Notes on "To the Companion Star of Sirius, Op. 1" (1974)

This piece, along with its sister work, the orchestral "Hymn to Sirius, Op. 2," was composed in 1974 when I was 21 years old, inspired by Sirius, the main star of Canis Major, and its small, invisible companion star. For me, it marks the memorable first work in my "Star Series," which later continued with pieces inspired by Pleiades and Orion.

However, like my other early works written in the 1970s, neither of these pieces had any opportunities for public performance. This particular piece was only performed by myself on an upright piano at a private recital held at a fellow composer's residence, and it has not had a formal premiere. It is a short piece, approximately eight minutes long, conceived as the shimmering of a star oscillating within the three gravitational fields of atonality, modality, and tonality, before I had established my tonal language. (Takashi Yoshimatsu, February 24, 2005)