Conservatory of Music

by Joji Yuasa

This work was written as a memorial for Yoshiro Irino, one of the pioneering composers of Japanese contemporary music. It was premiered in Tokyo by T. Morita in May 1980. The piece employs various extended techniques for clarinet, including multiphonics, double flageolet tones, and double thrills. The motif in the beginning section is based on the twelve-tone series, in reference to Mr. Irino, who first introduced the twelve-tone technique to post-war Japan and used it thereafter in his own work. A series of double flageolet tones that appear in the middle section signify, for the composer, a “chorale” for the dead.