DATSURYOKU 脱力 A Piano Recital by Maya Purdue

Escape the holiday rush and rediscover stillness through piano music and Datsuryoku, the Japanese art of effortlessness and letting go.

Christmas songs everywhere. Last-minute shopping. Too many invitations. Rich food, endless plans, and the feeling that there is always something else to do.

What if, in the middle of the holiday season, you allowed yourself to pause?

Datsuryoku (脱力) is a Japanese concept that literally means releasing physical force. Beyond relaxation, it invites us to let go of unnecessary tension, soften our attention, and become fully present in the moment.

Through an intimate piano recital, Maya Purdue invites you to step away from the noise of everyday life and enter a space shaped by sound, silence, memory, and movement. Rather than simply listening to a sequence of musical works, you are invited to experience music as a moment of reflection: an opportunity to breathe, to listen without expectation, and to reconnect with yourself.

The programme brings together the contemplative sound world of Japanese contemporary music and the contrasting expressive universes of Brahms, Ustvolskaya, Debussy, and Beethoven. Each work opens a different perspective on memory, physical presence, tenderness, resistance, and release.

The evening’s central question is simple: What remains when everything else falls away?

The composer is no longer here. The place has changed. The body that first brought the music to life no longer exists. One day, the listener, too, will leave this place.

And yet, a sound can remain: for a few seconds in the air, or for centuries in our memory.

Join us for a moment outside the rush of the season. Come as you are, take a breath, and allow yourself to listen.

Musical Programme

Minako Tokuyama

Musica NARA (2006)

Johannes Brahms

Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79

No. 1 in B minor

No. 2 in G minor

Tōru Takemitsu

Piano Distance

Galina Ustvolskaya

Piano Sonata No. 6

Pause

Claude Debussy

L’Isle joyeuse

Ludwig van Beethoven

Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111

About the Artist

Maya Purdue is a Japanese-Irish pianist whose artistic work explores the relationship between sound, the body, attention, and Japanese aesthetic thought. Her musical practice brings together the classical piano repertoire and contemporary music, informed by her ongoing research into Datsuryoku and the experience of physical and mental release.

For this recital, she creates an intimate encounter between music and mindful listening, inviting audiences to discover familiar and unfamiliar sound worlds with renewed attention.