Jo Kondo
Encyclopedia
Jō Kondō is a Japanese composer
of contemporary classical music
.
Kondo studied composition from 1968 to 1972 with Yoshio Hasegawa and Hiroaki Minami at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He won the third prize and made his debut in Japan-Germany Contemporary Music Festival in 1969. He serves as Professor of Music at Ochanomizu University
in Tokyo and also teaches at Tokyo University of Arts and Elisabeth University of Music
in Hiroshima
.
Kondo's works generally follow minimalist principles of composition. His interests include hocket
, the music of Ancient Greece
, and strong differences in instrumental timbre, all of which are reflected in his compositions. A similar stylistic point of reference would be the Italian composer Franco Donatoni
. The chamber version of his 1975 composition Sight Rhythmics reflects the latter in its unusual instrumentation of violin
, banjo
, steel drum
, electric piano
, and tuba
, for example, but after a year in New York City, however, the influence of John Cage and Morton Feldman became more apparent in Kondo's style. His opera "Hagoromo", based on a Noh play and premiered in Florence in 1994, is the unique case where his music blends western techniques with oriental traditions.
Kondo's music has been performed by the London Sinfonietta
, the Philharmonia Orchestra
, the NHK Symphony Orchestra
, the Arditti Quartet
, NEXUS, the Balanescu Quartet
, and Aki Takahashi
.
Kondo's works have been recorded on the Hat Art, ALM, Fontec, and Deutsche Grammophon
labels. His scores are published by the University of York
Music Press and Edition Peters.
His notable students include Linda Catlin Smith
and Paul Newland
. Kondo was associated with John Cage
in the 1970s
.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
.
Kondo studied composition from 1968 to 1972 with Yoshio Hasegawa and Hiroaki Minami at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He won the third prize and made his debut in Japan-Germany Contemporary Music Festival in 1969. He serves as Professor of Music at Ochanomizu University
Ochanomizu University
is one of only two national women's universities in Japan. The other one is the Nara Women's University.-History:Ochanomizu University was founded in 1875 as a teacher training institute for women located in Tokyo's Ochanomizu neighborhood. On September 1, 1923, the campus was destroyed in the...
in Tokyo and also teaches at Tokyo University of Arts and Elisabeth University of Music
Elisabeth University of Music
is a private university in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1948, and it was chartered as a university in 1963.-External links:*...
in Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
.
Kondo's works generally follow minimalist principles of composition. His interests include hocket
Hocket
In music, hocket is the rhythmic linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. In medieval practice of hocket, a single melody is shared between two voices such that alternately one voice sounds while the other rests.In European music, hocket was used primarily in vocal...
, the music of Ancient Greece
Music of Ancient Greece
The music of ancient Greece was almost universally present in society, from marriages and funerals to religious ceremonies, theatre, folk music and the ballad-like reciting of epic poetry. It thus played an integral role in the lives of ancient Greeks...
, and strong differences in instrumental timbre, all of which are reflected in his compositions. A similar stylistic point of reference would be the Italian composer Franco Donatoni
Franco Donatoni
Franco Donatoni was an Italian composer.Born in Verona, he started studying violin at the age of seven, and frequented the local Music Academy...
. The chamber version of his 1975 composition Sight Rhythmics reflects the latter in its unusual instrumentation of violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, steel drum
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
, electric piano
Electric piano
An electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
, and tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, for example, but after a year in New York City, however, the influence of John Cage and Morton Feldman became more apparent in Kondo's style. His opera "Hagoromo", based on a Noh play and premiered in Florence in 1994, is the unique case where his music blends western techniques with oriental traditions.
Kondo's music has been performed by the London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
, the Philharmonia Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
, the NHK Symphony Orchestra
NHK Symphony Orchestra
The in Tokyo, Japan began as the New Symphony Orchestra on October 5, 1926 and was the country's first professional symphony orchestra. Later, it changed its name to Japan Symphony Orchestra and in 1951, after receiving financial support from NHK, it took its current name...
, the Arditti Quartet
Arditti Quartet
The Arditti Quartet is a string quartet founded in 1974. The quartet is associated particularly with contemporary music.-Early history:The quartet was founded in 1974 by violinist Irvine Arditti together with John Senter, Levine Andrade and Lenox Mackenzie...
, NEXUS, the Balanescu Quartet
Balanescu Quartet
The Balanescu Quartet is an avant-garde string quartet founded in 1987 by Alexander Bălănescu that achieved fame through the release of several complex cover versions of songs by German experimental electronic music band Kraftwerk on their album "Possessed"....
, and Aki Takahashi
Aki Takahashi
is a Japanese pianist specializing in contemporary classical music.-Biography:Born in Kamakura, she began studying piano at the age of five and received her M.A. degree from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Her teachers included Yutaka Ito, Ray Lev, and George Vásárhelyi...
.
Kondo's works have been recorded on the Hat Art, ALM, Fontec, and Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
labels. His scores are published by the University of York
University of York
The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
Music Press and Edition Peters.
His notable students include Linda Catlin Smith
Linda Catlin Smith
Linda Catlin Smith is an American composer based out of Toronto, Canada. In 2005 she became the second woman to win the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music....
and Paul Newland
Paul Newland
Paul Newland is a British composer of contemporary classical music. He has won numerous prizes, including the RPS Composition Prize 1990, a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award in 1993, and in 1995 he was awarded the Royal Academy of Music's Josiah Parker Prize by György Ligeti...
. Kondo was associated with John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
in the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
.
Further reading
- Benítez, Joaquim M. 1998. "L'oreille orientale et la musique de l'Ouest: Entretien de Joaquim M. Benitez avec Jo Kondo". Études 389, no. 4 (no. 3914; October): 369–77.
- Charles, Daniel. 1990. "Jô Kondô, ou le passage de la ligne". Revue d’ésthetique 18:225–31.
- Charles, Daniel. 1991. "Jō Kondō e John Cage", translated by Giovanni Morelli. Rivista italiana di musicologia 26, no. 1:95–115.
- Cole, John. 2006. "An Introduction to Jo Kondo's Sen no ongaku Music of 1973 to 1980". Ex tempore 13, no. 1 (Spring-Summer): 70–143.
- Hinz, Klaus-Michael. 1995. "Musik als unendliche Veränderung: der japanische Komponist Jô Kondô". MusikTexte, no. 59:34–38.
- Hinz, Klaus-Michael. 2004. "Stillstehender Sturmlauf: Jô Kondôs Orchesterwerk mit dem Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra und Morton Feldmans Beckett-Oper 'Neither' in Stuttgart". MusikTexte, no. 103:79–80.
- Wilson, Peter Niklas. 2000. "Jo Kondo". In Komponisten der Gegenwart: Loseblatt-Lexikon Nachlieferung 19, edited by Hanns-Werner Heister and Walter-Wolfgang Sparrer. Munich: Edition text+kritik.
External links
- JO KONDO (University of York Music Press) - Biography, catalogue and discography
- List of works
- Jo Kondo: Works Omitted from His Official List of Works - Kondo's early works