Program Notes
In traditional Japanese court music (gagaku), the netori introduces the tonality of the larger composition to follow. It is a stylized manner of tuning the instruments, warming up the musicians and setting the atmosphere of the performance.
This netori actually “introduces” a response to Japanese music and culture from my first-hand experience as a guest of The Japan Foundation in 1990.
This work was commissioned by The Chamber Music Conference and Composers’ Forum of the East in Bennington, Vermont in the same year and is dedicated to Toru Takemitsu for his 60th birthday.