Talea Ensemble: Steven Kazuo Takasugi

Program Notes

Steven Kazuo Takasugi
Piano Concerto, Sinfonietta Version (2023)

Movement I: “Howl, Howl, Howl”

Once upon a time, an ant met a fungus . . .

Part 1
An Encounter
Some Recede, Some Remain
A Strange Twittering
Twirling Leaf
The Machine-Wreckers

Part 2
Look Up
Something in the Air
“What’s Happening to Me?”
“What Am I Doing?”
“Where Is Everyone?”

Part 3
Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis
Unprecedented Behavior: The Strange Ascent
Leaf Vein
Brief Resistance
Stroma Stalk: Howl
Vomit!
Under a Dripping Tree
Raining Spores
A Farewell

Movement II: “Some Cry for Their Mothers”

“To the Sentimental Poet . . .”

Part 1
The Arrival of Vindictive Spirits
They Press Their Case
Time’s Private Chamber

Part 2
Ascent/Descent I: “An Aerial Dart?”
Ascent/Descent II
Ascent/Descent III
First Assault Wave
Second Assault Wave
Third Assault Wave

Part 3
When the Smoke Clears
Some Cry for Their Mothers
The Last Few Remaining
The Sponge-Earth

Movement III: “Affektenlehre: Towards a
Science of Obliteration”

“A music that could break me apart, just shred
me and dissolve every bit . . .” (Seán Ó Dálaigh)

Part 1
Sturm und Drang I
First Void: “. . . just not for us.”
Sturm und Drang II
Second Void: “Grey Impalpable World”
Sturm und Drang III

Part 2
Empfindsamer Stil I: “A Figure in the Rain”
Empfindsamer Stil II: “Someone Imploring”
Sturm und Drang IV / Empfindsamer Stil III:
“The Approach of Their Forms”
Empfindsamer Stil IV: “Their Strange
Wayward Existence”

Part 3
Sturm und Drang V: “A Science of Obliteration
(for Seán Ó Dálaigh)”
Third Void: “A Mirror in Which to Gaze . . .
at Your Thoughts”
Fourth Void: “Sinking Void”