Santori Horu (Suntory Hall)

In 1990, Nordheim received a commission for an orchestral work for the fifth anniversary, the following year, of the Suntory Hall concert complex, funded by Japan’s biggest whisky producer, Suntory. The resultant work was Monolith, performed by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuzo Toyama at the Santori Horu on 2 April 1991 in the series of concerts ‘Programme of Musical Composition’, directed by Toru Takemitsu. During the festival for the concert hall’s tenth anniversary, in 1996, Monolith was performed again, on 4 July, by the Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra. (jc)