To celebrate the release of pianist Matsuda Masato's new piano series, "Whispering Piano I/II/III," we've released explanations for each of the six cover titles!

Pianist Matsuda Masato spoke at length about the arrangement process based on the theme of this series, "Whispering," as well as his thoughts on music as an artist and behind-the-scenes stories about his performances.

It is a work of sufficient quality that can be performed at a piano concert.

This is just my personal feeling, but for this piece, I wanted to create a piece of high musical quality, one that would be enjoyable to listen to even if it were performed at a piano concert, just like Volumes 1 and 2 of the Preludes (Piano Solo Pieces) by Debussy, the greatest composer in history (which includes works such as "Footprints in the Snow," "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair," "The Sunken Cathedral," and "Fireworks").
Some might think, "Huh, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?" but (to be honest) that's how I thought about it. And the difficulty level of the performance should not be too high. In other words, I didn't want to simply categorize it as healing music. (Of course, the most important thing remains that it is healing music...) I've been involved in various activities in the Japanese music industry for many years, and I think I've developed quite a deep appreciation for the piano as an instrument and a deep knowledge of piano music, which is what led me to this conclusion.

About the songs included

1. A Time For Us

　This song is a world-famous masterpiece that everyone knows, and it was suggested from the beginning of this project, but the image for it didn't immediately come to mind. When I started working on it, I dug out a collection of sheet music from my home that was a collection of famous pop songs, and as I started playing the song on the piano, this piece was born.

The original version of this song uses simple harmonies / chords. I think you're already familiar with the original harmonies / chords, so I think it will be more enjoyable / interesting if you listen to it and get a sense of how I reharmonized it. In addition to what I explained above, you can hear tension-filled harmonies / chords in various places. And after the theme, I added a new, calming postlude.

*Chord
In music, two or more notes of different pitches overlapping one another is called a "chord." By playing two or more notes simultaneously, you can create a variety of sounds, and that's the concept behind the term "chord."

*Reharmonization
This is an arrangement technique in which a chord progression is reconstructed by replacing the original chords or adding new chords. It is commonly known as "reharmony."

*Tension
It means "tension" and is mainly used in jazz and other genres, where one or more non-harmonic notes are layered on top of the basic notes that make up the harmony. It is used to create a particular sense of tension. It is also called a tension note.

2. Interstellar

I have already seen the film and found it very interesting. When I listened to the sound source that served as reference, I noticed that several instruments (piano, cello, organ, etc.) were playing the melody at different times, so I arranged it so that it could be played on a single piano, keeping in mind the range of each instrument playing the melody.

The original song itself is well over four minutes long, so at the producer's request, I intentionally deleted sections in the middle to adjust the time (we had several meetings to discuss adjusting the length like this). After listening to the first demo, the producer suggested that I "try reharmonizing (that part) in a way that's unique to Matsuda" when the opening theme is repeated towards the end of the performance, so at the end I reharmonized the original harmony in my own way. Thanks to his advice, I felt that the song has a richer musical atmosphere.

3. Playing Love

The first four songs in this project are all film scores, and this one is the theme music for the movie "The Legend of 1900." I actually saw it in the theater when it was released, and it's one of my favorite film scores, along with the fourth song, "Schindler's List." I've even performed it in my own solo piano concerts in the past.

While I was thinking about how to arrange / perform this song, the first demo I completed sounded like it was being played monotonously in tempo from the beginning, and my producer suggested, "What if you played the first theme on a piano with an atmosphere similar to that of "Miracle Night" (an original song of mine that is included on "Sleep Jazz") (a song that feels like it's being played in tempo rubato)?"
This song, "Miracle Night," was recorded improvised at the time, and as such, the tempo is free throughout, and it's a song that was played according to the atmosphere of the time. There was also a request to try playing it an octave higher, so we took that into consideration and came up with the arrangement / performance you see here. Thanks to his precise advice, this is a much better take, and I think it was possible to create it. The second chorus is modulated a semitone higher, and as usual, some parts are reharmonized.

*Tempo Rubato: A term used in classical music and other fields, it is one of the tempo markings. The Italian word means "at any speed," and it is also used when playing with a fluctuating tempo.

4. Schindler's List (Theme from Schindler's List)

Of course, I've watched this movie several times, and it always moved me to tears. The theme music by John Williams (the melody is played on a violin) is also fascinating, and I even recorded it at home once.
At that time, I followed the original song in the first half, and recorded the jazz-style piano trio improvisation in the second half. However, this time, since it is an arrangement as healing music, I decided to keep the size of the original and basically follow the harmony of the original, with some minor reharmonizing.

When performing and recording, I focused on whether I could effectively express the sad and melancholic atmosphere of the original solo violin piece on the piano.

5. Scarborough Fair

This Simon & Garfunkel classic is a well-known song, and it was the theme song for the movie "The Graduate." Like "Romeo & Juliet" (A Time For Us), I initially wondered how to arrange this song. But when I found it in a pop collection at home, I simply sat down at the piano and started to play. Within the first few bars, a phrase with a rather interesting approach (a phrase with dotted quarter notes in the 3/4 time signature of the song) came to mind! From there, I got to work on this song.

The request was for "Scarborough Fair" to be the quietest and with the fewest sounds of all the pieces in this project.
The Simon & Garfunkel original has a simple, dreamy sound centered around Paul Simon's folk guitar arpeggios, but I boldly reharmonized parts of it and arranged it.
In particular, the theme of the third chorus has a melody played by the right hand while the bass notes in the left hand play ostinato-like notes, mainly E on the second beat.

*Ostinato refers to the technique of repeating a certain musical motif over and over again, or the repetition of a certain musical pattern over and over again.

The requests for the first demo were:
① Regarding the reharmonies, we will make the parts that are closer to the original songs .
② Also, reduce the number of sounds.

After making the above two adjustments, we arrived at the final arrangement / sound you see today. The arrangement / sound before the adjustments was more of a reharmonized, modern harmony than a melody, but it certainly left a stronger impression than the melody of this song. I think the producer's advice was effective on this song as well.

6. The Parting Glass

After listening to the original several times, I decided to keep the harmony basically the same (it's a folk song, so I wanted to preserve the simple feel), but instead try to create the atmosphere of the song through the way I performed it.
The deciding factor in the way I played it was that the instructions included the phrase "as if reluctant to say goodbye," so I tried to express the "feeling of reluctant to say goodbye" by playing the melody in tempo rubato, and fluctuating the overall tempo like the ebb and flow of waves.

When repeating the theme twice, I modulated the second chorus up a semitone, and in the latter half of the theme, I also played part of the melody an octave higher. Furthermore, after playing the theme twice, I thought of a new part and added it, in an attempt to express the feeling of loneliness after a breakup. As for the performance of this song, I simply wrote the theme melody and the accompanying chords on the sheet music, and played the entire piece improvised, including the fluctuations in tempo and the left-hand accompaniment. I did this because I thought it would better evoke the atmosphere of "relentless farewell."

--Masato Matsuda is involved in a wide range of activities, including performing music for TV dramas and as a member of live shows for various artists.

I look forward to your continued success. Thank you for your explanation!

(Written by Media Business Department)

Due to the popularity of the series, production is currently underway for the fourth and subsequent installments!
From the fourth release onwards, we plan to release original songs that fans have been waiting for. Original songs that will allow you to enjoy Matsuda Masato's charm even more deeply will be released soon. (Coming Soon!)

Masato Matsuda

-Profile-
Born in Otaru, Hokkaido.
Piano/Keyboard/Synthesizer/Composition and Arrangement/Programming/Vocals After graduating from the Kunitachi College of Music, Department of Music Education, Division 1 with top honors, he worked as a music teacher at a metropolitan high school before becoming a musician.
In 1985, he joined the band "Paradigm Shift" and released three albums. In 1992, he participated in the first album of the band "Paradox".
Live support has been diverse, ranging from bands and small ensembles to orchestras, including Anzenchitai, Akira Inaba, Masako Kano, Midori Karashima, Takao Kisugi, Akira Senju, Shinji Tanimura, Koji Tamaki, Pink Lady, Kingo Hamada, Bob Sakuma, Kozo Murashita, Tatsuro Yamashita, and Machiko Watanabe.
He has participated in recordings for a wide range of artists, from recordings for Yuki Kajiura, Kinki Kids, Masayuki Suzuki, Mariya Takeuchi, Kohei Tanaka, Kei Ueoka, Masaharu Fukuyama, Hayato Matsuo, Megumi Wakakusa, and many others, and has worked on a wide range of projects, from recordings for artists to film and TV drama soundtracks and commercials.
In recent years, he has been holding "Piano Solo Live" concerts every autumn in Tokyo and Osaka.