Junichi Hirokami [Friend of the JPO (Artistic Advisor)] Conductor Interview for the 781nd Tokyo Subscription Concert
Interview with Junichi Hirokami
Japan Philharmonic Orchestra: Towards the 781nd Tokyo Regular Concert
Listener: Yudai Yamano
◆A fantastical violin concerto inspired by "Arabian Nights"!
--At your Tokyo regular concert in January of this year, Maestro, you performed Fazil Say's (1970-), a contemporary Turkish composer and popular pianist, cello concerto "Never Give Up." This earnest work, overflowing with a "cry for freedom and peace," received a very enthusiastic response...and in this regular concert, you will perform Say's violin concerto "One Thousand and One Nights in Harlem." It is a work inspired by the famous "Arabian Nights (One Thousand and One Nights)."
This is quite a masterpiece, and the music is very memorable. It's a piece that Mone Hattori, who plays the solo, includes in her repertoire and performs everywhere as if it were her own composition. We're performing it this time at her request, and she truly is incredibly talented. She's a violinist who just keeps going without a break, to the point where it's almost worrying.
--Ms. Hattori recently performed "One Thousand and One Nights in Harlem" with the Kansai Philharmonic in June 2023 and with the Tokyo Philharmonic in October 2024 to great acclaim, so we are looking forward to her performance with the Japan Philharmonic again. Speaking of music based on the "Arabian Nights," Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic suite "Scheherazade" is also popular, but this Say piece, with its use of various Turkish percussion instruments and enchanting rhythms, features a diverse and brilliant violin solo... I think it can be enjoyed without thinking of it as a contemporary piece.
That's right. First of all, why have audiences come to have the preconceived notion that "I don't like contemporary music"? Professor Naosumi Yamamoto understood that point. He was a person who could write experimental works, but before that he wrote tonal pieces, theatrical music, and even did a program called "The Orchestra Has Arrived"... Composers like him and Professor Yuzo Toyama understood that "it's not about that [experimental works]" in the first place. Even Mozart said something like, "It's not good to have a work that is too difficult to understand. I want to write music that is just a little bit ahead of the curve, music that will definitely be understood by the audience." I think that the reason why contemporary music has deviated from that attitude is the desire for self-display and the desire for recognition.
When I was a conducting student, I felt I needed to listen to all kinds of music, so I went to a contemporary music concert, only to find that there were fewer audience members than performers on stage. Everyone had such serious expressions on their faces...and it would be fine if it was just one contemporary piece, but when they played several pieces in a row that are unlikely to be performed again, I remember leaving the venue wondering if this was truly enriching. There is value in opportunities for contemporary music to be created, such as in the Japan Philharmonic Series, where carefully selected composers write pieces that are often performed again, but if it's only experimental works, it will be difficult for regular subscribers of the orchestra to accept them. This is also our responsibility as an orchestra for not having done enough to educate people about contemporary music.
Amidst all this, Fazil Say's works, partly because he himself is an excellent performer, are music that even ordinary people will find wonderful and think, "What a great piece of music!" This isn't because he's trying to pander to anyone; he's simply expressing the music he hears in his own heart.
—It's a song that will make a riot of fantasy blossom in the listener's mind, so please enjoy it without overthinking it.
◆To the brilliance of the "good old days"—Gershwin's "An American in Paris"
—By the way, the concert will begin with George Gershwin's (1898-1937) "An American in Paris" (1928). It's a delightful piece, vividly influenced by jazz, written from the perspective of an American traveling to the city of lights. It's a popular and witty piece, even using actual car horns to represent the hustle and bustle of the city.
We start with works from what you might call "the good old America," the era when America was at its most glorious. It was even used in a delightful film starring Gene Kelly [Vincente Minnelli's "An American in Paris," released in 1951]. Gershwin was aware at the time that his compositional technique was immature, so he went to meet the French composer Ravel to learn composition from him. However, after looking at the score of Gershwin's work, Ravel said something to the effect of, "You already have first-rate talent, so you don't need to learn from a second-rate person like me." It's amazing that Ravel recognized his talent, and it's also amazing that Gershwin was able to elicit such a response from Ravel.
I really love his Piano Concerto in F major, but he was also the man who wrote the opera "Porgy and Bess," in America where racial discrimination was rampant, and in which all the characters were Black. He was a man with a strong sense of equality as a human being. In that respect, he was the same as Beethoven. It's a shame he died so young.
◆A masterpiece overflowing with "humanitarianism," uniquely American: Copland's Symphony No. 3
--Gershwin was born in New York to Jewish immigrant parents, and Aaron Copeland (1900-90), whom we will hear at the end of our next regular concert, was also born in New York to Jewish immigrant parents.
America is a country of immigrants, isn't it? Originally, people who could no longer stay in Europe came and took the land of the indigenous people.
--The piece to be performed today is Copland's Symphony No. 3 (1946). The maestro just conducted this piece with the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra in January.
It was wonderful. This is a masterpiece, isn't it! Although it must be quite challenging for the orchestra (laughs). Bernstein greatly admired Copland's music, and I myself have performed a limited number of Copland's works, such as the ballet music "Appalachian Spring" and "Rodeo." I think his music is about "love for humanity." He must have been pursuing that ideal. You can feel a "hymn to humanity" even in the magnificent final movement of this Symphony No. 3.
—The fact that the final movement begins with "Fanfare for the Common Man," which is also famous as a standalone piece, is another reason for its popularity, isn't it?
This was originally a fanfare commissioned during World War II to inspire the public.
—Of course, you can simply enjoy the music in this regular program, but I think your way of listening will change if you consider its connection to the historical context in which each piece was written.
You're absolutely right. This isn't difficult, and there's no specific way you have to listen to it. I hope that everyone will listen to the sounds the work paints while reflecting on their own life stories and experiences.
Copland, who seriously considered the nature of composition during the period spanning World War II, and Gershwin, who had hits against the backdrop of the Jazz Age, a time when the culture of the Roaring Twenties flourished as a reaction to the horrors following World War I... Just by comparing the backgrounds of these two American composers who lived through different "post-war" periods, I think we can see the nuances of their music in a deeper way.
Copland's third movement is so profound! It depicts the horrifying things that flow deep within the human psyche... It's truly original music, with a glimmer of hope even amidst the depression. And from there, the music doesn't stop, continuing into the final movement, "Fanfare for the Common Man."
—The way it continues is also profound.
That's right. Even in the first movement, the grand music evokes a sense of the American continent, and this is music that is distinct from European music, but rather characteristic of a composer with an American sensibility. The second movement feels like an homage to Prokofiev, or rather, like a tribute to him.
—During Copland's youth when he studied in Paris, Prokofiev was also a rising genius, so the influence between them is quite interesting.
781th Tokyo Subscription Concert
Saturday, June 6, 2026 14:00 (Doors open at 13:10)
Sunday, June 7, 2026 14:00 (Doors open at 13:10)
Suntory Hall
Conductor: Junichi Hirokami [Friend of the JPO (Artistic Advisor)]
Violin: Moné Hattori
Gershwin: An American in Paris
Fazil Say: Violin Concerto "A Thousand and One Nights in Harlem" Op.25
Copland: Symphony No. 3
S seat ¥9,500 A seat ¥8,000 B seat ¥7,000 C seat ¥6,000 P seat ¥5,000 Ys seat ¥2,500
