Japanese Window - Sesshu's Landscape 1495

Japanese Window - Sesshu's Landscape 1495
for stereo tape and Japanese traditional dance (2000 - 2002)

sound excerpt - Opening (MP3, 1.6 Mb)

Video

video excerpt - Ending (QT, 900 Kb) Nihon-buyo version (2003) / Dancer, Sayuri Unou

Video

Full version (QT, 40 Mb) Jiutamai version (2008) / Dancer, Ufo Furusawa

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A composer facing the "Landscape 1495" by Sesshu

Renowned as one of the most outstanding masters of the Japanese painting, Sesshu (1420-1506), Buddhist monk of the Muromachi period, spent his youth and training in one of the worldwide well-known cultural centre of any time: Kyoto. From 1467, joining a diplomatic mission, Sesshu travelled all over China getting the chance to see many Zen monasteries and learning the Chinese styles to paint landscapes. Back to Japan, Sesshu adapted what he learnt through his personal technique, creating an original interpretation surprisingly approaching his late works to the European abstract art of the early 20th century.
Sesshu's Landcape 1495 is a Haboku (splashed ink on paper) hanging scroll, nowadays esteemed his masterwork and stored at the Tokyo National Museum as National Treasure of Japan.
In spite of the simplicity of the title "Landscape", in Sesshu's works once again we see that the true essence of Zen is not a transmission of ideas but self-discovery.
In such a way, the late paintings of Sesshu might be associated to music, since ever considered the most subconscious among arts.
Facing Sesshu's Landscape 1495 is a rare experience; one can set himself in front of a broad universe. When I decided to compose a piece inspired by this painting, I felt a deep significance coming up from the Sesshu's imaginary world: a significance that I wanted to merge with a modern conscience, to create a new artwork with a unique poetic feature.

Carlo Forlivesi

At the listening of "Japanese Window - Sesshu's Landscape 1495"

When I first listened to the composition Japanese Window - Sesshu's Landscape 1495, I found in that music an amazing creativity made up of such a elegance to evoke in my mind the Heian Era (12th c.), time in which the capital Kyoto was the main centre of the Japanese culture and excelling in matter of arts.
At the same age, in Europe were flourishing several elegant artistic forms and poetic styles: above all, the pure and noble lyric in Provence (South France) and the rich colourful ancient Italian language of Florence; it was custom of the nobles from the highest ranks to gather and compete in poetic plays. That practice might be compared to what was happening in Kyoto, where the utayomi was often played by the aristocracy to symbolize refined allegories such as the mystic of the moon, the dynamic of the pine tree driven to change shape along the years, the symbolism of cherry blossoms, and so forth.
Not far from that approach, the music of Japanese Window - Sesshu's Landscape 1495 smoothly runs through calm or more intense sounds, always showing an incessant attention to any detail in matter of quality of sound.
The computer elaboration of Japanese traditional instruments such as Koto and Shakuhachi, generates an unexpected and rare match of antique and modern, able to move and fascinate the listener with a delightful harmony emphasised by the idea to add the choreographic grace of the traditional Japanese dance.
This music, as well as the tea ceremony, makes us understand that what is important is not just what you do but how you do it.

Sayuri Unou