Akutagawa Yasushi

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Akutagawa Yasushi

Akutagawa Yasushi ( Japanese 芥 川 也 寸 志 ; born July 12, 1925 in Tabata , Tokyo Prefecture , Japan ; † January 31, 1989 ) was a Japanese composer .

Life

He was the third and last son of the writer Akutagawa Ryūnosuke and studied composition with Hashimoto Kunihiko and Ifukube Akira at the Tokyo Music School (today: the University's Musicological Institute). Together with his friends Dan Ikuma and Mayuzumi Toshirō he founded the group Sannin no Kai ("Group of Three").

He entered the Soviet Union illegally in 1954, as Japan did not yet have diplomatic relations, and won the friendship of Shostakovich , Khachaturian and Kabalevsky . He was the only Japanese composer whose works were officially published in the Soviet Union.

His works were influenced by Stravinsky , Shostakovich , Prokofiev and Ifukube.

He was also known as a presenter of television shows. As an educator, he devoted himself to the training of the amateur orchestra Shin Kokyo Gakudan ("The New Symphony Orchestra").

In 1978 he received the Japanese Academy Award for Best Music .

After his death in 1990, the Akutagawa Composition Prize was established in his memory.

Works

Discography (selection)

  • Preludes for orchester symphonique (1947)
  • Trinita sinfonica for orchestra (1948)
  • La danse for piano (1948)
  • Musica per orchestra sinfonica (music for symphony orchestra) (1950)
  • Ballad for violin and piano (1951)
  • Triptyque for string orchestra (1953)
  • Prima sinfonia (1954/55)
  • Ellora Symphony (1958)
  • Opera " L'Orphee de Hiroshima (Orpheus in Hiroshima) " (1960/67)
  • Music for strings no.1 (1962)
  • Ballet Suite " The Spider Web " (1968)
  • Concerto ostinato for violoncello and orchestra (1969)
  • Rapsodia per orchestra (1971)
  • 24 Preludes for Piano (1979)
  • Allegro ostinato for orchestra (1986)
  • Sounds for organ and orchestra (1986)

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Wilibald Gurlitt , Carl Dahlhaus (ed.): Riemann Music Lexicon. In three volumes and two supplementary volumes. Akutagawa, Yasushi. 12th completely revised edition. 1. Personal section A – KB Schotts-Söhne, Mainz 1959, p. 16 (first edition: 1882).
  • Wilibald Gurlitt, Carl Dahlhaus (ed.): Riemann Music Lexicon. In three volumes and two supplementary volumes. Akutagawa, Yasushi. 12th completely revised edition. 4. Personal section A – KB Schotts-Söhne, Mainz 1972, p. 10 (first edition: 1882).

Web links

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Akutagawa is the family name, Yasushi the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Akutagawa, Yasushi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 芥 川 也 寸 志 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese composer
DATE OF BIRTH July 12, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Tabata, Tokyo, Japan
DATE OF DEATH January 31, 1989