Tracklist

A1	Apsaras	15:08
A2	Totem Ritual	11:06
B1	Poem	15:50

Companies, etc.

• Manufactured By – Victor Company Of Japan, Ltd.

Credits

• Choir – Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus (tracks: A1, A2)
• Composed By – Teizo Matsumura
• Conductor – Hiroshi Ishimaru (tracks: A2), Hiroshi Wakasugi (tracks: A1)
• Koto – Keiko Nosaka (tracks: B1)
• Orchestra – Tokyo Symphony Orchestra* (tracks: A2), Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra (tracks: A1)
• Shakuhachi – Shizuo Aoki (tracks: B1)

Notes

three compostions here on display were recorded for the expo ’70 and were composed from september to november 1969. “apsaras” starts the disc off and is composed for roof-a of the matsushita pavilion. a chorus of female singers interacts with the bewitching strings of two harps, a piano, a harpishord, a celesta and some keyboards, levitating the piece and rendering it almost into a liquid listening experience. “totem ritual” goes unto a more primitive motive and moves into a ritualistic/ early religious kind of vibe. percussion centered, the piece must have put spectators into some kind of trance. “poem” is in its turn composed for mainly koto and shakuhachi and takes you towards higher spiritual planes. just sheer beautiful. matsumura is a totally overlooked modern avant-garde composer of the late 1960s who never attained the same stature as ichiyanagi or takemitsu. still he can easily rub shoulders with those composers as this recording asserts. his records surface hardly but they urgently need re-appriciation.
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