|
 |
 |
Toru Takemitsu |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Info: Biography, Pictures, Discography of all CDs & DVDs |
|
| He also found time to write a detective novel, and appeared frequently on Japanese television as a celebrity chef.International status and the gradual shift in style
1.Later works: the sea of tonality
1.Influence of Traditional Japanese Music
2.Influence of Messiaen
2.Takemitsu was born in Tokyo on October 8, 1930; a month later his family moved to Dalian in the Chinese province then known as Manchuria, where his father was working.He returned to Japan to attend elementary school, but his education was cut short by military conscription in 1944.Japan, Takemitsu worked for the U.Armed Forces, but was unwell for a long period.Western music as he could on the U.He explained much later, in a lecture at the New York International Festival of the Arts, that for him Japanese traditional music "always recalled the bitter memories of war".Choosing to be in music clarified my identity."The NHK had organised opportunities for Stravinsky to listen to some of the latest Japanese music; when Takemitsu's work was put on by mistake, Stravinsky insisted on hearing it to the end.At a press conference later, Stravinsky expressed his admiration for the work, praising its "sincerity" and "passionate" writing.After Stravinsky returned to the U.San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Copland.Ring (1961), Corona for pianist(s) and Corona II for string(s) (both 1962).In these works each performer is presented with cards printed with coloured circular patterns which are freely arranged by the performer to create "the score".Furthermore, Cage's interest in Zen practice (through his contact with Zen Master Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki) seems to have resulted in a renewed interest in the East in general, and ultimately alerted Takemitsu to the potential for incorporating elements drawn from Japanese traditional music into his composition:
I must express my deep and sincere gratitude to John Cage.It was largely through my contact with John Cage that I came to recognize the value of my own tradition.For Takemitsu, as he explained later in a lecture in 1988, one performance of Japanese traditional music stood out:
One day I chanced to see a performance of the Bunraku puppet theater and was very surprised by it.In 1967, Takemitsu received a commission from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, to commemorate the orchestra's 125th anniversary, for which he wrote November Steps for biwa, shakuhachi, and orchestra.The first performance was given in 1967, under the baton of Seiji Ozawa.Despite the trials of writing such an ambitious work, Takemitsu maintained "that making the attempt was very worthwhile because what resulted somehow liberated music from a certain stagnation and brought to music something distinctly new and different".The work was distributed widely in the West when it was released as the fourth side of an LP recording of Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony.The experience had a profound influence on the composer, largely philosophical and theological.For Takemitsu, however, by now quite familiar with his own native musical tradition, there was a relationship between "the sounds of the gamelan, the tone of the kapachi, the unique scales and rhythms by which they are formed, and Japanese traditional music which had shaped such a large part of my sensitivity".In his solo piano work For Away (written for Roger Woodward in 1973), a single, complex line is distributed between the pianist's hands, which reflects the interlocking patterns between the metallophones of a gamelan orchestra.Autumn was written after November Steps.November Steps, not to blend the instruments, but to integrate them.Also, during a contemporary music festival in April 1970, produced by the Japanese composer himself ("Iron and Steel Pavilion"), Takemitsu met among the participants Lukas Foss, Peter Sculthorpe, and Vinko Globokar.Voice for solo flute (1971), Waves for clarinet, horn, two trombones and bass drum (1976), Quatrain for clarinet, violin, cello, piano and orchestra (1977).Takemitsu's musical style seems to have undergone a series of stylistic changes.Comparison of Green (for orchestra, 1967) and A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden (1977) quickly reveals the seeds of this change.Thus in these works, it is possible to see both a continuity of approach, and the emergence of a simpler harmonic language that was to characterise the work of his later period.Later works: the sea of tonality
In a lecture given in Tokyo in 1984, Takemitsu identified a melodic motive in his Far Calls.Takemitsu's music that began during this later period.Pedal notes played an increasingly prominent role in Takemitsu's music during this period, as in A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden.Folios for guitar (1974), which quotes from J.By this time, Takemitsu's incorporation of traditional Japanese (and other Eastern) musical traditions with his Western style had become much more integrated.The old and new exist within me with equal weight."He died of pneumonia while undergoing treatment for bladder cancer on February 20, 1996."Needless to say, Takemitsu is among the most important composers in Japanese music history.Though he was the senior of our group by many years, Toru stayed up with us every night and literally drank us under the table.Just as one cannot plan his life, neither can he plan music".Bar 10 of Masque I, Continu, for two flutes (1959).Western) traditional musical forms in his own words: "There may be folk music with strength and beauty, but I cannot be completely honest in this kind of music.Folk music in a "contemporary style" is nothing but a deception)".His dislike for the music traditions of his own country in particular were intensified by his experiences of the war, during which Japanese music became associated with militaristic and nationalistic cultural ideals.Another early example of Takemitsu's incorporation of traditional Japanese music in his writing, shown here in the use of the Japanese in scale in the upper melodic line of the right hand part.Other Japanese characteristics, including the further use of traditional pentatonic scales, continued to crop up elsewhere in his early works.In the opening bars of Litany, for Michael Vyner (first movement), a reconstruction from memory by Takemitsu of Lento in Due Movimenti (1950; the original score was lost), pentatonicism is clearly visible in the upper voice, which opens the work on an unaccompanied anacrusis.Rather, these two elements contrast sharply with one another in an immaterial balance.While it introduces certain Western musical ideas to the Japanese court ensemble, the work represents the deepest of Takemitsu's investigations into Japanese musical tradition, the lasting effects of which are clearly reflected in his works for conventional Western ensemble formats that followed.Takemitsu's writing for brass instruments; even similarities of performance practice can be seen, (the players are often required to hold notes to the limit of their breath capacity).Toshi Ichiyanagi), and the influence of Messiaen is clearly visible in the work, in the use of modes, the suspension of regular metre, and sensitivity to timbre.Throughout his career Takemitsu often made use of modes from which he derived his musical material, both melodic and harmonic among which Messiaen's modes of limited transposition to appear with some frequency.Takemitsu recalled, was like listening to an orchestral performance.As well as the obvious similarity of instrumentation, Takemitsu employs several melodic figures that appear to "mimic" certain musical examples given by Messiaen in his Technique de mon langage musical, (see ex.On hearing of Messiaen's death in 1992, Takemitsu was interviewed by telephone, and still in shock, "blurted out, 'His death leaves a crisis in contemporary music!He was fully aware of Debussy's own interest in Japanese art, (the cover of the first edition of La Mer, for example, was famously adorned by Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa).For Takemitsu, this interest in Japanese culture, combined with his unique personality, and perhaps most importantly, his lineage as a composer of the French musical tradition running from Rameau and Lully through Berlioz in which colour is given special attention, gave Debussy his unique style and sense of orchestration.Details of orchestration in Green, such as the prominent use of antique cymbals, and tremolandi harmonies in the strings, clearly point to the influence of Takemitsu's compositional mentor, and of these works in particular.Musik the most notable example being Stanza II for harp and tape written later in 1972).As mentioned previously, this was particularly used in works such as November Steps, in which musicians playing traditional Japanese instruments were able to play in an orchestral setting with a certain degree of improvisational freedom.In these passages the overall sequence of events is, however, controlled by the conductor, who is instructed about the approximate durations for each section, and who indicates to the orchestra when to move from one section to next.However, as the composer attained financial independence, he grew more selective, often reading whole scripts before agreeing to compose the music, and later surveying the action on set, "breathing the atmosphere" whilst conceiving his musical ideas.One notable consideration in Takemitsu's composition for film was his careful use of silence (also important in many of his concert works), which often immediately intensifies the events on screen, and prevents any monotony through a continuous musical accompaniment.For the final battle scene of Akira Kurosawa's Ran, Takemitsu provided an extended passage of intense elegiac quality that halts at the sound of a single gun shot, leaving the audience with the pure "sounds of battle: cries screams and neighing horses".DDR in 1979, and the American Institute of Arts and Letters in 1985.He was posthumously awarded the fourth Glenn Gould Prize in Autumn, 1996.How slow the Wind (1991)
Archipelago S.Cantos for clarinet and orchestra (1991), winner of the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition.Akira Kurosawa (1985)
Black Rain, dir.The Music of Toru Takemitsu.Creative sources for the Music of Toru Takemitsu.Adachi, Sumi with Reynolds, Roger), "Mirrors", Perspectives of New Music, vol."Takemitsu, Toru", Grove Music Online, ed.Macy (accessed 4 March 2007), grovemusic."Takemitsu, Toru", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music, Ed.The Music of Toru Takemitsu."Contemporary Music in Japan", Perspectives of New Music, vol.IX, 2(i): Music in the period of Westernization: Western music and Japan up to 1945", Grove Music Online, ed.Macy (accessed 9 March 2007), grovemusic.Quoted in Ohtake, Noriko, "Creative Sources for the Music of Toru Takemitsu", (Scolar, Cambridge, 1993), 3.Christoph, "Review: Peter Burt, 'The Music of Toru Takemitsu' (Cambridge 2001)", Tempo no."Afterword", Perspectives of New Music, vol.See Burt, 96 and Takemitsu, "Afterword", 212.Takemitsu", Contemporary Music Review, Volume 21, Issue 4 (Routledge, December 2002), 22.Preface to score of Rain Coming (1982), quoted in Burt, 176.Takemitsu", Perspectives of New Music, Vol.Takemitsu, "Nature and Music", Confronting Silence, 5.Takemitsu, "Nature and Music", Confronting Silence, 4.Burt, 167 and Nuss, Steven, "Looking Forward, looking back: Influences of the Gagaku Tradition in the Music of Toru Takemitsu", Music of Japan Today: Tradition and Innovation, (lecture transcribed by E.See for example Burt, 34.Debussy and currents of ideas", Grove Music Online, ed.Macy (accessed 14 June 2007), grovemusic."Dream and Number", Confronting Silence, 110.Takemitsu: Green", Notes, 2nd ser."Rae, Charles Bodman", Grove Music Online, ed.Macy (accessed 13 October 2007), grovemusic.Flock Descends Into the Pentagonal Garden, (Editions Salabert, 1977), 20.Contemporary Music Review, vol.Tessier, Max, "Takemitsu: Interview".All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See Copyrights for details.Use fewer keywords to find more results.Track your recent orders.Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.Sign in to get personalized recommendations.Your search did not match any products.Too many keywords can constrain your search.View or change your orders in Your Account.You have no recently viewed items or searches.After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.The Princess Goh Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden (1992) The Inland Sea (1991) Rikyu (1989) Kuroi ame (1989) ...Black Rain (USA: literal English title) For the Whales (1989) (TV) Arashi ga oka (1988) ...The Empty Table Himatsuri (1985) ...Tokyo saiban (1983) ...Ki or Breathing (Japan) Moeru aki (1979) ...Glowing Autumn Ai no borei (1978) ...Empire de la passion, L' (France) ...Empire of the Passions ...In the Realm of Passion (USA: video title) ...The Ghost of Love Hanare goze Orin (1977) ...Ballad of Orin (USA) ...The Fossil (USA) Sakura no mori no mankai no shita (1975) ...Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees (USA) ...Sama soruja (1972) ...Summer Soldiers (International: English title) Natsu no imoto (1972) ...At the Risk of My Life ...Inn of Evil Chinmoku (1971) ...Silence (International: English title) Gishiki (1971) ...The Ceremony Dodesukaden (1970) ...Clack (literal English title) ...Japan: alternative transliteration) Tokyo senso sengo hiwa (1970) ...He Died After the War (USA) ...The Man Who Left His Will on Film ...Ten no amijima (1969) ...Double Suicide Kyoto (1969) Nihon no seishun (1968) ...Charred Map (literal English title) ...The Man Without a Map (USA) ...Clouds at Sunset (USA) Akogare (1966) ...Once a Rainy Day Tanin no kao (1966) ...Have a Stranger's Face ...The Face of Another Shokei no shima (1966) ...The River Kino (International: English title) Yotsuya kaidan (1966) ...Illusion of Blood Kemonomichi (1965) ...Bwana Toshi no uta (1965) ...The Song of the Bwana Toshi Ako (1965) ...Escape from Japan (USA) Love (1964) Kawaita hana (1964) ...Pale Flower Seishun no ishibumi (1964) (TV) ...Alone Across the Pacific ...Alone on the Pacific (USA) ...She and He Shiro to kuro (1963) ...Twin Sisters of Kyoto Te o tsunagu kora (1963) ...Tears on the Lion's Mane Seppuku (1962) ...Liebe mit zwanzig (West Germany) ...The Body (USA) Furyo shonen (1961) ...Bad Boys Mozu (1961) Kawaita mizummi (1960) ...Department:1980s1960sThe Lovers' Exile (1980) (sound supervisor) Kaidan (1964) (sound designer) ...Ghost Story (literal English title) ...Ten no amijima (1969) ...Department:Otoshiana (1962) (musical director) ...Kashi to kodomo (Japan: alternative title) ...The Pitfall (USA) Self:1990s1980sMusic for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu (1994) ....You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers.They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update.TOC Art Gallery and concerts in the TOC Concert Hall from April to June 2006.It will be commemorating the 10th anniversary of Toru Takemitsu's demise.Toru Takemitsu is among the most important of those Japanese composers who have written music in the Western tradition, while preserving a fundamental Japanese identity, bringing his awareness of Japanese music and its traditions into a remarkable and very original synthesis.He makes use of Western or Japanese instruments, either separately or together, creating his own very individual sound.Toru Takemitsu was born in Tokyo on 8th October 1930.International attention first came when his Requiem for strings (1957) was hailed as a masterpiece by Stravinsky, and his success abroad was consolidated over the following decade in such scores as November Steps (1967) which, as a 125th anniversary commission from the New York Philharmonic, broke new ground in employing indigenous Japanese instruments within a Western orchestral context.He died in Tokyo on 20th February 1996.ALSSON, Hans: I Doda Mastares Sallskap, Vol.LEAVING HOME: Orchestral Music in the 20th Century, Vol.REVOLUTION DER KLANGE (DIE): Musik im 20.For picture licensing, please contact customer service.All Naxos Historical, Naxos Classical Archives, Naxos Jazz, Folk and Rock Legends and Naxos Nostalgia titles are not available in the United States and some titles may not be available in Australia and Singapore because these countries have copyright laws that provide or may provide for terms of protection for sound recordings that differ from the rest of the world.Naxos Digital Services Ltd.All instruments and styles.Shop Our Large Collection of Music.Experimental Workshop in Tokyo in early '50s.Received Italia Prize in 1958.Unique polyrhythmic and open scoring methods combined with traditional Western notation.Filmscores include Woman in the Dunes (1964), Dode'skaden (1970), Ran...Huge catalog of 366,000 titles.Buy MusicWant to see your products in Yahoo!Information about prices, products, services and merchants is provided by third parties and is for informational purposes only.The Princess Goh Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden (1992) The Inland Sea (1991) Rikyu (1989) Kuroi ame (1989) ...Black Rain (USA: literal English title) For the Whales (1989) (TV) Arashi ga oka (1988) ...Kurosawa Akira (Japan: alternative title) Shokutaku no nai ie (1985) ...The Empty Table Himatsuri (1985) ...Tokyo saiban (1983) ...TV series (unknown episodes)Tempyo no iraka (1980) ...Ki or Breathing (Japan) Moeru aki (1979) ...Glowing Autumn Ai no borei (1978) ...Empire de la passion, L' (France) ...Empire of the Passions ...In the Realm of Passion (USA: video title) ...The Ghost of Love Hanare goze Orin (1977) ...Ballad of Orin (USA) ...Melody in Gray Kaseki (1975) ...Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees (USA) ...Sama soruja (1972) ...At the Risk of My Life ...Inn of Evil Chinmoku (1971) ...Silence (International: English title) Gishiki (1971) ...Clack (literal English title) ...The Man Who Put His Will on Film Dankon (1969) ...Ten no amijima (1969) ...Double Suicide Kyoto (1969) Nihon no seishun (1968) ...Charred Map (literal English title) ...Rebellion: Receive the Wife (literal English title) ...Clouds at Sunset (USA) Akogare (1966) ...Punishment Island Kinokawa (1966) ...The Kii River (International: English title: festival title) (Japan: English title: festival title) ...Illusion of Blood Kemonomichi (1965) ...Beast Alley (USA) Utsukushisa to kanashimi to (1965) ...Bwana Toshi no uta (1965) ...The Song of Bwana Toshi ...The Song of the Bwana Toshi Ako (1965) ...White Morning (International: English title) Jose Torres II (1965) Kaidan (1964) ...Ghost Story (literal English title) ...Woman of the Dunes Nihon dasshutsu (1964) ...Escape from Japan (USA) Love (1964) Kawaita hana (1964) ...Pale Flower Seishun no ishibumi (1964) (TV) ...The Tomb of Youth Jotai (1964) ...Alone Across the Pacific ...Alone on the Pacific (USA) ...The Enemy, the Sea (USA: festival title) Kanojo to kare (1963) ...She and He Shiro to kuro (1963) ...White and Black (literal English title) Subarashii akujo (1963) ...Wonderful Bad Woman (USA) Koto (1963) ...Twin Sisters of Kyoto Te o tsunagu kora (1963) ...Kashi to kodomo (Japan: alternative title) ...Amore a vent'anni, L' (Italy) ...Love at Twenty (USA) ...Milosc dwudziestolatkow (Poland) Ratai (1962) ...Bad Boys Mozu (1961) Kawaita mizummi (1960) ...Juvenile Jungle (International: English title) Ginrin (1955) ...Ten no amijima (1969) ...Double Suicide Actor:Tanin no kao (1966) ....Have a Stranger's Face ...Department:Otoshiana (1962) (musical director) ...Kashi to kodomo (Japan: alternative title) ...The Pitfall (USA) Self:1990s1980sMusic for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu (1994) ....You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers.They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update.With our Resume service you can add photos and build a complete resume to help you achieve the best possible presentation on the IMDb.Who was Toru Takemitsu?Takemitsu was a giant in Japanese cultural life and in
international contemporary music.Descends into the Pentagonal Garden, Spirit Garden, In
An Autumn Garden.Takemitsu wrote the music for 93 Japanese films.Japanese classics as
Teshigahara's Woman in the Dunes and Kurosawa's Ran.AN APPRECIATION : an article by Peter
Grilli, a long time friend of Takemitsu. |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
