k u n i k o

k u n i k o p e r c u s s i o n

All compositions arranged and performed by Kuniko Kato. Original compositions and supervision by Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich and Hywel Davies.

Für Alina, Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, Fratres, Spiegel im Spiegel ©2012 by Universal Edition A.G., Wien.

New York Counterpoint ©1987 by Hendon Music, Inc. This arrangement was made by permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.

Recorded at BankArt 1929 NYK Studio, Yokohama, Japan, 4-8 August 2012; Lake Sagami Hall, Kanagawa, Japan, 2-5 & 18-22 November 2012; Church at Azumino, Nagano, Japan, 6-7 November 2012

All tracks are recorded at 24-bit / 192kHz.

Recording Engineer: Yuji Sagae & Junichiro Hayashi

Produced and Mixed by Yuji Sagae & Kuniko Kato

Mastering by Bastiaan Kuijt, BK Audio

Executive Producer: Philip Hobbs, Linn Records

Photography by Mario Boccia & Michiyuki Ohba

Design by gmtoucari.com

Production Coordinator: Kim Campbell, Linn Records

Special thanks: Seiji Murai, Tsuyoshi Yasukawa, Michio Akiyama, Anna Suzuki, Yoichi Toishi, Yumiko Tanaka, natsuki urushibata, Takafumi oike, Makoto ohara, Shoichi kado, Akira Fukada, Seigen ono, Yasushi Tanaka, norio Sato, Taimi Paves, Eric Marinitsch, Aygün Lausch, Andy ito, 2

ARvo PäRt (b. 1935)

q FüR AlinA (1976/2012) ................................................................. 04:00 For vibrAPhonE & croTALES (Arr. kuniko kATo)

StEvE REiCh (b. 1936)

w nEw YoRk CountERPoint (1985/2012) ................................... 11:14 vErSion For MAriMbA (Arr. kuniko kATo)

ARvo PäRt

e CAntuS in MEMoRY oF bEnjAMin bRittEn (1977/2012) ...... 06:27 For MAriMbA (Arr. kuniko kATo)

r FRAtRES (1977/2012) .................................................................... 08:10 For MAriMbA & vibrAPhonE (Arr. kuniko kATo)

hYwEl DAviES

t PuRl GRounD (2003) ................................................................... 11:24

ARvo PäRt

y SPiEGEl iM SPiEGEl (1978/2012) ................................................ 10:25 For MAriMbA & bELLS (Arr. kuniko kATo)

totAl tiME: 51:40

cathy Jefferies at Linn records, ADAMS, Pearl, rME-Synthax Japan, Mi-7Japan, Steinberg, cottaTv, Sanken, Fujitsu-Ten corp, Saito, Lake Sagami hall, bankArT 1929, hakuju hall, hotaka view hotel, boosey & hawkes, universal Edition AG, Arvo Pärt center and istituto Giapponese di cultura in roma. 3

CAntuSAfter the success of my first album, kuniko plays reich, I wanted to make minimalist music more accessible. This is what inspired me to make this recording. On this album, I experimented with the sounds that could be created by percussive instruments, specifically the variety of voices that could be created on the marimba. The result is a recording that showcases the colours, depth and dynamics of the marimba in a way never heard before. Each of the tracks has been kept as close as possible to the original recording session so as to preserve its sense of ethereality and organic acoustic performance.

As a child learning piano, I found myself held back by my small hands. As I grew older, I discovered the marimba and instantly knew this was the instrument for me. Despite that initial enthusiasm, after a while I began to feel limited by what I perceived as the marimba’s constraints and moved away from it temporarily, not playing a single note for a number of years. Therefore it is with a great sense of accomplishment that as I continue my career as a soloist, every day I continue to surprise myself with the breadth of tone of which the marimba is capable. I now consider it the most indispensable instrument in my musical life.

My previous recording which features three of Steve Reich’s counterpoints got me thinking about how I could arrange his New York Counterpoint for marimba. My performance of New York Counterpoint was completed only after much thought and deliberation, and after numerous live performances.

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New York Counterpoint is among my favourite pieces and it is also one of Reich’s most popular compositions. With this new recording, I have recorded all of Reich’s counterpoints. Once more, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Steve Reich for his advice and supervision as I arranged this beautiful piece.

With Reich’s minimalism in my mind, I began to think about all of the other composers in this field. I found myself consistently being drawn into the world of another accomplished minimalist composer featured on this album: Arvo Pärt. His music is beautifully simple and comprises solemn, tender and sorrowful sounds. Whilst living in Belgium more than ten years ago, I found myself listening to his music in the quiet of night just as it was beginning to reach popularity. I rediscovered Pärt’s music as I was working on Cantus. As I immersed myself in his musical world, I felt an unalterable sense of pleasure and found myself deeply moved.

The pieces I have selected to perform for this album will be familiar to anyone who knows Pärt’s repertoire. I chose not only pieces composed for percussion instruments but I also chose compositions arranged for multiple instruments. I believe that Pärt’s music has incredible qualities: the ability to convey the entire scope of human emotion as well as the immense force and harshness of the natural world in which we exist. As we delve deep into Pärt’s world of minimalism, we are able to discover melodies and harmonies which affect both the heart and body profoundly.

Artistically, interpreting the raw emotion of each composition using only percussion instruments was a huge challenge whilst recording

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this album. I have taken every step to ensure that each track on this recording is as pure and as close to the original composition as possible by closely analysing the performance practices, recording locations and editing processes that I used. I am extremely grateful to Arvo Pärt for his generosity and support as I worked on these arrangements of his compositions for percussion instruments.

Contemporary music is often regarded as ‘difficult’ . However, it is my hope that you will find this music accessible; I hope that you enjoy these performances, the compositions themselves, and also the differences between my arrangements and the original compositions. To encounter great music is a true joy and a great adventure; I hope you will discover this pleasure whilst listening to these beautiful pieces by these great composers.

Finally I would like to extend my most sincere thanks to the producers and engineers who have been so generous and dedicated to the long journey that resulted in the completion of this album, as well as to every company and individual person who has supported me in this enterprise.

Spiegel im Spiegel and FratresBankART 1929 NYK Studio is located in a warehouse district which overlooks Yokohama port. This is where the Arvo Pärt section of the project started.

Rather than being a well-equipped recording studio or a concert hall, BankART 1929 NYK Studio is an old warehouse constructed of thick concrete walls which is used as a performing arts space. It is one of very few places in Japan where I could achieve the levels of resonance

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required, unlike Europe which is filled with large, old buildings such as churches that have acoustics that can be experimented with. I loved the extreme echoing sounds I was able to create in this space.

Ultimately, the takes I chose from BankART 1929 NYK Studio were the main section consisting of three chords from the solo parts of Fratres and the entire recording of Spiegel im Spiegel. The acoustics at this venue allowed me to create sounds similar to the traditional suikinnkutsu (a Japanese musical instrument that creates dripping sounds), resulting in each note spreading across the performance space, delicately lingering in the air.

Für AlinaSituated in the mountains near Nagano is the small church where I decided to record Für Alina. Every sound resounded in the church as I recorded in the cold, ancient structure and the soft sounds of the ladybirds travelled through the stained glass windows. It was in this unique environment that Alina was born.

cantus and new York counterpointMy greatest challenge during this project was to record New York Counterpoint and Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten. While it was necessary to use a studio to overdub both of these pieces, I needed the original recording to possess an airy, ethereal quality which would have been impossible to achieve inside a recording studio. Ultimately, I chose to record at Lake Sagami Hall; this concert hall has a very neutral character and provides a well-balanced acoustic reverberation.

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In New York Counterpoint I wanted to highlight the waves of sound that appear at the beginning of the composition (and other various sections). I also wanted to express the movement of each note in the second movement with a softer marimba sound in an effort to mimic the sounds created by the original instrument: the clarinet.

I was keen to find a way of incorporating the sounds of the clarinet into my arrangements without resorting to artificial or electronic techniques. Luckily, I was able to find a way to organically replicate these distinctive sounds. I used the entire five octave range of the marimba made entirely out of wood in conjunction with specific mallets and striking methods: bass clarinet tonguing techniques were replicated by strikes with a large rubber mallet (commonly used with the balafon in Africa) and the xylophone-like high notes in the third movement were recreated using the core of the marimba mallet.

In Cantus I avoided the conventional tremolo on the marimba and instead I sandwiched the bars between the mallets. I played the whole piece at pianissimo, without changing my dynamics. On the recording, when you hear the dynamics increase I am adding one of the orchestral parts. With over 29 orchestral parts and the additional microphones required for this recording, we had over 200 tracks by the end of the recording!

Cantus is a piece of incredible imagery: alternately powerful and overwhelming like an organ and then soft and prayer-like. It inspires visions of the deep, dominant forces within the earth juxtaposed with the gentleness of rain falling from the sky.

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Purl GroundAnother highly important piece is Purl Ground which was also recorded at Lake Sagami Hall. Written by the renowned British composer Hywel Davies, this is the only piece on the recording originally scored for solo marimba. Purl Ground was composed and premiered in Canada in 2003. Its British premiere took place in 2011 at the Cheltenham Music Festival and was performed by myself. Discovering this beautiful piece was a truly pleasant surprise for me. It is a fantastic minimalist composition that has become a favourite in my solo performance repertoire.

Purl Ground explores the quiet affinity between the bottom octave and the half-way point of the marimba. Beautifully written, featuring tremolo sounds that never surpass pianissimo, Purl Ground is reminiscent of a chorale, structured with a sequence of twelve chords and a special harmonic overtone that skilfully maintains a sotto voce dynamic throughout the piece. Purl Ground makes full use of the depth of the modern five octave marimba. Towards the end of the piece, a resonating sound, like a big bell, rings out endlessly. Achieving Davies’ desired hypnotic ‘hum’ in this recording required countless hours of rehearsals and recording takes. This piece is deeply evocative; when I close my eyes, I am greeted by visions of sunlight dancing on water, gently changing colour.

© kuniko kato, 2013

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kunikoKUNIKO is one of the most gifted and significant percussionists of her generation. Her astonishing virtuosity, exquisite musical insight and expressive yet elegant performance style continues to attract not only audiences, but established conductors and composers too. She is renowned for her flawless technique when playing both keyboard and percussion instruments, which blends seamlessly with her profound musical intelligence.

KUNIKO studied under the legendary marimba player Keiko Abe at Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Japan and advanced her studies under Robert Van Sice at Rotterdam Conservatorium in the Netherlands. She graduated with the highest honour (summa cum laude) as the first percussionist in the institution’s history. Whilst studying, KUNIKO continued to develop her professional career, playing various concertos and solo recitals including the Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra by Akira Miyoshi.

After graduation she was based in Europe for over ten years, winning major awards including the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis from the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt in 1996 and second prize at the International Leigh Howard Stevens Marimba competition in 1996. In 1997, KUNIKO recorded James Wood’s Marimba Concerto in London where her performance was highly complimented by the BBC. In addition, KUNIKO was a guest soloist at the James Wood Portrait concert at the 2001 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival which was broadcast

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on BBC Radio 3. In 1999, KUNIKO released her first solo album To The Earth.

Career highlights for KUNIKO include the Japanese premiere of the music theatre production of The Pure Land (Jodo) in 2005 by James Wood; a story based on Yukio Mishima’s novel The Priest of Shiga Temple and His Love. In May 2006, KUNIKO revived the legendary percussion concerto Cassiopeia by Toru Takemitsu as a part of the Takemitsu Memorial Concert at Tokyo Opera City in Japan. The performance was recorded live and is available on a limited edition CD. During 2008-09 KUNIKO showcased a solo recital at Sao Paulo University as part of the first International Percussion Festival, appeared at the historic Monday Evening Concert series in Los Angeles, performed a solo recital at Vancouver New Music Society and gave the Japanese premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Double Concerto at the Suntory Summer Festival.

In March 2009 KUNIKO created a new live performance: Sound Space Experiment – Steel Drum Works in Tokyo, Japan. At this performance she gave the world-premiere of Electric Counterpoint, transcribed for steel pans, marimba and vibraphone by Steve Reich. In 2010 she was invited to perform concerts and give master classes in Canada, Australia, Portugal, Congo and South Africa. KUNIKO also performed Steel Drum Works in Vancouver, Canada, Saitama and Itami, Japan, and at the international music festival Les Flâneries Musicales de Reims in France in 2011.

KUNIKO’s critically acclaimed album kuniko plays reich was released on Linn in 2011 and was their best-selling album of the year. kuniko plays reich features unique multi-tracked arrangements of classic 1980s

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minimalist works by Steve Reich, personally endorsed by the composer. KUNIKO performed her Reich arrangements live in Tokyo, New York, Modena, Reims and at the Cheltenham Festival in England in 2011. Her 2012 schedule included multiple performances in Japan, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona and Koln, a major residency in Armenia and a tour of Australia.

KUNIKO continues to perform and collaborate with internationally renowned composers, conductors and orchestras including Franco Donatoni, James Wood, Toru Takemitsu, Iannis Xenakis, Seiji Ozawa, Steve Reich and Unsuk Chin. In addition to her solo performances in Asia, Europe and the United States, she has been a member of various orchestras and chamber groups such as the Saito Kinen Orchestra (Japan), Ensemble ICTUS (Belgium) and Ensemble NOMAD (Tokyo, Japan). An extremely versatile musician, KUNIKO has been actively involved in various creative art scenes and has collaborated with prominent artists including Netherlands Dance Theatre dancer Megumi Nakamura, theatre director Satoshi Miyagi, and Za Ondecoza, a Japanese taiko drumming group. KUNIKO also produces commercial music, including theme music for the television programme NHK Art Theatre.

KUNIKO is strongly committed to music education through percussion workshops, master classes and open rehearsals whenever possible in conjunction with her solo recitals. She has been working with children with learning disabilities in Japan since 2004, one example of which includes a series of log drum (slit drum) workshops.

KUNIKO is endorsed globally by Adams and Pearl. She currently resides in the U.S.A.

www.kuniko-kato.net15

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kuniko katokuniko plays reich

‘Kuniko Kato is a first rate percussionist who has put a lot of careful thought and hours of rehearsal into making this excellent [album]. She has created new and very beautiful arrangements.’ Steve Reich

‘Kuniko has since established herself as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of Reich’s percussion pieces...’ time out tokyo

‘It’s a hypnotic and strangely calming experience.’ the observer