Toshio Hosokawa's affinity for the guitar stems from his familiarity with popular songs accompanied by the guitar and from his knowledge of the koto, a traditional Japanese instrument from which he has adopted certain playing techniques.
Although the works gathered here call for a variety of forces – guitar solo, guitar and voice, guitar and instrumental ensemble – they all present a fundamental aspect of Toshio Hosokawa’s output: the music seems to be born like a calligraphic line at the limit of time and space.
Toshio Hosokawa's complete works for guitar have now been released as a CD on the BIS records label, recorded by Jacob Kellermann with soprano Ilse Eerens and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra under Christian Karlsen.
