hideyoshi at the opening scenes. Josquin De Prez s Mille Regretz which laments abandonment and sorrowful regrets is appropriated in scenes concerning dismissal, farewell and unjust execution all due to social injustices stemming from court politics and Hideyoshi s temperamental whims and fancy. Takemitsu might have utilized Mille Regretz to reflect Hideyoshi s well publicized regret at his treatment of Rikyu. Apart from Josquin De Prez s chanson, synthesizer is incorporated at the closing segment reflecting the tragic consequences and death of Rikyu for disobeying Lord Hideyoshi. Takemitsu s only Hollywood collaboration was with director Philip Kaufman for Rising Sun (1993), a mystery/thriller based on a novel by Michael Crichton. Ambient music which is scored for many unique instruments such as yunluo, Jew s harp, durrabukka, waterphone, and almaglocken brings immeasurable suspense to this action drama. Synthesizer is used to mix and alter the sounds of acoustic instruments thus creating suspenseful atmosphere in many relentless situations in the narrative. Throughout the entire narrative structure there seems to be a fine line between the utilization of electronic music and acoustic music which somewhat parallels the mysterious impulses of a criminal investigation. The film s Hollywood origins and contemporary plot are explicitly presented through several pre-existing American popular songs such as Fletcher and Porter s Don t Fence Me In and Duke Ellington s Single Petal of a Rose. The electronic-acoustic sonic approach in these selected films reveals Takemitsu s well structured filmic-musical design with regards to the application of electronic and acoustic music in the narrative. Ambient music whether electronically or acoustically created are used to illustrate an imminent danger, a mysterious plot and to accentuate suspense. It seems that newly composed song and pre-existing materials, as in The Face of Another, Rikyu and Rising Sun, are used not only to fulfill scenographic/cinematic purposes or to set the tone of a particular scene, but most significantly are employed to underscore an embedded message within the narrative, thus maneuvering the audience s emotions and interpretation of the images attached. 13 Josquin De Prez s chanson Mille Regretz is scored for western period instruments such as cornet, recorder, trombone, positive organ, viola da gamba. And subsequently ambient music is scored for traditional Japanese instruments, western instruments, exotic percussion instruments and synthesizer.

11 3. Conclusion International Journal of Arts and Sciences From the above investigations, it seems that Takemitsu took into consideration various aspects far beyond the narrative, image and film genre when scoring his film music. Although he had demonstrated in some films a certain preference concerning sonic approach, for example acoustic music for dramas, documentaries and biopic, he also tossed in irregular compositional techniques in other films within the boundary of the same genre that reveals his wide musical aesthetics and his versatility in translation of narrative to music. This could be verified in his approach for Rikyu, Hymn to a Tired Man and Antonio Gaudi in which electro-acoustic music is scored for the dramas and electronic music for the documentary. Takemitsu s sonic approach for horror films, thrillers and mysteries consistently includes some form of electronic elements. The music for most films in these genres is either a full-fledged electronic music as in Kwaidan, or music that consists of both electronic and acoustic compositions in which a synthesizer, electric bass or electric guitar is part of the entire sound source as exemplified in the film score of Rising Sun. Delicate atmospheric ambient music has become established 14 and signifies Takemitsu s general musical styles for films in all genres. The engaging nuances and timbre subtleties in his ambient music not only have successfully captured the audience s attention but also evoked the desired atmosphere and created suspense. There are many soundtracks which illustrate the affective and effective attributes of the composer s ambient music, for instance, the music which narrates the interior structures of Casa Batlló apartment in Antonio Gaudi, the scene of Chijiiwa s seppuku in Harakiri, and the sand motive in Woman in the Dunes. Lyrical acoustic music written in the Western tradition of symphonic works, Baroque polyphony, contemporary jazz, big band or rock are mostly reserved for contemporary dramas and romance films. Many of Takemitsu s film scores composed between 1956 and 1965 display this lyrical musical style. Interestingly, Double Suicide and Bwana Toshi (1965) are amongst a handful of films which utilizes exotic musical traditions and instruments to depict certain rustic or foreign elements in a film. Although traditional Japanese music is only used in period films, it may coexist with Western musical style as well, thus presenting a duality in musical language as in Rikyu, Ran and Rising Sun. The soundtracks for Kwaidan, Woman in the Dunes and Ako clearly reflect the advant garde music aesthetics of the European Futurists movement of the early 1900 whereby sounds from nature, sounds in the environment, sounds produced by striking or breaking a non-musical object, and industrial noise were often combined with the sounds of acoustic instruments and processed electronically thus generating a wide palate of tone colors and textures which is the essential raw sonic materials in Takemitsu s signature ambient music. These film scores manifest his bold experimentations with musique concrète and electronic devices within the genre of film music and have set him apart from other film music composers in the 1960s. The relationship between the film music and its corresponding film genres as exemplified in these selected films does suggest to a certain degree Takemisu s typical musical styles, compositional techniques and aesthetics for films. However, this musical outcome may not be a 14 Masato Hojo, one of the major contributors to the Complete Takemitsu Edition, concurs with the view that Takemitsu s musical language in general is atmospheric.

12 conscious effort on the composer s part. There are many forms of reading on Takemitsu s film music all projecting varied views; amongst them is Masato Hojo s discerning perception on the subject. Hojo, one of the world leading scholar on Takemitsu s film music, feels that although Takemitsu did not deliberately draw out a composition blueprint for any film genre, the end product for all of his film scores can be considered as a singular art work in its own right in which Takemitsu personally selected every musical material and compositional procedure for the film score. Takemitsu was truly a prolific, eclectic and creative composer whose enormous output in classical music and film music has distinguished him as an exceptionally talented composer in the history of Western contemporary art music as well as film music. A self-taught composer whose education was cut short by military conscription at the tender age of 14 in 1944, this did not hinder Toru Takemitsu from becoming the one and only outstanding composer whose success may be measured in both art music and film music genres. References Anderson, J.L. and Richie, D. (1983). The Japanese Film: Art and Industry. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Andrew, Allan A. et.al. (2004). Keys to the Japanese Heart and Soul. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd. Bergan, Donald. (2006). Eyewitness Companions: Film. New York: DK Publishing. Brown, Royal S. (1994). Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music. Berkeley: University of California Press. Burt, George. (1995). The Art of Film Music. Massachusetts: Northeastern University Press. Burt, Peter. (2001). The Music of Toru Takemitsu. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Breyer, Wolfgang. (1996). Toru Takemitsu: My Music is Like a Garden, and I am the Gardener. Retrieved on 10 April 2009, from Engelman, Robin. (2002) He left from Us! Retrieved on 15 April 2009, from Funayama, Takashi. (1998). Takemitsu Toru Hibiki no Umi e (Toru Takemitsu Towards the Sea of Sonority). Tokyo: Ongaku no Tomosha. Golub, Peter. (2003). Toru Takemitsu and His Film Music; A Reminiscence Complete Takemitsu Edition. Tokyo: Shogakukan. Vol. 4, pp

13 Grilli, Peter. (2007). The Spectral Landscape of Teshigahara, Abe, and Takemitsu. Retrieved on 10 April 2009, from (2003). Toru Takemitsu: Composer for Films. Complete Takemitsu Edition. Tokyo: Shogakukan. Vol. 3, pp Kondo, Jo. (2002). Introduction: Toru Takemitsu as I Remember Him. Contemporary Music Review, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp Koozin, Timothy. (2002) Traversing Distances: Pitch Organization, Gesture and Imagery in the Late Works of Toru Takemitsu. Contemporary Music Review, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp Malm, William. (2000). Traditional Japanese Music and Musical Instruments. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd. Mera, Miguel. & Burnand, David. Editors. (2006). European Film Music. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Company. Michael Richards, E. and Tanosaki, Kazuko. Editor. (2008). Music of Japan Today. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Monaco, James. (2009). How to Read a Film: Movies Media and Beyond. New York: Oxford University Press. Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) Retrieved on 9 October 2010, from Nuss, Steven. (2002). Hearing Japanese, Hearing Takemitsu. Contemporary Music Review, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp O hara, Tetsuo. (2003). Complete Takemitsu Edition. Volume 3-4. Tokyo: Shogakukan. Ohtake, Noriko. (1998). Creative Sources for the Music of Toru Takemitsu. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Company. Prenderqast Roy M. (1997). Film Music: A Neglected Art. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Ltd. Quandt, James. (2007). Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara. Video essay. The Criterion Collection. Richie, Donald. (1971). Janapnese Cinema: Film Style and National Character. New York: Anchor Books.

14 (2002) Notes on the Film Music of Takemitsu Toru. Contemporary Music Review, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp Takemitsu, Toru. (1995). Confronting Silence. Berkeley: Fallen Leaf Press. Thorne, Roland. (2008). Samurai Films. Herts: Kamera Books. Tonks, Paul. (2001). Film Music. Harpenden: Pocket Essentials. Tokita. Alison M. & Hughes, David W. (2008). The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Vick, Tom. (2007). Asian Cinema: A Field Guide. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Fieldwork conducted in Tokyo under The Japan Foundation Japanese Studies Fellowship Program (November and December 2009) includes: Acquisition of film scores, sketches and cue sheets at Nippon Kindai Ongakukan (Documentation Center of Modern Japanese Music). Interviewees include Ms. Maki Takemitsu, Professor Tatsuhiko Nishioka (Tokyo University of the Arts), Professor Takashi Funayama (Tokyo University of the Arts), Professor Shinji Hori (Nippon Engineering College of Hachioji), Mr. Masato Hojo (EUROSPACE Japan), Mr. Akira Tochigi (National Film Centre), Ms. Ono Mitsuko, and Mr. Shirai Fumito.