Nirvana-Symphony
Toshiro Mayuzumi/NHK Symphony Orchestra with Chorus conducted by Wilhelm Schüchter
Time Records 58004
1962
I haven't done a post on any classical records although I do have a few hundred of them. Mostly this is because I feel unqualified and have nothing I want to say about them. I took a musical appreciation class in college and took music performance classes in grade school, but my formal musical knowledge is rudimentary at best. There are some classical records I really love, but what am I going to say about Bach or Mozart that doesn't make me sound like an idiot? I like and listen to all kinds of music now that I'm old, but I have always been a rock guy and that's never going to change. That's how I approach all music, not so much in terms of "it has a good beat and you can dance to it," but rather as a visceral and emotional experience. Classical music typically requires concentration and effort to fully appreciate whereas I'm generally just along for the ride. Nonetheless I am going to take a crack at this record because it did make a big impression on me when I heard it. I only became aware of this album last year when I read the memoir of Bob Dylan's former girlfriend Suze Rotolo. She rhapsodized about the album which she heard in the early 1960s while she was dating Dylan. Intrigued, I tracked down a copy of the album. The Japanese version of the album has been reissued and is easy to find, but I opted for a vintage copy of the American edition because it features cover art by Yoko Ono. I have to admit my listening experience was not as profound as the one Rotolo described in her book, but I'm not a spiritual guy. I would say my experience was more akin to psychedelia than religion. Mayuzumi composed the Symphony in 1957-1958 at which time he was also a prolific film composer (I am a fan of his modernist score for Mizoguchi's "Street of Shame.") Modernism definitely informs this album, Mayuzumi even cites Schoenberg and Varèse in his liner notes. I think film soundtrack music is also an influence, there is a program music aspect to parts of it. However the work is most strongly influenced by traditional Japanese religious music, in particular Buddhist temple bells. Mayuzumi went so far in his bell fascination to name his three movements "Campanology I, II and III." "Campanology I" is titled "Suramgamah" which is the name of the Buddhist sutra sung by the chorus in the piece. It begins slow and ominously like the soundtrack to an old horror film or a gloomy gothic romance. The orchestra simulates the chiming of a temple bell and the music is heavy and atmospheric punctured by sharp instrumental spikes. It has an other-worldly feel to it that is appropriate for a spiritual journey to Nirvana, although it might just as well be the soundtrack for a journey to hell since the music is so foreboding. It gradually gives way to a more sedate passage with languorous bell chimes that announces the beginning of the sutra sung by a male chorus. The music that accompanies the chorus consists largely of bell sounds and the sutra is soothing and mesmerizing. Eventually the sutra abruptly shifts tone becoming more staccato and urgent boosted by slashing string notes and percussive effects ultimately becoming quite dramatic before petering away into "Campanology II" which is titled "Mahaprajnaparamita." It is a short instrumental piece featuring sedate orchestral passages in a more Western modernist style punctuated by bits of bell type sounds. It evolves into a drone (which I wished lasted longer) that rises to a crescendo to end the piece. Side two opens with "Campanology III" titled "Finale" which begins with a Buddhist chant with minimal accompaniment once again typically bell-like. The chant is polyphonic and hypnotic (Mayuzumi compares it to a Gregorian Chant in his liner notes which I think is apt.) It is followed by a cacophonous orchestral flurry that simulates the ringing of multiple bells. This section is extremely dynamic and powerful and I find it the most compelling music on the record particularly when the chorus joins in with the orchestra. It gradually transitions to a more sedate passage of elongated string notes and the chorus slowly chanting producing a very pleasing drone sound. The bell sounds return and the music swells building to a roaring climax that gradually ebbs away to the sound of chiming bells as the piece concludes. I'm basically just crudely describing what I hear, but it is quite a musical journey. I can easily understand why Rotolo was so taken by it. When I listen to it late at night it does seem to have a magical almost transformative quality and I do find myself emotionally engaged by it in a manner that I rarely experience listening to modern classical music perhaps because of Mayuzumi's experience as a film composer. I'm not a Buddhist nor am I religious, but when I was younger I read a bunch of books on Zen Buddhism so I do have some idea about what Mayuzumi's intentions are, but I think even someone who hears the word "Nirvana" and only thinks of Kurt Cobain would be engaged by this music. As a dumb rock guy, I am not really doing this work justice, but I do believe it can be enjoyed the way rock fans enjoy progressive rock or even psychedelic rock. It takes me on a trip. Recommended to fans of Györgi Ligeti who dig Quicksilver Messenger Service.
