Masaaki Suzuki: preference

Transcript context

…What do you listen to? I don’t know what is contemporary, but I listen to Stravinsky, for example. That’s one of my favorite composers. I even made one CD of the Pulcinella, and so on. Even more recent ones, like Takemitsu, and that is very beautiful. But sometimes I can’t understand their intention. Sometimes very difficult. I used to be a student of composition. At that time, my teacher was Akio Yashiro, who had studied in Paris. He passed away when he was 46 years old while I was still a student. He composed a wonderful symphony and piano concerti and so on. Very recently, I performed his symphony for the first time in my life with the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. That was a great pleasure. The rhythm is so interesting. The structure is quite classical. His way of composing was, in a way, conservative according to the very classical structure, and also rhythm pattern and so on. But the sound itself is completely new, atonal music. It was a little difficult for me to enjoy that kind of sound, but it was a wonderful experience. What is it you like in popular music?…

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