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Full-Text Articles in Music Theory

An Analysis Of Les Yeux Clos Ii By Toru Takemitsu, Jason Mile Jan 2016

An Analysis Of Les Yeux Clos Ii By Toru Takemitsu, Jason Mile

2016 Undergraduate Awards

This paper presents an analysis for Les Yeux Clos II (1989), a solo piano piece written by Toru Takemitsu, based on a lithograph by Odilon Redon. The piece falls within Takemitsu’s “Third Period” which Timothy Koozin describes as a combination of “Western syntax” and “Japanese tradition.” By identifying the influences of Western composers, such as John Cage and Olivier Messiaen, and Japanese tradition, this paper analyzes the extent to which both Western and Eastern traditions can be identified in this piece. Based on comments by Takemitsu and John Cage, the form of the piece is defined by means of motivic …


A “New Harmony”: Intertextuality And Quotation In Toru Takemitsu’S Folio Iii, Rebecca Shaw Jan 2015

A “New Harmony”: Intertextuality And Quotation In Toru Takemitsu’S Folio Iii, Rebecca Shaw

2015 Undergraduate Awards

The last in a set of three pieces, Folio III (1974) by Toru Takemitsu (1930–1996) was the composer’s first foray into solo classical guitar composition. Although Takemitsu’s guitar works are often overlooked or examined sparingly at best, Folio III is a complex composition that warrants exploration. It combines aspects of chromatic saturation and octatonicism with Baroque-era tonality via the quotation of Chorale No. 72 “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden” from the St. Matthew Passion (1727) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). This essay blends theoretical analysis with aspects of Takemitsu’s philosophy to clarify the significance of the chorale’s quotation to …