PIANO HORIZON〔1981〕

Piano Horizon: Beyond Minimalism

Akemi Satomi graduated from Toho Gakuen School of Music, then studied with Germaine Mounier at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. After returning to Japan, she launched a recital series in 1975, which from 1979 onward was branded "PIANO HORIZON." Through this series she commissioned and premiered works by contemporary composers including Yori-aki Matsudaira, Mamoru Fujieda, Hirokazu Hiraishi, Akira Nishimura, Norio Fukushi, and Joji Yuasa. She was a champion of the contemporary music scene through numerous appearances — on NHK-FM, with the Japan Federation of Composers, the Composers' Conference, the Shinshinkai, Seibu Studio 200, the "Yoritsune Matsudaira Concert of Works" series, and "Akemi Satomi Plays Hiroichi Hiraishi," among others. She passed away in September 2014.

This release marks the first CD reissue of the now hard-to-find 1981 LP. Matsudaira's Elixatone is a multitrack recording for three electric pianos (plus clavinet), each tuned a third of a tone apart from the others. Paired with two prepared-piano works by Fujieda, the album offers three distinct takes on minimalist structure and timbral unfolding. In Matsudaira's Celebration, likewise, ten modally organized textures shift through serial procedures with breathless momentum. A crystalline articulation and drive suffuse every corner of the performance, and the presence that emerges still feels remarkably fresh today.

2026 Reissue Edition: DSD Remaster from the 1981 LP.  
(Noise from the original LP is present.)

Yori-aki MATSUDAIRA (1931～2023)
[1]　 ERIXATONE(1979)
[2]　 CELEBRATION(1980)

Mamoru FUJIEDA (1955～)
[3]　 FALLING SCALE No.6 for prepared piano(1980)
[4]　SINGLE-LEVEL DIFFRACTION I (1979)

Akemi SATOMI, piano/keyboard

Originally Released in 1981
LP "PIANO HORIZON" / ALM RECORDS, AL-24
Produced by Yukio KOJIMA
Cover Art by Makoto SUGIYAMA, Designed by DOCS
Layout by Tomoji SÉMBA
Special Thanks to TOSHIBA Isogo Studios & Mr. Hiroshi WATANABE
Recorded in Dec. 1980 at TOSHIBA Isogo Studios

DSD Remaster from the 1981 LP
Remastered by Yukio KOJIMA
Booklet Editing & Layout Adaptation by Kensuke FUJII