Overview
“Joji Yuasa: Piano Works & Tape Music” is an album that contains three piano works and three tape music works by Joji Yuasa, a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music, who was born in 1929, and is known for his compositional activities in a wide range of fields, including electronic music, musique concrète, and computer music.
Commentary
The piano works were played by Yūji Takahashi and were recorded in 1973.
The album was released as volume 3 of the 5-LP set “The Collection of the Works of Joji Yuasa” in 1975 by Denon. It was released on CD in 1995. The CD was reissued in 2009 by Columbia Music Entertainment.
Cosmos Haptic
“Cosmos Haptic” (1957) is a piano work including “modes of limited transposition” (Olivier Messiaen).
Projection Topologic
“Projection Topologic” (1959) is a piano work by use of twelve-tone technique.
On the Keyboard
“On the Keyboard” (1972) is a piano work like free jazz, including tone clusters and a mix of silences and heavy blows.
Music for Space Projection
“Music for Space Projection” (1969) is a tape music work composed for Expo 1970 Fiber Pavilion’s audiovisual projection. It includes orchestral fragments, electronic sounds, and modulated human voices.
Voices Coming
“Voices Coming” (1969) is a tape music work using human voices as musical materials, such as voices of telephone exchange operators, interviews, and political speeches.
Icon on the Source of White Noise
“Icon on the Source of White Noise” (1966) is an electronic music classic, which consists of nothing but white noises.
