About 100 years ago, Schoenberg created atonal music and the 12-tone technique in an attempt to break away from the traditional tonal music which inherited at Europe.
About 60 years ago, Toru Takemitsu created new modern music originally that based on his unique and honed sensibility music in an attempt to break away from Japanese modern music which was just following the Western music.
We are facing the new world, which is changing dramatically right now, so I would like to believe in the power of these two composers to create something new and unique that has never existed before through listening these two composers' pieces.

Arnold Schönberg: Sechs kleine Klavierstücke op.19

This is a set of pieces which was composed in 1911. It consists of six very short pieces. The first five pieces were composed in just one day on February 19. The sixth piece was composed on June 17th, 1911, based on his impressions of the death and burial of his admirer, Gustav Mahler.
All six pieces have a harmonic sound but no functioning tonality and there is atonal music. Each short six pieces has different characters independently.

1. Leicht, zart (Light, delicate)
The melody starts like humming. The harmony changes rapidly, never stopping in one place.
The melody appears lightly and delicately, then fades away finally.

2. Langsam (Slow)
There are three-note staccato with "äußerst kurz (Very Short)" on score and contrasting elastic melodies that intersect with each other in humorous way.

3. Sehr langsame (Very slow)
There is description "In the first four bars should be played forte by the right hand and pianissimo by the left hand" on score. From bar 5, the melody appears as if it is pondering something, and the dialogue ends with a harmony as if in response for the melody.

4. Rasch, aber leicht (Brisk, but light)
There is a humorous rhythm comes, and stops. Music moves as if it is thinking, then sounds forte suddenly at the end as if it gets an idea.

5. Etwas rasch (Somewhat brisk)
A light waltz. The right hand and the left hand move like a mirror as if there are a man and a woman exchanging steps. Suddenly, the steps collapse at the end.

6. Sehr langsam (Very slow)
The clear growth of harmony and the overlapping of echoes that remind us of a quiet space.
The final music note is "wie ein Hauch (as if breath or a gentle breeze)"


Piano Distance, Toru Takemitsu

The work was composed in 1961. It was composed for pianist Yuji Takahashi's first recital at Sogetsu Hall in April 1961. The title of the piece has no special meaning.
This piece has description such as dynamics or using pedal in detail that is divided into three-second bar line.
There is no style or structure that Western music has followed, and no tonality or regular rhythms as well.
There are honed sounds and both player and listeners are drawn into the world of Takemitsu.

"The proper function of words may name the things. However, I think that the words should make a ripple or vibration through someone's heart when people contact to the words. I also think about music, it should get into inside and give the change to them as well."
- From a book "The Multi-Layeredness of Sound and Words; What Invokes Music", written by Toru Takemitsu