Odorant Receptors

for 2 Keyboards and Orchestra　(2026) 

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　Commissioned by the Suntory Foundation for the Arts 

　First Performance: 8.30, 2026, at the 36th Akutagawa Yasushi Suntory Composition Award Concert 

    at Suntory Hall, Main Hall

　Keyboards: Tomoki Akiyama, Yui Amano,  Electronics: Shintaro Imai, Sound Engineer: Takenori Katagiri
　Conductor: Kanako Abe,  Orchestra: New Japan Philharmonic​​

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Instrumentation

3 Fl. (1.-3.Doub. Picc)/2 Ob./1E.Hn./3Cl./3 Bsn.(3.Doub. C.Bsn. )

4 Hr./3 Trp./3 Trb./1 Tub.

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4 Perc.

1. - Percussion set.(2 Woodblocks(L,H),1 Cro(random, upside down), 3 metal pipes(L,M,H), 2 Metal stuffs, Can, Low Cowbell, Kick drum),Bongo, Crusher, Wind Chime, 2 Chinese Gongs

2. - 1 Cro.(random, upside down), 1 Metal pipe(H), MIDI Pad, Belltree, Ratchet, Pitched Crotale(B↑,Bb↓, Eb↓,),Chinese Cymb., Suspended,Cymb. Slap stick

3. - 2 Suspended,Cymb.(sizzle),Timpano(29’), Xylophone, Pitched Crotale(G↑,B↓, G↓,), Separated Tile,

4.  -Vibraphone,  Xylophone,  Electric Whistle,  Pitched Crotale(E↑), S.D.(upside down)

 

1 Hp./1 Pf.(Prepared) and Cel.​

SOLI Keyboards 1. 2.​

14 -12-10-8-6

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​Program note

The mechanisms of olfaction remained poorly understood for a long time compared with those of our other senses. However, research made remarkable progress following the discovery of olfactory receptors by Richard Axel and Linda Buck in 1991.

The approximately 400 types of olfactory receptors found in our nasal cavities each respond to multiple odor molecules, much like sensors. Through differences in the combinations of these responses, we are able to distinguish what is said to be hundreds of thousands or even more different odors.

Every smell we encounter in the air—whether unpleasant or pleasant, a scent or an aroma—is perceived as something like “the fragrance of osmanthus” or “the smell of curry” through the brain’s integration of information derived from the response combinations of these approximately 400 types of receptors.

Might the olfactory system, which generates an enormous diversity of perceptual differences through combinations of a limited number of elements, share something with the structural thinking of Western music, which seeks to organize a limited set of materials in diverse ways?

Rather than expressing subjective “images” of particular odors, this work incorporates ideas derived from the principles of olfaction as an important compositional factor.

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At the center of the orchestra, the work places two keyboards, conceived as olfactory receptors equipped with 176 sensors in total (88 keys × 2). However, in contrast to the actual functioning of olfactory receptors, the orchestra expands the elements contained within the sound groups of the keyboards in multiple layers: by superimposing them vertically, arranging them horizontally, differentiating them through the orchestra’s diverse timbres and registers, or responding to the sound groups after a delay, among other approaches.

By transforming the countless combinations derived from the keyboards into music, and expanding their resulting sonic images throughout the performance space, the work seeks to create a musical analogue of the mechanisms of olfaction.

The work consists of two movements. While sharing a common core of musical material, the two movements explore different approaches to the orchestral expansion of two important characteristics of the keyboards’ timbres: their percussive and harmonic elements.