Musica che affronta il silenzio - Scritti su Toru Takemitsu - Pavia ...

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Roberto Calabretto
In Conversation on Seeing Takemitsu stated that film music does not and cannot have a
genuine aesthetic or a well grounded theory (1995: 36), recalling Adorno’s famous dictums.
19 This means that there is no possibility of a clear authorship for film music, with
several people being involved in creating a constantly evolving final product.
Stylistic eclecticism leads to the coexistence, in one and the same score, of various
styles, as is the case in Teshigahara’s The Ruined Map (Moetsukita Chizu, 1968) where
we find Elvis Presley rubbing shoulders with Vivaldi concertos, or again in Kurosawa’s
Ran, where Mahlerian music alternates with episodes featuring the n flute, creating a
synthesis between Western and Eastern elements. In the famous battle scene, in particular,
Takemitsu imitates the third movement of Mahler’s First Symphony, 20 while in Kuroi
Ame there are clear references to the Fifth Symphony.
A distinctive trait of Takemitsu’s film music is the frequent employment of
Japanese instruments, achieving an effective synthesis with Western styles. ‘When I
first used Japanese music in a film, it caused a sensation. “Wow! He used the Japanese
biwa in movie music!” Isn’t that a strange response? Even the Japanese were confused
by this sound’. 21 The biwa was used for the first time in Harakiri, while the sound track
of Kwaidan constitutes the first work to emerge from a confrontation with a traditional
Japanese musician, Tsuruta Kinshi of the Chikuzen biwa school. 22
To complete the picture, one should highlight Takemitsu’s use of citations, as Burt
is careful to do in his monography (Burt 2001: 80), and the osmosis between film music
and music not written for the cinema. 23 This latter aspect should not be underestimated,
19 ‘The foregoing analyses have certain implications regarding the style of motion-picture music. The concept of
style applies primarily to the unbroken unity of the organic work of art. Since the motion picture is not such a
work of art and since music neither can nor should be part of such an organic unity, the attempt to impose a
stylistic ideal on cinema music is absurd’ (Adorno – Eisler 1994: 53).
20 In the sound track a very important role is played by noises - cicadas, wind, weapons, neighing, etc. – which are
skilfully orchestrated ‘with a richness worthy of Bresson’ (Tassone 1991: 126). In an interview Takemitsu spoke of
the difficulties he had had in agreeing on the character of the sound track with the director. ‘If that’s your idea, and
you love Mahler, why don’t you use his music directly, instead of asking me to write music in the style of Mahler?’.
In this case his question is undoubtedly ingenuous, and Kurosawa replied quite rightly that he adored Mahler’s
music but could not use it in his film just as it was, retorting: ‘You have to go beyond Mahler!’ (Tessier 1985: 73).
21 Tru Takemitsu in Zwerin (1994).
22 ‘Chikuzen biwa, like satsuma-biwa, is a secular type of narrative biwa music (even though both have strong
historical connections with ms-biwa, the ancient Buddhist ritual instrument). Typical of the Chikuzen biwa school
is the high degree of ornamentation in the vocal line and a gentler instrumental style. Chikuzen biwa as a distinct
style dates from the beginning of the 20 th century, when it was brought from the Chikuzen (Fukuoka) region and
became very popular in central Japan’ (Galliano 2002: 257 n. 61). Takemitsu used this instrument repeatedly in his
sound tracks. Commenting on its use in Seppuku, a critic pointed out: ‘The music is also sparse, marking transitions,
quiet moments, sustaining pitch, building drive, not melodic but accentual. There is the biwa (Japanese lute),
sometimes subdued and whispering throatily and sometimes harshly jangling, and there is the hari-ogi (slapping fan
used in Noh study) with its rhythmic snapping whack. The performances of Rentar Mikuni as the underlord and
Tatsuya Nakadai as the bearded ronin are excellent’ (Corman 1964: 49). Cf. Burt (2001: 110-111).
23 Cf. Burt (2001: 48; 203). In this respect one only has to think of LOVE by Jogi Kuri (1963) – a sort of prelude to
the experimentation of Bruno Bozzetto – which derives from Vocalism A. I. This is a highly original film in terms of
its graphics and stories; although it may now appear anachronistic, it certainly was not when it was made.