Together with water, stars, and gardens, Takemitsu was taken with the image and reality of the autumn season, in such works as "In an Autumn Garden" for gagaku ensemble, and "A String Around Autumn" for orchestra.

Mysterious, almost electronic calls between winds, crazed slidings of brass, the chill of wind in trees, sliding strings, autumn has arrived. A lone shakuhachi trembles. The orchestra imitates wild rumblings of weather. The shakuhachi trembles again.

Grand pause. The orchestra ascends giving the illusion of un-coordinated scattering. Slow slidings of brass, a low flurry of strings. The biwa enters with single, slightly bent tones. It calls forth harp chords briefly. Then shaking strings and sliding brass respond briefly. Wild flurries of brass and winds followed by high, icy tones in the percussion. The shakuhahci mournfully predicts the winter to come. It trembles and the orchestra responds (the cymbals beaten with soft mallets and sitting on top of the tympani add a unique timbre).

A duet begins between shakuhachi and biwa - the first trembles, the other boldly punctuates it's certain knowledge of the inevitable. The biwa begins a rhythmic pulsing. The two interweave long tones and tremolos.

The orchestra enters on beautifully balanced sustained chords denoting a eerily barren yet still fiercely active landscape.

Again the duet simultaneously give their impressions of the change in the world's fortune, in a more dramatic, challenging tone of strong shakes and punctuations. But then their mood changes to plaintive and mournfully gentle.

The orchestra returns in isolated sections, and now we feel the full impact of the cold. A quiet sustain gradually dies out, but it is topped by a major third from the harps giving the new landscape a hopeful tone.



© All Music Guide