Improvised Music from Japan / Discography

Kazue Sawai

John Cage: Three Dances [Four Prepared 17-stringed Kotos Version]

(Japan Traditional Cultures Foundation/Victor Entertainment, VZCG 736) (Japan) (CD)

    Three Dances [1945/rev. 1989]: Four Prepared 17-stringed Kotos Version
    Composed by John Cage
    Revised by Kazue Sawai
  1. 1 (6:08)
  2. 2 (10:37)
  3. 3 (14:10)

  4. Malvina for Koto [1989] (16:21)
    Composed by Christian Wolff

  5. Concerto for Koto and Orchestra [1985] (20:54)
    Composed by Takashi Kako

  6. Sanka (Song of Praise) [1978] (11:00)
    Composed by Tadao Sawai

Kazue Sawai: 17-stringed koto (1-3, 5), 13-stringed koto (4-6)
Yoko Nishi: 17-stringed koto (1-3)
Hideaki Kuribayashi: 17-stringed koto (1-3)
Etsuko Takebayashi: 17-stringed koto (1-3)
New Japan Philharmonic [conductor: Michiyoshi Inoue] (5)

Tracks 1-4: recorded by Takashi Sakurai at Studio Es, January 23-25, 1991, mixed by Takashi Sakurai
Track 5: recorded live by Fontec Inc. at U-PORT Hall, January 25, 1985, mixed by Fontec Inc.
Track 6: recorded and mixed by David Lord at Crescent Studios, Bath, UK, August 1987
Reissue mastered by Ichiro Tanaka
Reissue design by Kiyomi Hashimoto
Includes a 20-page booklet with liner notes by Kazue Sawai, John Cage, Christian Wolff, Takashi Kako, and Tadao Sawai; a biography of Kazue Sawai (all in Japanese and English); and black-and-white photos

Released in April 2010
Originally released in 1992 as the CD Three Pieces on My Record (COL-003), except track 6, which is previously unreleased