Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
July 16, 2005
In a sense, musicians can be an ironic people. We spend a large part of our lives learning everything we can about this mysterious entity called Music; and yet we often wish that we did not know so much about it. We long to experience music like a child going to a candy store for the first time. Guess what? The candy store came to town today, in the form of the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra (TOKWO).
Apart from being lucky enough to get a ticket to this sold-out concert, I had the good fortune of sitting next to William Johnson (former President of WASBE) and he seemed to be having a “candy store” experience of his own. Faithful readers will recall that Mr. Johnson presented a workshop on Monday about building resonance in the band and had stressed the importance of setting a “pitch standard”. I happened to have a tuning fork in my pocket and we were tickled to find out that the TOKWO tuned to A–440.
Concertmaster Nobuya Sugawa (one of the world’s finest saxophonists) entered after the rest of the orchestra had taken their seats and received a warm reception from the audience. Then a determined-looking Douglas Bostock launched the group into Festivo by Edward Gregson. One thing about the TOKWO: they take chances. This energetic piece was a good example. There were times when it felt like the ensemble would fall apart rhythmically but somehow stayed together. Just like a roller-coaster ride where we feel as if we could be derailed at any moment. Next was Gustav Holst’s Hammersmith: Prelude and Scherzo, op. 52. It was a breathtaking reading of a standard from the wind ensemble repertoire. Next came “Court Music” a TOKWO-commissioned work from Donald Grantham which combined themes and sounds from Japanese folk music. The first half ended with another band classic, Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger.
The second half featured Toshio Mashima’s Les Trois Notes du Japon (a wonderful 3 movement work with which I was not familiar); and Florent Schmitt’s Dionysiaques pour orchestra d’harmonie militaire, op. 62. The enthusiastic audience would not let the TOKWO leave the stage until they had played 3 encores. The first was a powerful rendition of Grainger’s Molly on the Shore. Then came a soulful Japanese tune called Furusato (at least that’s the title I remember). The evening ended with an unexpected twist in Eric Coates’ March from the Dambusters, which also served to remind us of our roots in the wind ensemble movement.
This whole conference has left me with many good impressions. I often remind my conducting students that their main job is to mold the sound they are getting from the ensemble to the sound imagined in their minds. The Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra was an audio experience that expanded our sound palates. Our own ensembles may not be able to sound quite like the TOKWO but we have now heard new standards to which we could definitely try to aspire. (Do not forget to encourage your students to dream.) Please forgive my one final indulgence: I would like to thank the National University of Singapore Centre for the Arts for giving me the opportunity to attend this conference. I have made many new friends and hope to see everyone in Ireland in 2007.
©2005 WASBE