Yasushi Akutagawa
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese composer
and conductor
. He was born and raised in Tabata
, Tokyo
. His father was Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
.
Akutagawa was taught composition by Kunihiko Hashimoto
and Akira Ifukube
at the Tokyo Conservatory of Music. He was one of the members of Sannin no kai (The Three) along with Ikuma Dan
and Toshiro Mayuzumi
.
In 1954, when Japan did not have diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union
yet, he entered the Soviet Union illegally, and made friends with Dmitri Shostakovich
, Aram Khachaturian
and Dmitri Kabalevsky
. Akutagawa was the only Japanese composer whose works were officially published in the Soviet Union at that time. His 1950 Music for Symphony Orchestra reflects his love of the music of Shostakovich and his debt to the Russian's great film scores.
His compositions were influenced by Stravinsky
, Shostakovich
, Prokofiev
and Akira Ifukube
.
He was popular as a master of ceremonies of TV shows as well. As an educator, he devoted himself to train an amateur orchestra, Shin Kokyo Gakudan ("The New Symphony Orchestra"). Almost one year after Akutagawa died, in 1990, the Akutagawa composition award was established in his memory.
Akutagawa and The New Symphony Orchestra are the recipient of the 1976 Suntory Music Award
.
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...
and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
. He was born and raised in Tabata
Tabata
Tabata is an administrative ward in the Ilala district of the Dar es Salaam Region of Tanzania. According to the 2002 census, the ward has a total population of 46,228.-References:...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. His father was Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Ryunosuke Akutagawa
was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "Father of the Japanese short story". He committed suicide at age of 35 through an overdose of barbital.-Early life:...
.
Akutagawa was taught composition by Kunihiko Hashimoto
Kunihiko Hashimoto
was a Japanese composer, violinist, conductor, and musical educator. He was born in the Hongo district of Tokyo. In 1923, he entered the Tokyo Music School where he studied violin and conducting. In composition, he was largely self-taught, but later he would study that subject as a graduate...
and Akira Ifukube
Akira Ifukube
was a Japanese composer of classical music and film scores, perhaps best known for his work on the soundtracks of the Godzilla movies by Toho.-Biography:...
at the Tokyo Conservatory of Music. He was one of the members of Sannin no kai (The Three) along with Ikuma Dan
Ikuma Dan
was a Japanese composer.- Biography :Dan was born in Tokyo, the descendant of a prominent family, his grandfather Baron Dan Takuma having been President of Mitsui before being assassinated in 1932. He graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1946...
and Toshiro Mayuzumi
Toshiro Mayuzumi
Toshiro Mayuzumi was a Japanese composer.-Biography:...
.
In 1954, when Japan did not have diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
yet, he entered the Soviet Union illegally, and made friends with Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Aram Khachaturian
Aram Khachaturian
Aram Ilyich Khachaturian was a prominent Soviet composer. Khachaturian's works were often influenced by classical Russian music and Armenian folk music...
and Dmitri Kabalevsky
Dmitri Kabalevsky
Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky was a Russian composer.He helped to set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures. He was a prolific composer of piano music and chamber music; many of his piano works have been performed by Vladimir Horowitz. He is probably...
. Akutagawa was the only Japanese composer whose works were officially published in the Soviet Union at that time. His 1950 Music for Symphony Orchestra reflects his love of the music of Shostakovich and his debt to the Russian's great film scores.
His compositions were influenced by Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
and Akira Ifukube
Akira Ifukube
was a Japanese composer of classical music and film scores, perhaps best known for his work on the soundtracks of the Godzilla movies by Toho.-Biography:...
.
He was popular as a master of ceremonies of TV shows as well. As an educator, he devoted himself to train an amateur orchestra, Shin Kokyo Gakudan ("The New Symphony Orchestra"). Almost one year after Akutagawa died, in 1990, the Akutagawa composition award was established in his memory.
Akutagawa and The New Symphony Orchestra are the recipient of the 1976 Suntory Music Award
Suntory Music Award
The , previously known as the , designed to promote Western music in Japan, has been given by the Suntory Music Foundation since their establishment in 1969. The award is presented annually to individuals or groups for the greatest achievement in the development of Western or contemporary music in...
.
Selected list of works
- Prelude for Symphony Orchestra (1947)
- String Quartet (1948)
- Trinita sinfonica for orchestra (1948)
- La danse for piano (1948)
- Musica per orchestra sinfonica (Music for Symphony Orchestra) (1950)
- Paradise Lost, ballet (1950)
- Kotei no yume (湖底の夢), ballet (1950)
- Kappa", ballet (1951)
- Ballade for violin and piano (1951)
- Music for microphone (1952)
- Song of the bird (ことりの歌), nursery rhyme (1952)
- Flame...star (炎も星も), ballet (1953)
- Triptyque for string orchestra (1953)
- Prima sinfonia (Symphony No.1) (1954/55)
- Divertimento for orchestra (1955)
- Symphony for Children "Twin Stars" for children's choir and orchestra, text by Kenji MiyazawaKenji Miyazawawas a Japanese poet and author of children's literature in the early Shōwa period of Japan. He was also known as a devout Buddhist, vegetarian and social activist.-Early life:...
(1957) - Ellora SymphonyEllora SymphonyYasushi Akutagawa's Ellora Symphony was composed in 1958 after a visit to the Ellora Caves in Aurangabad, India. One of several Japanese primitivistic symphonies composed in the 1950s, including Akira Ifukube's Sinfonia Tapkaara and Kan Ishii's Sinfonia Ainu, it is representative of Akutagawa's...
(1958) - Opera "L'Orphee de Hiroshima (Orpheus in Hiroshima)", text by Kenzaburō ŌeKenzaburo Oeis a Japanese author and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His works, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issues including nuclear weapons, social non-conformism and existentialism.Ōe was awarded...
(1960/67) - Music for strings No. 1 (1962)
- Negative Picture for orchestra (1966)
- Ostinata sinfonica (1967)
- Ballet suite "The Spider Web" (1968)
- Concerto ostinato for violoncello and orchestra (1969)
- Rapsodia per orchestra (1971)
- Concerto ostinato for GX1Yamaha GX1The Yamaha GX-1, first released as Electone GX-707 It's rumored that when Yamaha realized the model number shared the designation of Boeing 707 aircraft, they changed it to GX-1. Note the basic design of GX-1 followed the released in 1970., is an analog polyphonic synthesizer developed by Yamaha...
and orchestra (1974) - Lullaby of Akita for violin and orchestra (1977)
- 24 Preludes for children for piano (1979)
- The moon,ballet (1981)
- Allegro ostinato for orchestra (1986)
- Hibiki (Sounds) for organ and orchestra (1986)
- Ballade on a Theme of GodzillaGodzillais a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
for orchestra (1988) - Dedicated Akira IfukubeAkira Ifukubewas a Japanese composer of classical music and film scores, perhaps best known for his work on the soundtracks of the Godzilla movies by Toho.-Biography:...
Film scores
- The Skin of the SouthThe Skin of the Southis a 1952 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Ishirō Honda.The film crew includes Akira Watanabe as art director, Kentaro Kondo as lightning technician, sound recordist Yoshio Nishikawa and director of photography Kiyoe Kawamura.-Cast:* Hajime Izu...
(南国の肌 Nangoku no hada) (1952) - Gate of Hell (1953)
- TakekurabeTakekurabe (1955 film), English titles include: Adolescence, Growing Up Twice, Growing Up, and Child's Play, is a 1955 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Heinosuke Gosho.It is a film adaptation of Higuchi Ichiyō's 1895-1896 novel Takekurabe....
(たけくらべ Takekurabe), English titles include: Adolescence aka Growing Up Twice aka Growing Up aka Child's Play (1955) - The HoleThe Hole (1957 film)aka Hole in One aka The Pit, is a 1957 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Kon Ichikawa. The genres of the film are comedy and mystery.The film has perspicacious visual design combined with comedy and farce....
(穴 Ana) aka Hole in One aka The Pit (1957) - Fires on the Plain (film)Fires on the Plain (film)is a 1959 Japanese war film directed by Kon Ichikawa, starring Eiji Funakoshi. The screenplay, written by, Natto Wada, is based on the novel Nobi by Shohei Ooka, translated as Fires on the Plain. It initially received mixed reviews from both Japanese and international critics concerning its...
(1959) - Portrait of HellPortrait of Hellis a Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Shiro Toyoda and starring Tatsuya Nakadai and Kinnosuke Nakamura. It is based on the 1918 short story Hell Screen by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.-Plot summary:...
(1969) - Mt. Hakkoda (film)Mt. Hakkoda (film)is a 1977 Japanese film directed by Shiro Moritani. Based on the novelist Jiro Nitta's recounting of an actual incident of a disaster, the film tells the story of two infantry regiments of the Imperial Japanese Army, consisting of 210 men, that tried to traverse Mt. Hakkoda in the winter of 1902,...
(1977)