ABSOLUTELY ON MUSIC:
Conversations with Seiji Ozawa
Haruki Murakami
Harvill Secker/Penguin Random House
By GEOFF ADAMS
Haruki Murukami is the internationally best-selling writer of novels, short stories and non-fiction, and a man who clearly has a passion for music. Seiji Ozawa is the famous conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for nearly 30 years and a number of other orchestras.
Recorded conversations between the two friends over a period of two years are pleasantly relaxed and interesting, focusing on their appreciation of music. They allow us to glimpse into the minds of these two maestros and their creative process. Never a stormy debate, the talks make sweet melodies that may linger on for many readers — especially book and music lovers.
Murakami notes similarities between the lives of the pair during their talks (both begin the working day well before dawn) but mostly explores his admiration for music and Ozawa’s career. We learn the conductor has a deep conviction he should "convert the music exactly as it’s written into actual sound". But he is quick to praise other musicians, conductors and orchestras without voicing any major criticisms.
His own work habits entail heavy study of scores in preparation for concerts.
"The work itself changes you; the one thing a conductor has to do is to get sounds out of the orchestra; I read the score and create a piece of music in my mind, after which I work with the orchestra members to turn it into actual sounds, and that process gives rise to all sorts of things."
Murakami learned to write by listening to music: "No one’s going to read what you write unless it’s got rhythm. It has to have an inner rhythmic feel that propels the reader forward."
The two friends listen to recorded music together and reflect on Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3 , Brahms’ Symphony No.1, and Gustav Mahler’s music, as well as the joys of conducting with Leonard Bernstein, with whom Ozawa worked as assistant in the 1960s.
Ozawa sees music as the indispensable fuel that keeps him going through life. Murakami identifies himself as an "amateur" but we learn he is an avid collector of classical recordings and attends classical concerts and operas. He also loves jazz (one interesting discussion is about the blues in Chicago in the swinging 1960s). Ozawa admires Louis Armstrong deeply.
This book is easy reading and music is "absolutely" the winner.
- Geoff Adams is a former ODT editor.
