In hardly any other culture have the contrasts between East and West, between tradition and modernism, been fought as intensively as in Japan. Few cultures have been more radical in breaking with their own roots after centuries of self-imposed isolation, in adapting to foreign customs, than the home country of the composer Toshio Hosokawa, who was born in Hiroshima in 1955 and who says about his own work: “As a composer, I wish to express something that we have already lost.”

The special instrumentation of the quartet 'Stunden-Blumen' with clarinet, violin, violoncello and piano takes up the example of Olivier Messiaen's 'Quartet for the end of time' – re-interpreted by Hosokawa as a “quartet for the origin of time”.

Characteristic of the 10-part 'Voyages' is the relationship between solo and accompaniment: the soloist stands for the individual, the ensemble for nature and the universe. The journey undertaken by the soloist is both a journey to himself, to his inner self, and to the heart of the sound. Both 'Voyages' contained on this CD were written for the ensemble Musikfabrik.

The duo for flute and piano was simply entitled 'Lied' by Hosokawa; in this piece, the challenge for the composer and the players probably is to generate the tonal idiom of traditional Japanese instruments by using mainly European instruments. As in 'Voyages', the part of the flute is an expression of the individual, while the accompanying piano symbolises the universe.

Contents:
- Voyage VIII, for tuba and ensemble
- Lied, for flute and piano
- Arc Song, for oboe and piano
- Stunden-Blumen: Hommage à Olivier Messiaen, for clarinet, violin, violoncello and piano
- Voyage X 'Nozarashi', for shakuhachi and ensemble