| For years the composer and pianist Yuji Takahashi has been exploiting the possibilities of Western and Asian instruments. He has opened up new tonal realms for older instruments, contrasting them with more traditional sounds. John Cage’s compositions contain interesting connections to Takahashi’s works. Cage was keenly interested in Asian music. In all his later pieces Cage used the I-Ching and other techniques of random generation. He regarded these methods as a way to keep the ego out of the creative process, enabling sounds to be heard simply as sounds and bringing music closer to the experience of the everyday world.
The performers
Yoko Nishi (Japan) Koto
Ensemble N_ER:
Paulo Alvares (Brazil) piano
Vincent Royer (France) viola
Matthias Kaul (Germany) percussion
Gene Coleman (USA) bass clarinet
Krassimir Sterev (Bulgaria/Austria) accordion
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