An Analysis of the Musical Style and Conception of “Memo Flora” (Published)

Takashi Yoshimatsu is a famous neo-romantic composer in modern Japan. He opposes the unmusical modern music and his works have distinctive styles. Based on European classical music, he integrates jazz, rock, modern music, folk music, electronic music and many other genres in his works, which are full of Oriental characteristics at the same time. Piano concerto op. 67 “Memo Flora” was composed in 1997. This piece is dedicated to young Japanese pianist Kyoko Tabe for her excellent performance of a series of piano solo works named “Pleiades Dance”. It shares the same tone, the same trilogy, and the same double-pipe arrangement as Mozart’s bB major concerto K.595. Based on the western structure, it uses the eastern tone to describe the beautiful characteristics of flowers, birds and spring scenery. Among the numerous works of Yoshimatsu, it is a unique one with romantic, gentle and dreamy style. Each movement is very different from the obscure modern style, but like a kaleidoscope of music, can be said to be one of Yoshimatsu’s best masterpieces.

Keywords: Japanese composer, analyse, contemporary music, neo-romantic style