The Works

This week’s headline track comes courtesy of pianist Hayato Sumino. His beautifully crafted miniature Forma was originally composed as the theme music for a Louvre exhibition of Renaissance art in Japan. From its gently noble opening to its sweeping nods to the Baroque, the short piece serves as a kind of modern take on music from past centuries. “I wanted to translate my impressions of Renaissance art into sound,” Sumino tells Apple Music Classical, “and at the same time to reinterpret Renaissance music in my own way.” With all these musical ingredients, it’s perhaps inevitable that Sumino touches on elements of Ravel, a French composer so enamored of ancient dance forms and harmonies. “The French color is half-conscious,” admits Sumino, “although Ravel’s Piano Trio, with its neoclassical sound, was clearly in my mind as a reference.” Forma’s title mirrors its blend of restraint and fantasy that so characterized the Renaissance movement. “As Leonardo da Vinci exemplifies,” says Sumino, “the Renaissance was a period in which art and science were closely intertwined. Music, too, seems to have been grounded in principles of proportion and harmony.” Notice that throughout the piece, Sumino switches between major and minor tonalities, giving the piece a shifting, shimmering quality. “The Renaissance was an era in which the world was being reconsidered through a human gaze,” says Sumino. “In Forma, the same simple musical material sounds different depending on its context—like a single form revealing different expressions according to the light and the angle from which it is viewed.” We regularly update The Works, so if you find a piece of music or a performance you particularly love, don’t forget to add it to your library.