BASS CLARINET CONCERTO BY
SOMEI SATOH

The Bass clarinet concerto of Somei Satoh, which is dedicated to Frans Moussault is a homage to the painter Vincent van Gogh.  Somei Satoh writes about his connection with van Gogh: 

      “I know my musical talent can not be compared with the artistic talent of Van Gogh. There is a difference between heaven and earth, but I see one similarity. Both Van Gogh and I see the unseeable, hear the inaudible.”

      “In the paintings of Van Gogh, this world and the other world overlap. Sometimes lights of different dimensions gently cross each other, and sometimes sharp light causes halation.”

      “Some people say he was mad.  But I think that his perception was quite normal. People have forgotten or lost their sense of perception. Time does not stream into one direction, from the past to the future. Past, present and future are always mixed in chaos. One moment is eternal.”

    “A human being is not enclosed in an infinite space. The universe exists in a single elementary particle. That secret is hidden in Van Gogh’s paintings. I wish my music also contains the same secret.”

translation by Fuyuko Tomita

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THE WORLD PREMIERE OF THIS PIECE WITH CONDUCTOR JUNICHI HIROKAMI, THE JAPAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA AND FRANS MOUSSAULT AS SOLOIST IN THE SUNTORY HALL TOKYO WILL BE ON THE 11TH & 12TH OF JULY 2025

​https://japanphil.or.jp/concert/20250711

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original text by Somei Satoh:

『僕とゴッホの才能は天と地ほどの開きがありますが、共通点があると思います。

僕とゴッホは眼に見えざるものを見、耳に聞こえざるものを聴いていることです。

ゴッホの絵はあの世とこの世の風景が重なっています。

あるいは異なる次元の光がやわやわと交差し、時には強烈に射し込みハレーションを起こしています。

それを狂気と感じる人もいますが、ゴッホの感覚こそが人間にとって正常なのです。

その感覚を人はいつの間にか忘れてしまったのにすぎません。

時間は過去から未来に一方方向に流れるのではなく、過去現在未来は常に混淆し、一瞬は永遠なのです。

人間は無限の空間に包含されるのではなく、一粒の素粒子に永遠の宇宙がある。

ゴッホの絵にはその秘密が隠されているのです。僕の音楽もそうありたいと常に願ってきました。』

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picture: Boomwortels by Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Stichting)

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