When writing for guitar Toru Takemitsu managed to make his free-floating runs, prismatic chord clusters, and sparsely populated textures fit snugly and naturally within the instrument’s parameters. The composer’s fascination with the guitar also yielded 13 arrangements of folk and pop songs. They are essentially mood pieces that tow a thin line between lite-jazz and new age, but contain enough harmonic spice and registral savvy to sustain your attention. Much of Franz Halász’s phrase shaping suggests a less than idiomatic notion of how the tunes might be sung. “Over the Rainbow”, for instance, needs more contrast between the melody and its surrounding filigree. Then again, Takemitsu’s ballad-like treatment of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” hardly captures the driving density of the original. No beefs, however, concerning Halász’s quiet mastery in the original works, especially his evocative treatment of the triptychs Folios for Guitar (1974) and In The Woods (1995)–probably the last composition Takemitsu was able to complete. The 1987 cycle All in Twilight emerges with warmer tone and more character in the hands of its dedicatee, Julian Bream (EMI), but BIS’ spacious engineering helps Halász’s case. Excellent booklet notes round out this noteworthy release.
