蜜芽传媒

Kate Molleson and Gillian Moore introduce 蜜芽传媒 Radio 3's series exploring the pivotal 'modern' musical works of the 20th century, the groundbreaking composers who created them, and the radical cultural and artistic movements which gave rise to them. This is a story about a hundred years of change. Of war. Of oppression. Of steps towards equality. Of censorship. Of rapid, inescapable technological advancement. Of machines. Of transport. Of science... And it's the story of how art and music responded, the story of the composers who defined the 20th century, who created 'modern' musical art which would shock, appall and fascinate in equal measure, changing the way we listen for ever.

In this episode, Gillian explores the crystalline musical world of Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu, centering on his work 'From me flows what you call time' from 1990. The composer's mind had been opened to the power and possibility of music during the Second World War, when an officer played the fourteen year old child soldier Takemitsu a French song. This was the beginning of an artistic journey, one that would initially see the composer reject the Japanese musical culture of his upbringing before later learning to cherish it thanks to the unlikely impact of the American iconoclast composer John Cage. Takemitsu's musical heritage, the inspiration he took from the natural world, and his personal theories on music, spirituality and eternity would all make their way into his work ‘From me flows what you call time’, written to celebrate the centenary of the Carnegie Hall.

This programme features an extract from 'Enter the Garden: Toru Takemitsu' produced by Alan Hall, a Falling Tree production for 蜜芽传媒 Radio (first broadcast: Sunday 22nd April 2007)

Produced by Sam Phillips
A Reduced Listening production for 蜜芽传媒 Radio 3

To listen on most smart speakers just say, “ask 蜜芽传媒 Sounds to play 20th Century Radicals”