The conductor and composer Yoichi Sugiyama presents three orchestral works, recorded under his direction by renowned Japanese soloists and orchestras.

Composed for 109 players and first performed in 1977, Jonchaies by Iannis Xenakis (1922–2001) may be regarded as a companion piece to the electronic work La Légende d’Eer, conceived around the same period. Although the two pieces differ markedly in their acoustic impressions, Xenakis asserted that they share the same core mathematical concept. The central element of Jonchaies is a spatial, non-octave scale derived from “sieve theory”, reminiscent of the Javanese pelog scale (e–f–g–h–c). This scale is extended and transformed throughout the piece, resulting in a striking and immersive sound world.

Toshi Ichiyanagi’s (1933–2022) last composition was the Double Concerto for Violin, Shamisen and Orchestra, completed when he was 89. The choice of a double concerto juxtaposing Western violin with Japanese shamisen is exceedingly rare – Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Gamelan Instruments and Cello being one of the few parallel examples. In fact, it seems unprecedented to pair the violin and shamisen in this form. Yet this was not a mere novelty: since the 1980s, Ichiyanagi had been exploring ways to reconcile Eastern and Western musical idioms. This double concerto stands as one of his culminating responses to that enduring inquiry.

Autoritratto [Self-Portrait], composed in 2020 by Yoichi Sugiyama (b. 1969), was written as the pandemic struck the world and took a heavy toll in Milan, where Sugiyama resides. In response to these circumstances, he created an unusual musical self-portrait. This orchestral work functions as a sonic chronicle of the wars, conflicts, and civil strife that have erupted across the globe over the past half-century – beginning in 1969, the year of his birth, and concluding in 2020, when the piece was completed.