Songs of Solitude Hiyoli Togawa

• Toshio Hosokawa (b. 1955):
• 1Hosokawa: Sakura (Arr. for Viola) - Solitude03:42
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1687 - 1750):
• 2Bach: Cello Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 1010: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola)04:16
• Johanna Doderer (b. 1969):
• 3Doderer: Shadows04:09
• José Serebrier (b. 1938):
• 4Serebrier: Nostalgia04:03
• Johann Sebastian Bach:
• 5Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola)02:30
• Tigran Mansurian (b. 1939):
• 6Mansurian: Ode an die Stille03:00
• Michiru Ōshima (b. 1961):
• 7Ōshima: Silence03:51
• Johann Sebastian Bach:
• 8Bach: Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola)03:28
• Kalevi Aho (b. 1949):
• 9Aho: Am Horizont05:23
• John Powell (b. 1963):
• 10Powell: Perfect Time for a Spring Cleaning03:47
• Johann Sebastian Bach:
• 11Bach: Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola)03:31
• Cristina Spinei (b. 1984):
• 12Spinei: Keep Moving02:40
• Rhian Samuel (b. 1944):
• 13Samuel: Salve nos05:24
• Johann Sebastian Bach:
• 14Bach: Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola)04:20
• Gabriel Prokofiev (b. 1975):
• 15Prokofiev: 5 Impressions of Self-Isolation: No. 1, Calling Out03:09
• 16Prokofiev: 5 Impressions of Self-Isolation: No. 2, Wine for One03:33
• 17Prokofiev: 5 Impressions of Self-Isolation: No. 3, Only Birds in the Sky01:23
• 18Prokofiev: 5 Impressions of Self-Isolation: No. 4, How Many Weeks?02:16
• 19Prokofiev: 5 Impressions of Self-Isolation: No. 5, Back to the English Garden01:37
• Johann Sebastian Bach:
• 20Bach: Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012: IV. Sarabande (Arr. for Viola)04:46
• Federico Gardella (b. 1979):
• 21Gardella: Consolation05:28
• Total Runtime01:16:16

Info for Songs of Solitude

Hiyoli Togawa’s new album “Songs of Solitude” was recorded for the label BIS. Songs of Solitude was conceived by the violist Hiyoli Togawa at a time when a virus was forcing people across the world into isolation and she herself needed to find a new rhythm of life as concert after concert was being cancelled. As she relates in the booklet to the disc, playing Bach – music that combines powerful emotions with a crystal-clear structure – became part of her daily routine, along with walks along the empty streets of Berlin. During these, the importance of remaining creative became even clearer to her, along with the idea to offer people the opportunity through music to reflect upon the difficulties of living through a pandemic. Having recently collaborated with the composer Kalevi Aho, she came upon the idea of asking him and a number of other composers to write for her – pieces that would ‘reflect life and work in the time of the coronavirus and that distil isolation in music’.

The result is Songs of Solitude – works for solo viola commissioned from 11 different composers and interwoven with sarabandes from Bach’s cello suites. The individual pieces range from the meditative (Toshio Hosokawa reminiscing in his version of the traditional Sakura) to the defiant (Johanna Doderer’s Shadows). Some of them even provided Hiyoli with musical company – Aho’s Am Horizont requires her to play two parts on the viola while singing a third, and the piece by John Powell is written for nine voices, recorded in multitrack. The album was recorded in Berlin during three periods, June to October 2020, as the various pieces arrived and the restrictions in place at the time permitted.

Hiyoli Togawa, violin

Hiyoli Togawa
It all starts with a great deal of curiosity. As a child Hiyoli Togawa plays the violin but cannot resist the temptation to play secretly on her father’s valuable old viola although explicitly told not to do so. This is how she finds a way to give her life its voice.

As a young student, Hiyoli Togawa first studies with Rainer Moog and later with Antoine Tamestit. With the Artemis Quartett she acquires first-hand and comprehensive knowledge of quartets. Her most important mentor and teacher, however, will be Hariolf Schlichtig.

After early successes in competitions – among others she won the 1.Bundespreis of “Jugend musiziert” – she gets awards at various other competitions as well: at the Internationaler Viola-Wettbewerb in Markneukirchen, the Internationaler Brahms-Wettbewerb in Pörtschach and, repeatedly, at the “Musikinstrumentenfonds” of Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

Already from an early age on curiosity and open-mindedness have been the guiding principles of Hiyoli Togawa’s life. Grown up in the Rhineland and having Japanese and Australian roots, Hiyoli Togawa speaks her three “mother tongues” German, Japanese and Australian fluently. Building bridges between people, cultures and art by means of words and sounds is a primary concern of the cosmopolitan artist. In her concerts Hiyoli Togawa does not only use the viola but also presentations to speak to her audience. She even developed novel types of concerts, in which she places music in new contexts by combining it with graphic art, literature, video and dance. An example thereof is "DANCE! VIOLA!" where Hiyoli Togawa does not only play but also show her skills as a tournament dancer that she was trained to be at an early age.

Hiyoli Togawa travels around Europe and Japan to give chamber music concerts and solo recitals. She performs together with artists such as Igor Levit, Jörg Widmann, Alexej Gerassimez or Hariolf Schlichtig and is a regular guest performer at renowned festivals like the Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern or the Heidelberger Frühling.

As a soloist she performs together with the Hamburg Camerata, the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonie Bad Reichenhall or the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn. Various foundations sponsor the innovative projects of this extraordinary artist, as for example: Oscar und Vera Ritter Stiftung, Orlandus Lassus Stiftung, Alfred-Töpfer-Stiftung, Werner Richard-Dr.Carl Dörken Stiftung and Yehudi Menuhin’s “Live Music Now”.

In January 2018 Naxos released her debut CD that was enthusiastically praised by critics.

During the first lockdown in 2020, Hiyoli Togawa made it her mission to capture the isolation that was globally dealt with during the pandemic and commissioned 11 composers (e.g. Toshio Hosokawa, Kalevi Aho, Tigran Mansurian) to write solos for viola, especially for her project "Songs of Solitude". The album will be released in March 2021 (Label BIS).

Starting in the winter semester 2018/19, Hiyoli Togawa took over a teaching assignment at the "Hochschule für Musik und Theater Munich".

Booklet for Songs of Solitude