AKIRA NISHIMURA (b.1953): Clarinet Concerto "Kavira", Serpent in the Sky for Yokobue and Orchestra, Vision and Mantra for Orchestra.

Description: Kavira, the subtitle of the clarinet concerto, is a bird of paradise in Buddhist philosophy, that sings from heaven to impart the words of Buddha to human souls. Symbolized in the piece by the soloist, its eloquent, mellifluous song is surrounded by an aura of subtle percussion, piano and harp texture, and sometimes interrupted by more dissonant material from the winds and strings, representing the human world. Serpent has as soloist the traditional Japanese flute (of four types, in four registers); its breathy, whispering tone is contrasted with clusters and rustling, sometimes effectively unpitched orchestral textures, like sounds of nature. Vision... is based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and suggests a solemn ritual in Nishimura's characteristic dense textural sound-world, with fluid clusters and waves of block sonority, from which dramatic pentatonic fragments rise like jagged mountainous outcroppings emerging from obscuring fog and darkness. Karl Leister (clarinet), Michiko Akao (yokobue), Württemberg Philharmonic Reutlingen; Norichika Iimori.