Asterism, for piano and orchestra (1969)
Yuji Takahashi, piano
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa
"Asterism: 1. (Astronomy) a. a group of stars, b. a constellation. 2. (Crystallography) a property of some crystallized minerals showing a starlike luminous figure in transmitted light or, in a cabochon-cut stone, by reflected light. 3. three asterisks placed before a passage to direct attention to it. (from Greek 'asterismos' derived from 'asterizein' = mark with stars.)"
Commissioned in 1968 by RCA Records and "respectfully dedicated to Yuji Takahashi and Seiji Ozawa," Asterism is scored for conventional forces, with an explicit number of strings plus a much expanded percussion section instructed, among other departures, to rub the spine of a hard-rubber comb across a suspended cymbal, to draw a double-bass bow across one of three pitched Chinese gongs and to use two beaters against a tam-tam during the crescendo that is the anguishing, ultimately ecstatic climax of this music. Asterism was given its world premiere by Seiji Ozawa, Yuji Takahashi and the Toronto Symphony on January 14,1969.
--Roger Dettmer
