"Absolutely on Music" by Haruki Murakami & Seiji Ozawa

    Devoted fans of Haruki Murakami already know of his love of music.  His novels are full of songs and references, and his characters live in a world influenced by music – they frequent record stores buying Beethoven and Miles Davis records, whistle a Rossini melody while making tea, or have Bob Dylan’s ‘Positively Fourth Street’ playing in the background.  They notice what song might be playing when they walk into a room and reflect on it, letting memory wash over them.
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    Murakami’s titles can be direct references to music too, such as his most recent novel “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage,” or “Norwegian Wood” (the first taken from a suite of Franz Liszt, and the second, of course, from the Beatles.)  And, his many readers also engage with the pieces they might come across in one of his books – when the novel “1Q84” was released, Leoš Janáček's “Sinfonietta", which shows up prominently in the book’s narrative, sold as many copies in one week as it had in the previous twenty years. (The Japan Times, April 2010.)   It’s amazing to me to think of people reading a book and rushing out to find a recording of a fairly obscure Czech composer!  This is the influence of Murakami, both in Japan and worldwide.

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