The Styrous® Viewfinder: 20,000 Vinyl LPs 126: Philip Glass ~ Mishima

Today, January 31, is the birthday of composer, Philip Glass. I remember the first piece of music of his I heard, The Photographer, an opera based on the life and homicide trial of 19th-century English photographer Eadweard Muybridge. In the first place, the Muybridge work of photographing live figures, animals, etc. in motion had intrugued me for decades and I was amazed that he could be the subject of an opera. I had to buy the album and was totally blown away. I immediately realized the Glass music was a natural and beautiful outgrowth of the work done in the mid 60's by minimalist, Terry Riley.

Since that time, there is not a single work by Glass I have not liked. In addition to operas, symphonic and small ensemble pieces, he has written scores for many films (link below); one of them, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, directed by Paul Schrader, is in my opinion the greatest work he has done. It won the "Best Artistic Contribution" Award at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, front cover
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
photo of album cover by Styrous®

I had never heard of Yukio Mishima prior to the film; since then I have spent years researching his life. Released in 1985, Mishima was electifying for that time and on listening to it now, it still holds it's fascination after three decades. The multi-textured score for the film ranges from his trademark minimalist ensemble sound and cellular rhythms to an almost rock piece that features brilliant quitar work and a gorgeous violin floating over it all. Parts were performed by the Kronos quartet. It is available at the Nonesuch Store (link below).

Sections from the soundtrack have been featured in other films and TV shows, including the piece, Mishima / Opening, which was used to score the end credits of Peter Weir's 1998 film The Truman Show in addition to an appearance on an episode of Mr. Robot. I used this theme for a fashion show I produced for Obiko in 1992 (link blow).

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Paralleling the three different visual styles of the film, Glass uses different ensembles: The black-and-white biographical flashbacks are accompanied by a string quartet, whereas the realistic footage from Mishima's last day is accompanied by a string orchestra and percussion, and the stylized scenes from his novels with a large symphonic orchestra.

It was produced by Kurt Munkacsi and distributed by WEA through the Elektra Records subsidiary label Nonesuch Records. The costumes were brilliantly designed by Eiko Ishioka.

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover detail
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Mishima / Opening

At less than three minutes, the opening for the film is a gem of suscinct and briliant melody! With bells, chimes and swerling strings that quickly range from quietly serene to incredibly dramatic and back again in that miniscule space of time, it is amazing and brilliant (link below).

The opening is quickly followed by a rapid, driving, aggressive sounding almost militaristic deluge of orchestral sound complete with tympani. From there it goes wild (YouTube links below).

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover detail
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫 Mishima Yukio) is the pen name of Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡公威 Hiraoka Kimitake). He was born on January 14, 1925.

Japanese writer Yukio Mishima lived a complex and controversial life, nearly winning a Nobel Prize for his fiction but also being deeply committed to Japan’s pre-war philosophy and government–so much so that, after a failed attempt at a military coup, he committed ritual suicide on November 25, 1970. There is a vivid depiction of the ritual actually performed by Mishima in the 1966 film he directed, Yukoku 憂国 (Patriotism) (YouTube link below).

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover detail
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Mishima was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, film director, founder of the right-wing militia, Tatenokai, and nationalist. He is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968 but the award went to his countryman Yasunari Kawabata. His works include the novels Confessions of a Mask and The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, and the autobiographical essay Sun and Steel. His avant-garde work displayed a blending of modern and traditional aesthetics that broke cultural boundaries, with a focus on sexuality, death, and political change.

When he was in his thirties, in 1955, Mishima took up weight training and his workout regimen of three sessions per week was not disrupted for the final 15 years of his life. He was fascinated by physical beauty and rejected the aesthetics of intellectualism. He thought an ugly body was disgraceful, and seemed somewhat ashamed of the weak body of his youth. In his 1968 essay Sun and Steel, Mishima deplored the emphasis given by intellectuals to the mind over the body.There is an excellent review of the book on YouTube (link below).

Yukio Mishima

photo from Asahi Shimbun

In his own words:

"The muscles that I thus created were at one and the same time simple existence and works of art; they even, paradoxically, possessed a certain abstract nature. Their one fatal flaw was that they were too closely involved with the life process, which decreed that they should decline and perish with the decline of life itself.”

On November 25, 1970, he and three other members of his militia staged an attempted coup d'état when they seized control of a Japanese military base and took the commander hostage, then tried and failed to inspire a coup to restore the Emperor's pre-war powers.

Yukio Mishima - November 25, 1970

attempted coup d'état

photographer unknown

Dutch National Archives/CC BY-SA 3.0 NL

Mishima then committed ritual suicide by seppuku. The coup attempt became known as the "Mishima Incident".

Samurai warrior about to perform seppuku

original work by Kunikazu Utagawa

Mishima was born in the Yotsuya district of Tokyo (now part of Shinjuku). His early childhood was dominated by the presence of his grandmother, Natsuko who was a direct descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Natsuko was prone to violence and morbid outbursts, which are occasionally alluded to in Mishima's works. It is to Natsu that some biographers have traced Mishima's fascination with death. She did not allow Mishima to venture into the sunlight, to engage in any kind of sport or to play with other boys; he spent much of his time alone or with female cousins and their dolls.

Yukio Mishima

photographer unknown

He returned to his immediate family when he was 12. His father, a man with a taste for military discipline, employed parenting tactics such as holding the young boy up to the side of a speeding train. He also raided Mishima's room for evidence of an "effeminate" interest in literature and often ripped apart the boy's manuscripts. Although his authoritarian father had forbidden him to write any further stories, Mishima continued to write every night in secret, supported and protected by his mother, who was always the first to read a new story. Mishima began to write his first stories when he was twelve.

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover detail
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Mishima wrote novels, popular serial novellas, short stories and literary essays, as well as highly acclaimed plays for the Kabuki theater and modern versions of traditional Noh drama.

Mishima began his first novel, Tōzoku (盗賊, "Thieves"), a story about two young members of the aristocracy drawn towards suicide. It was published in 1948, placing Mishima in the ranks of the Second Generation of Postwar Writers. He followed with Confessions of a Mask, a semi-autobiographical account of a young homosexual who must hide behind a mask in order to fit into society. The novel was extremely successful and made Mishima a celebrity at the age of 24. His writing gained him international celebrity and a sizable following in Europe and the United States, as many of his most famous works were translated into English.

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, back cover detail
Artwork by Makoto Kumakura
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®

Mishima was an actor, and had a starring role in the 1960 Yasuzo Masumura film, Afraid to Die. He also had roles in films including Yukoku (directed by himself, 1966), Black Lizard (directed by Kinji Fukasaku, 1968) and Hitokiri (directed by Hideo Gosha, 1969). He also sang the theme song for Afraid to Die (lyrics by himself; music by Shichirō Fukazawa).

Mishima was featured as a photo model in Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses by Eikoh Hosoe, as well as in Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan and Otoko: Photo Studies of the Young Japanese Male by Tamotsu Yatō. American author Donald Richie gave a short lively account of Mishima, dressed in a loincloth and armed with a sword, posing in the snow for a Tamotsu Yato photoshoot.

Yukio Mishima

photo by Kishin Shinoyama

Mishima also became very skilled at kendo, a modern Japanese martial art, which descended from the traditional Japanese swordsmanship (kenjutsu) and uses bamboo swords (shinai) and protective armour (bōgu).

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, side 1
photo by Styrous®

Mishima married Yoko Sugiyama on June 11, 1958. While working on Forbidden Colors, Mishima visited gay bars in Japan. Mishima's sexual orientation was an issue that bothered his widow, and she always denied his homosexuality after his death. In 1998, the writer Jiro Fukushima published an account of his relationship with Mishima in 1951, including fifteen letters between himself and the famed novelist. Mishima's children successfully sued Fukushima for violation of his privacy and copyright.

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp label, side 1
photo by Styrous®

Much speculation has surrounded Mishima's suicide. At the time of his death he had just completed the final book in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. He was recognized as one of the most important post-war stylists of the Japanese language.

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp, side 2
photo by Styrous®

The 1985 biographical film by Paul Schrader titled Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters depicts his life and work; however, it has never been given a theatrical presentation in Japan.

The Mishima Prize was established in 1988 to honor his life and works. On July 3, 1999, "Mishima Yukio Bungaku-kan" (三島由紀夫文学館, "Mishima Yukio Literary Museum") was opened in Yamanakako.

Philip Glass ~ Mishima soundtrack
vinyl lp label, side 2
photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Mishima / Opening - 2:46
A2 - November 25: Morning - 4:08
A3 - 1934: Grandmother & Kimitake - 3:37
A4 - Temple Of The Golden Pavilion ("Like Some Enormous Music") - 3:06
A5 - Osamu's Theme: Kyoko's House - 2:58
A6 - 1937: Saint Sebastian - 1:05
A7 - Kyoko's House ("Stage Blood Is Not Enough") - 5:00

Side 2:

B1 - November 25: Ichigaya - 2:11
B2 - 1957: Award Montage - 3:56
B3 - Runaway Horses ("Poetry Written With A Splash Of Blood") - 9:09
B4 - 1962: Body Building - 1:29
B5 - November 25: The Last Day - 1:30
B6 - F-104: Epilogue From Sun And Steel - 1:59
B7 - Mishima / Closing - 2:57

Companies, etc.

    Recorded At – Greene St. Recording
    Recorded At – The Living Room (2)
    Remixed At – The Living Room (2)
    Mastered At – Masterdisk
    Published By – Dunvagen Music Publishers, Inc.
    Produced For – Euphorbia Productions Ltd.
    Phonographic Copyright (p) – Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records
    Copyright (c) – Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records
    Record Company – Warner Communications Inc.
    Pressed By – Specialty Records Corporation

Credits:

    Artwork By – Makoto Kumakura
    Composed By – Philip Glass
    Conductor – Michael Riesman
    Engineer [Recording] – Dan Dryden
    Mastered By – Bill Kipper
    Mixed By [Remixed] – Dan Dryden, Kurt Munkacsi, Michael Riesman
    Producer – Kurt Munkacsi
    Strings – The Kronos Quartet*

Notes:

Recorded at Greene St. Studios NY, NY and The Living Room, Inc. NY, NY.
Remixed at The Living Room, Inc. NY, NY.
Mastered by Masterdisk NY, NY.

Includes red insert with description by the film's director, Paul Schrader, which measures 6" x 6".
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Side A): (Scr) 79113·A·2 1-2·5M1-3 MASTERDISK·BK
    Matrix / Runout (Side B): (Scr) 79113·B·2 1-3 MASTERDISK·BK
    Barcode: 0 7599-79113-1
    Rights Society: ASCAP

Philip Glass ‎– Mishima
Label: Nonesuch ‎– 9 79113-1 F, Nonesuch ‎– 79113
Series: Nonesuch Digital –
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic, Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Modern Classical

Viewfinder links:

Philip Glass articles/mentions
Obiko ~ Craft of the Costume art-to-wear fashion show

Obiko articles

Sandra Sakata
Tamotsu Yato ~ Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan

Net links:

Philip Glass ~ Compositions
~ Music for film

Best Original Scores ~ Mishima (Philip Glass)

Mishima Plot
Mishima Cast
NY Times ~ The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima
The Guardian ~ Dead writer's knife is in Japan's heart
   ~ The school of flesh: erotic portraits of Yukio Mishima
Yukio Mishima ~ Major works
Encyclopedia Britannica ~ Yukio Mishima