In these writings, available here in English for the first time, the distinguished Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu reflects on his contemporaries, including John Cage, Olivier Messiaen, and Merce Cunningham; on nature, which has profoundly influenced his composition; on film and painting; on relationships between East and West; on traditional Japanese music; and on his own compositions.

Free Play is about the inner sources of spontaneous creation. It is about why we create and what we learn when we do. It is about the flow of unhindered creative energy: the joy of making art in all its varied forms.An international bestseller and beloved classic, Free Play is an inspiring and provocative book, directed toward people in any field who want to contact, honor, and strengthen their own creative powers. It reveals how inspiration arise...

Extending the inquiry of his early groundbreaking books, Christopher Small strikes at the heart of traditional studies of Western music by asserting that music is not a thing, but rather an activity. In this new book, Small outlines a theory of what he terms "musicking," a verb that encompasses all musical activity from composing to performing to listening to a Walkman to singing in the shower.Using Gregory Bateson's philosophy of mind and a Geertzian thick description of a typical...

A “heroic” and “fascinating” biography of John Cage showing how his work, and that of countless American artists, was transformed by Zen Buddhism (The New York Times)Where the Heart Beats is the story of the tremendous changes sweeping through American culture following the Second World War, a time when the arts in America broke away from centuries of tradition and reinvented themselves. Painters converted their canvases into arenas for action and...

The Art of Fine Art, by artist and teacher Eo Omwake, is for anyone who wishes to increase their understanding of Fine Art Painting. It is for advanced arti sts already working and for beginners. It is also for those contemplating making art for the first time and for art appreciators who would like to understand Art at a higher level.The ideas herein distill much of what Eo has learned throughout fift y years of making art. They are what he considers crucial for making an...

"A valuable guide book that... leads us, step by step, into communication with our deeper subconscious nature and nudges open the gate to our inner self." - Dale Graff'Frank Joseph boldly and eloquently connects us to a larger world.' - Thomas RoppWe have all experienced inexplicable coincidences - such as thinking about an old friend before the phone rings and it happens to be that old friend.The Power of Coincidence revea...

For centuries, people have turned to classical music for its calming and relaxing effects. Internationally acclaimed water researcher Dr. Masaru Emoto has discovered why certain music has healing benefits: Music with the appropriate rhythm, tempo, tone, and melody can correct distorted frequencies within our cells, assisting our health and healing.Here, you can enjoy Dr. Emoto's captivating water-crystal photographs and text in this unique collection. The possible benefits you may ...

The bestselling author of The Power of Kindness shows how the ability to appreciate beauty-far from being a luxury or an afterthought-is vital to leading a happy, balanced, and satisfying life.Beauty is all around us-in a flower, a song, the sound of falling water, or a dramatic painting. We often think of it as just "window dressing." But it's not. It is the balm of our existence, and we cannot live full and satisfying lives without it.Transperson...

Sure to be a classic, Donald Richie's concise, profound insights into the mysteries of Japanese Aesthetics.This provocative book is a tractate—a treatise—on beauty in Japanese art, written in the manner of a zuihitsu, a free-ranging assortment of ideas that “follow the brush” wherever it leads. Donald Richie looks at how perceptual values in Japan were drawn from raw nature and then modified by elegant expressions of class and taste. He explains aesthetic ...

Your Child and You in Talent Education is a brief history of Talent Education. The "method" has swept throughout the world and was built upon the idea that ALL children can learn. The method was first called "Listen and Play".When we consider how difficult it is for adults to master a foreign language, we must admit that the ability among children must be very high. Talent in general is thought to be an endowment or a particular faculty or gift.It is important to expose chi...

About the eBook Series (Exotic Guitar Scales for Solo Guitar):If you are a creative guitarist and are seeking to expand your musical horizons, then you will love playing Indian Ragas.Ragas are millennia-old musical constructs that originated in Indian music. They are widely used in Indian and Asian music, and were first introduced to Western audiences in the 1950s and 1960s by Ravi Shankar and the Beatles. The pioneering guitarist Davy Graham used Ragas extensively in his m...

About the eBook Series (Exotic Guitar Scales for Solo Guitar):If you are a creative guitarist and are seeking to expand your musical horizons, then you will love playing Indian Ragas.Ragas are millennia-old musical constructs that originated in Indian music. They are widely used in Indian and Asian music, and were first introduced to Western audiences in the 1950s and 1960s by Ravi Shankar and the Beatles. The pioneering guitarist Davy Graham used Ragas extensively in his m...