Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu has built an international following with music that draws from traditional Japanese modes and rhythm that is highly attractive, easily digested, and yet unsentimental and never hackneyed or cloying. However, prior to the works presented on the Camerata collection Stellar Dream Dances, Yoshimatsu had seldom done so with traditional Japanese instruments, favoring the piano, orchestra, and other instrumental resources owing to the West. As Yoshimatsu wrote in the notes, "until (he composed Stellar Dream Dances in 2002), I could not imagine an orchestra for Japanese instruments (…) as my kind of music -- it cannot be denied that I have been feeling a little distant for a long time with respect to the difficulties posed by Japanese musical instruments." However, he has found a way to compromise; aware that his musical style, with its irregular rhythms and distinct, almost pop modality, was at its essence incompatible with Japanese instruments, Yoshimatsu decided to open up his usually fairly specific style of notation to "ad libitum" elements, and that helped him break through.
If one is already experiencing success through composing for Western instruments, why even bother with trying to subject one's musical language to the world of bamboo flutes, kotos, and the like? For Yoshimatsu, it gives him a chance to collaborate with Pro Musica Nipponia, an ensemble of traditional Japanese instrument players who perform new musical works written for them; the work of Minoru Miki is strongly associated with this excellent group, and Yoshimatsu has known several of the members for many years. The title work is a series of graceful, strongly modal suites of short dances, of which the last ends in a rousing send up of blues and boogie figurations as played on the Japanese instruments, demonstrating that a sense of "fun" is never far away from Yoshimatsu's music. Sei-Gen-Fu (2006) is a much quieter, contemplative suite composed for sho and the 20-string koto; of the three pieces, this one is the most traditional in feel. The concluding Wind Dream Dances (2006) is written as a duo for bamboo flute and 20-string koto; it blends some of the atmosphere of Sei-Gen-Fu back into the rhythmic and modal flavor of the Stellar Dream Dances. Yoshimatsu's work in this area continues to evolve; however, Camerata's Stellar Dream Dances is a commendable exemplar of the strong start he has made, and the performances by Pro Musica Nipponia are, as usual, first class, not to mention Camerata's transparent, pristine recording.