The pieces in this recording belong to Messiaen’s early compositional period, spanning the 1940s to the early 1950s. The music of Olivier Messiaen had a significant influence on the Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu (Tokyo, 1930–1996). Raised in militaristic Japan during the Second World War (at just 14 years old, he was drafted into the Japanese army in anticipation of an American invasion), Takemitsu initially rejected the culture and philosophy of his own country, instead developing a deep interest in the various musical trends of the Western avant-garde, particularly French music. The works in this recording span a period of approximately fifty years.