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Hyper Music From Lennon & McCartney

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[i]HYPER MUSIC from LENNON & McCARTNEY[/i], initially known as 'HYPER BEATLES,' is a four-part CD series by renowned Japanese pianist [a=Aki Takahashi]. In the late eighties, [l=EMI Records Ltd.] and their Japanese subsidiary [l=Toshiba EMI Ltd] asked her to record piano versions of Lennon/McCartney songbook. To uphold her reputation as a leading contemporary classical/new music interpreter, Takahashi commissioned 47 modern composers in 14 countries to rearrange and reinterpret Beatles songs. In October of 1990, the [r=7964040] [CDC 7 54155 2] album was released in USA by [l=EMI Digital]/[l=Angel Records] (a Japanese edition [[url=https://www.discogs.com/Aki-Takahashi-Hyper-Beatles/release/10411438]TOCE-6233[/url]] followed a few months later from [l=Eastworld], one of Toshiba-EMI Limited labels which had previously released several Aki Takahashi albums). The collection featured 15 tracks, with two songs written by [a=George Harrison], re-arranged by eleven composers. Some compositions were fairly straightforward and easy listening, but the first Hyper Beatles CD also included a few 'edgier' and more radical works, such as the [a=Alvin Curran]'s interpretation of [url=https://www.discogs.com/composition/ab77beda-d4c3-43f2-b2fe-d2973b732def-When-Im-Sixty-Four]When I'm Sixty Four[/url], or "The Beatles 1962-1970" by [a=John Cage], which consisted of six layered piano parts, performed either by six pianists or a solo player with tape recorded playback (player is only restrained by time brackets, and may choose any tempo). Even though the inaugural release was well-received by critics and the international audience, the second volume, [r=13399378] [TOCE-6655], released in December of 1990, and all the following parts were only distributed domestically. This disc featured 12 Lennon-McCartney songs in more inventive and original reworks from [a=Pauline Oliveros], [a=Terry Riley], again [a=Alvin Curran] (this time arranging [url=https://www.discogs.com/composition/e471020b-8fc7-4b8f-a6f3-a76f0d68bc02-Eleanor-Rigby]Eleanor Rigby[/url]), and [a=Alvin Lucier], who created a mixed media version of 'Nothing Is Real (Strawberry Fields Forever)' requiring the pianist first to play fragments of the song's melody, while recording herself on the portable tape recorder, and then to rewind the tape and reproduce it through a small loudspeaker hidden inside a teapot. Other highlights included works of [a=Per Nørgård], [a=Walter Zimmermann], and Japanese composers [a=Shinichiro Ikebe], [a=Mamoru Fujieda] and [a=Ayuo Takahashi]. In August of 1991, Eastworld released the third volume, [r=13397873] [TOCE-7345] — the label decided to rebrand the collection, replacing 'The Beatles' with a new tagline, and adding individual titles to each album. The fourth and final volume in the series, [r=13399853] [TOCE-8021], was released in October of 1992. Despite featuring two Harrison's songs, it was still subtitled 'Hyper Music from Lennon & McCartney.' On the same day, the label also reissued the first two volumes: [r=13399853] [TOCE-8022] and [r=13399554] [TOCE-8023], thus completing the series with unified artworks and new titles. In February of 2001, Eastworld also produced [r=11145604] [TOCE-55238] compilation. Twenty five years later, Aki Takahashi decided to revisit the series and began recording a new selection from Hyper Beatles for [l=Camerata] label. The first recording session took place in October 2016 at [l=Mie Center for The Arts] in Japan, and resulted in [r=12203173] [CMCD-28345] released in 2017. A follow-up album [r=13049638] [CMCD-28361] was recorded in May 2018 at Complesso Museale di Santa Croce in Umbertide, Italy.