It has already been some 7 years since I first encountered Koyama’s music. At that time, it was performed amid works by various composers and its contemporaneity was emphasized. But when I listened afresh at his first solo exhibition on December 17, I was surprised to discover that his music is actually filled with great lyricism. This exhibition consisted mainly of solo works; the only accompanied works were songs set to poems by Chūya Nakahara. Perhaps this helped bring their melodic quality into sharper relief.
The program began with piano and continued with clarinet, soprano, flute, and euphonium before concluding with marimba. Every work had a relatively clear melody and some degree of tonality. The songs based on poems by Chūya Nakahara were almost Romantic.
Koyama says a composer may hold a solo exhibition only 3 or 4 times in a lifetime, at most, but he need not be so reserved. Continuing concerts in this form, even annually, will eventually lead to recognition.
Such a solo exhibition also inevitably takes on the character of a gala concert from the performers’ perspective. It would be worth considering planning recitals by each performer alongside a series of such exhibitions, organically linking them to create a synergistic effect.
Koyama says, “I do not like forming factions,” but this is not about forming a faction; it is purely a matter of marketing. Unless concerts with this kind of organic linkage are held regularly, it will be difficult to cure Japanese audiences’ allergy to contemporary music.
For that reason as well, I very much hope Koyama will persevere.
(Natsuhiko Sakimura)
Concert of Works by Kazuhiko Koyama
December 17, 1996
Izumi Hall
(Nishi-Kokubunji, Tokyo)
Improvisation for Piano 1989 (revised 1992)
Piano: Kazuhiko Koyama“Kei,” for Solo Clarinet in B, 1996 (premiere)
Clarinet: Takashi Yamane“Shinshō,” Songs on Poems by Chūya Nakahara, I II, 1994
Soprano: Ayako Ukai Piano: Kazuhiko KoyamaIntermission
“Hishō,” for Solo Flute, 1996
Flute: Hidehiko Watase“Tatazumite,” for Solo Euphonium, 1995
Euphonium: Sōtarō FukaishiDivertimento for Marimba, 1996 (premiere)
Marimba: Kazuko Kishida
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