Physical and Digital Release: 24 April 2025
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| Composer(s) | Akira Nishimura, Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Maurice Ravel, Toru Takemitsu, Yoshihisa Taira |
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Double Reflet
I conceived this album as a journey. Two cultures, two eras, two stories that, deep down, are one: the story of those who, uprooted, are both everywhere and nowhere at home.
Returning to Japan for the first time in 2023 after seven years of absence allowed me to reconnect with my roots, to revive this deep bond with my homeland and my family. The shock of these reunions made me realize how much I was already imbued with a dual culture that has now become my own.
An expression of my personality and life path, this album allows me to share the music that inhabits me through these 12 pieces written by French and Japanese composers. Two worlds: one fluid, filled with shimmering lights and colors; the other opaque, a mirror of a void that fills the space with its depth.
Double Reflet is both a bridge between the past and the future, Japan and France, pain and joy, aiming to transmit light through music.
I would like to thank the French Connexion Academy for the award that enabled me to record this album, to the Jardin Musical for the recording, Pierre Fourré for his artistic advice on the program, my family, my partner, and all my friends for their support.
Marina SAIKI
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Debussy is a composer with a unique universal destiny. Refusing to be considered the father of Impressionist music, he exerted a profound influence on 20th-century music. Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, he developed a musical style that emphasizes nuance, harmonic colors, and freedom of form. His vision was truly innovative. After the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris, he discovered Asian art and music, which he incorporated into his compositions.
Masques
Composed in 1904, this work is one of the most mysterious and modern pieces by Debussy. He confided to Marguerite Long: “It is not Italian comedy, but the tragic expression of existence.” The rhythmic persistence due to this invincible swirling gives the piece an unsettling and tormented atmosphere. Behind its masks lie the composer’s own emotions… the sadness of those who live, concealing the emotions of the heart.
Des pas sur neige
Composed in 1910, this is the sixth piece of the first book of the 24 Préludes. This work portrays the ineffable silence and solitude of winter. The rhythm of the footsteps, characterized by an obstinate figure of a major second, “must have the sonic value of a sad and frozen landscape,” Debussy specified. The melodic fragments resonate like a lament. Never before has Debussy conveyed such indescribable emotion through the simplicity of his writing in a piece.
L’îsle joyeuse
Written in 1904, this piece contrasts sharply with Masques, composed around the same time. Through its rich color palette and dynamic rhythm, Masques and L’îsle Joyeuse are connected to the circumstances of Debussy’s private life. “It is a magnificent vision, a wind of joy of prodigious exuberance, a celebration of rhythm on vast currents of modulations” (Marguerite Long).
In a state of euphoric extroversion, Debussy surrenders himself with this marine evocation, supported by exceptional pianistic writing. It is a true celebration of light that dispels hesitation and anxiety.
Eric Satie (1866-1925)
A French composer and pianist known for his eccentric and minimalist style. Born in Honfleur, he quickly abandoned traditional academic training and developed his own path. His most famous works, such as the Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes, are characterized by their simplicity and nostalgia. Satie is also associated with avant-garde artistic movements, such as surrealism and dadaism. His music had a significant influence on 20th-century composers, particularly in the field of minimalist music.
Gnossienne
The six Gnossiennes were composed in the 1890s. Only the first triptych survives of Satie’s early works. These short pieces are characterized by the absence of time signatures, offering a free rhythm and a hypnotic melody. Very personal and sometimes whimsical annotations run throughout the score.
A deep melancholy emanates from the first Gnossienne, evoking both a sense of abandonment and a poignant cry of distress, like a question turned inward.
Written in 1891, the fourth Gnossienne was only published in 1968. This piece creates a mystical and meditative atmosphere. Large arpeggios replacing chords evoke oscillating waves beneath an infinitely melancholic melody.
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Ravel, a disciple of Fauré, is one of the leading figures of early 20th-century French music. Recognized as a genius orchestrator and arranger, his music is marked by its refinement and perfection in style and writing. Born in Ciboure, in the French Basque Country, the influence of Basque and Hispanic culture is evident in many of his compositions. Ravel masterfully combines tradition and innovation, drawing inspiration from jazz, all with a unique elegance.
La Vallée des Cloches
Composed between 1904 and 1905, La Vallée des Cloches is part of the Miroirs. This landscape of immortality and contemplative serenity allows us to hear distant chimes that transcend time and space. Through these dissonances and subtle modulations, Ravel presents one of his most beautiful lyrical inspirations.
Jeux d’eau
“A surprising success of musical impressionism that evokes the entire poem of water (Louis Aguettant)”. Composed in 1901, this piece is one of Ravel’s most iconic works. It depicts the beauty of water in various forms: the sparkle of water gushing from a fountain, delicate streams of water flowing and swirling. The work explores and amplifies these different manifestations of water in a continuous whirlpool, creating a soundscape that is both captivating and vivid.
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996)
Born in Tokyo, Tōru Takemitsu was a self-taught composer who developed a unique style blending traditional Japanese music with Western influences. He was particularly inspired by French music, notably that of Debussy. Takemitsu’s works span a wide range, from film scores to orchestral compositions, chamber music, and choral pieces. His music is renowned for its delicate sound and its aesthetic of silence.
Litany
Composed in 1950, this two-part work is one of the most introspective and meditative pieces in his catalog. It was written in tribute to his young friend, the late poet Michizō Tachihara. In 1989, Takemitsu revises this work and adds the subtitle “In Memory of Michael Vyner.” Imbued with deep sadness, the first piece invites us to meditation.
The second part of Litany evokes the pain of the heart, nostalgia, and melancholy through the layering of subtle dissonances. Both compositions are infused with a melodic romanticism.
Romance
Composed in 1949, this is one of the first works by Tōru Takemitsu, who was 19 years old at the time. Although he was initially reluctant to incorporate elements of traditional Japanese music, Takemitsu immerses us in this Romance, evoking the mysterious and subtle atmosphere of ancient Japan. From the melody, distant memories of the ringing of bells from Japanese summer festivals and religious ceremonies awaken.
Yoshihisa Taira (1937-2005)
Born in Tokyo, Yoshihisa Taïra moved to France in 1959, where he spent his entire life. He studied with Henri Dutilleux, André Jolivet, and Olivier Messiaen. His music is well-regarded in the French musical world. Taïra taught composition at the École Normale de Musique de Paris while continuing his work as a composer. Specializing in resonance research and electronic music, he developed a style that combines the refined tonal colors of modern French music with the concept of ma (the perception of silence between sounds), a key characteristic of traditional Japanese music.
Résonance
The first movement of Sonomorphie was composed in 1970. This work is marked by a palpable tension and unique timbral colors. It evokes the inner questions of a mind overwhelmed by both solitude and brutality. Sonomorphie is one of the masterpieces of Yoshihisa Taira.
Akira Nishimura (1953-2023)
Born in Osaka, Akira Nishimura is known for his works that explore a distinct musical language and spiritual or mystical themes. He composed in all genres: stage music, vocal music, chamber music, as well as orchestral works and pieces for traditional Japanese instruments. Open to a wide range of styles, his writing technique often employs heterophony, a layering of sound and rhythm over a single melody. Until his passing in 2023, he was deeply involved in promoting classical music in Japan.
Invoker
An invitation to deep meditation, Invoker is the third piece of the Three Visions, composed between 1978 and 1994. This work is representative of a style frequently used by Nishimura, heterophony, which is a way of playing both a melody and a shift in sound and rhythm simultaneously on that melody. The prayer chant, imbued with vivid light, and the deep basses create a mystical energy, evoking the cosmic space.
Marina Saiki
Marina Saiki, a French-Japanese pianist, captivates with her energetic and luminous playing. A soloist and chamber musician, she performs at prestigious festivals such as La Roque d'Anthéron and the Folles Journées de Nantes. A laureate of international competitions, she has performed in venues across Europe, the United States, and Japan. Supported by institutions like the Or du Rhin Foundation and the Meyer Foundation, she will release her first solo album, Double Reflet, in 2025. Her unique style blends energy and sensitivity, captivating her audience at every performance.
Akira Nishimura
(b Osaka, 8 Sept 1953). Japanese composer. He studied composition and theory to postgraduate level at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. In 1977 he won the first of his numerous prizes, winning both the Queen Elizabeth International Music Competition with Heterophony for string quartet (1975) and the Luigi Dallapiccola Composition Award with Mutazioni (1977). In 1980 Kecak (1979) was selected as the best work at the International Rostrum of Composers, and he won awards at the ISCM World Music Days with Ode for Ekstasis (1981) in 1982, then in 1984, 1988 and 1990. The Otaka Prize was awarded to him in 1988 for Heterophony for two pianos and orchestra (1987), and in 1992 and 1993. He was composer-in-residence of the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa (1993–4) and of the Tokyo SO (1994–7).
Nishimura principally employs heterophony, a characteristic device of Asian traditional music, thereby subtly transforming the intervals, rhythm and melody of his dense multi-layered textures. Though similar to the ‘micropolyphony’ of Ligeti, an Asian perspective informs his technique. Some works are heterophonic melodically, such as Heterophony (1975), and some rhythmically, as in Kecak; the superimposition of trills, tremolos and harmonics contributes to the more complex texture of his later works. Further information is given in K.-M. Hinz: ‘Alle Töne sind die Stimme Buddhas: Akira Nishimura – ein Porträt’, MusikTexte, no.60 (1995), 43–8 and in K. Hori, ed.: Nihon no sakkyoku nijusseiki [Japanese compositions in the 20th century] (Tokyo, 1999), 194–6.
Claude Debussy: (b St Germain-en-Laye, 22 Aug 1862; d Paris, 25 March 1918). French composer. One of the most important musicians of his time, his harmonic innovations had a profound influence on generations of composers. He made a decisive move away from Wagnerism in his only complete opera Pelléas et Mélisande, and in his works for piano and for orchestra he created new genres and revealed a range of timbre and colour which indicated a highly original musical aesthetic.
Erik Satie: (b Honfleur, 17 May 1866; d Paris, 1 July 1925). French composer. He was an iconoclast, a man of ideas who looked constantly towards the future. Debussy christened him ‘the precursor’ because of his early harmonic innovations, though he surpassed his friend’s conception of him by anticipating most of the ‘advances’ of 20th-century music – from organized total chromaticism to minimalism. To some extent he made a virtue of his technical limitations, but his painstaking quest for perfection in simplicity, coupled with his ironic wit and his shrewd awareness of developments in other fields of contemporary art, made him the personification of the wartime esprit nouveau in France.
Maurice Ravel (b Ciboure, Basses-Pyrénées, 7 March 1875; d Paris, 28 Dec 1937). French composer. He was one of the most original and sophisticated musicians of the early 20th century. His instrumental writing – whether for solo piano, for ensemble or for orchestra – explored new possibilities, which he developed at the same time as (or even before) his great contemporary Debussy, and his fascination with the past and with the exotic resulted in music of a distinctively French sensibility and refinement.
Toru Takemitsu
(b Tokyo, 8 Oct 1930; d Tokyo, 20 Feb 1996). Japanese composer. A month after his birth he was taken to China, where his father was working. In 1938 he returned to Japan to attend elementary school, but his formal education was interrupted by conscription in 1944. It was during his military service that he had his first encounter with Western music, which had been banned in Japan during the war; a military officer played a gramophone recording of the French chanson Parlez-moi d'amour to him and a group of fellow-conscripts. The song left a deep impression, and when, after the war, Takemitsu was employed at an American military base, he took the opportunity to listen to a good deal of Western music on the radio network set up for the US armed forces. At the age of 16 he decided, notwithstanding his lack of musical training, to take up composition. He received intermittent instruction with Kiyose from 1948, but was otherwise essentially self-taught.
Early on he identified Debussy as a mentor, and his fellow-composer Ichiyanagi introduced him to the music of Messiaen. Messiaen's influence is already apparent in Takemitsu's first performed work, Lento in due movimenti (1950) for piano, which was given at the seventh concert of the New Group of Composers, headed by Kiyose. The work already embodied what would became characteristic elements of Takemitsu's musical language – modal melodies emerging from a chromatic background, the suspension of regular metre and an acute sensitivity to register and timbre. The première was received rather coldly, but there were two enthusiastic supporters in the audience, Yuasa and Akiyama, who were to remain his friends. In 1951, together with other musicians and artists, the three founded a new group, the Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Workshop), for collaboration on mixed media projects. For this association Takemitsu composed Saegirarenai kyūsoku I (‘Uninterrupted Rest I’, 1952) for piano, written in irregular rhythm without barlines, and the Chamber Concerto (1955) for 13 wind instruments. He then turned to electronic music in Relief statique (1955) and Vocalism A·I (1956); the latter uses only the phonemes ‘a’ and ‘i’ (‘ai’ being the Japanese for ‘love’) pronounced in various ways by two actors. Material is similarly restricted in Mizu no kyoku (‘Water Music’, 1960), formed exclusively from recorded water sounds. Many of Takemitsu's works from the early 1960s are characterized by textural fragmentation. In works such as Ring (1961) and Sacrifice (1962) non-sustaining instruments – such as terz guitar, lute and vibraphone – predominate, and the texture is pointillistic, featuring pizzicato, harmonics and wide intervals.
Yoshihisa Taira
(b Tokyo, 3 March 1937). Japanese composer, active in France. After studying composition with Ikenouchi at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, graduating in 1965, he studied with Jolivet, Dutilleux and Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire; remaining in Paris, he gained a teaching post at the Ecole Normale de Musique. His work has been performed at the Domaine Musical and the Itinéraire, at festivals in Avignon, Darmstadt, Berlin, Tanglewood and Tokyo, and by the Ensemble InterContemporain. Among his awards are the Lily Boulanger Prize (1971), the SACEM Grand Prix de Composition (1974), the UNESCO International Composers Tribune award (1982), and the Prix Florent Schmitt from the Paris Academy of Fine Arts (1985); he was made an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Throughout his music, Taïra maintains a thoughtful balance between traditional Japanese and Western contemporary music and aesthetics. His treatment of time and space, sonority, poetic lyricism, silence and many idiomatic techniques such as precise articulation, abrupt dynamic contrasts and glissandi are derived from traditional Japanese music and art, and are compatible with a French modernist aesthetic.
13.76€
