Word: ta
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...occasion was the world premiere of a 20-minute Concerto for Solo Percussion and Orchestra. If the event had a distinctly Japanese flavor, that was understandable. The star of the evening was Solo Percussionist Stomu Yamash'ta, 22, who took on all 47 instruments, and the conductor was Seiji Ozawa. Even Composer Heuwell Tircuit had an Oriental background; now a music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, he spent eight years as a percussionist with Japanese orchestras...
Dressed in a white tuxedo with black bellbottoms, Soloist Yamash'ta shuffled onto the stage, crouched behind his instruments while Ozawa unleashed a brass-heavy fanfare. After a menacing roll on the bass drum, Yamash'ta picked up speed and energy, began to ricochet from one instrument to another. Hair flopping, arms flying, he nudged, banged, tickled and teased the instruments. At one point he flailed away with both hands, simultaneously blowing onto bamboo sticks, kicking the prayer bells and rubbing his body frenziedly against the gongs. After it was all over, the audience gave him a standing...
Though critics have always suspected that some conductors studied under ballet masters, Yamash'ta's debt to the dance world is legitimate. A musical prodigy who took up drumming at the age of twelve, he became timpanist with the Kyoto and Osaka orchestras two years later, studying ballet on the side. Soon after, Director Akira Kurosawa picked him to perform the score for the movie Yojimbo, and at 16 he made his first solo appearance, playing Milhaud's Percussion Concerto with the Osaka Philharmonic. He traveled to the U.S. in 1964 and won a scholarship...
From Kitchen to Dining Room. Yamash'ta is determined to transform "the kitchen" (musicians' derisive label for the percussion section) into a dining room. "If I play Beethoven's Fifth 500 times in my life as an orchestra percussionist, what have I achieved?" he says. Adds Composer Tircuit: "What can a percussionist possibly do with a bass drum that will be interesting for any length of time? We've got to try to find a way to write pieces that are musically meaningful...
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS (ABC, 4-5 p.m.). A field including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino and last year's champ Don January will be trying for the $30,000 first prize. Final round Sunday, 4-5:30 p.m. From La Cos ta Country Club, Rancho La Costa,Calif...