Abe Kōmei

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abe Kōmei ( Japanese 安 部 幸 明 ; born September 1, 1911 in Hiroshima , † December 28, 2006 in Tokyo ) was a Japanese composer , music teacher , conductor and cellist .

Life

Family and time until 1945

Abe Kōmei's father was an officer in the imperial army. He was often transferred and the family accompanied him as he moved from town to town. In 1917, Kōmei started school in Nakano , Tokyo. During his primary school years he got to know and love the violin. In 1924 he started middle school. He wanted to become a musician, but his father was initially against it. Later, Kōmei convinced him. But by then he was already too old to train as a professional violinist. So he decided to learn the cello.

After a year of intensive cello lessons, he went to the Tokyo Music Conservatory in 1929 . He studied the cello with Heinrich Werkmeister (born March 31, 1883, † August 16, 1936). At Klaus Pringsheim Senior Abe received lessons in harmony from 1931 together with Hirai Kōzaburō. Together with fellow students he founded a string quartet with which he played all of Beethoven's string quartets. He also played in the orchestra directed by Pringsheim, in which teachers and students played together and with which he performed and got to know the works of Mahler, Bruckner and Wagner. Abe graduated in 1933. From then on he studied harmony and counterpoint under Pringsheim, both at the conservatory and in private lessons. In addition to the music of the late Romanticists Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss , he studied the neoclassical music of Paul Hindemith and Kurt Weill . Abe had also made the acquaintance of Tanaka Shōhei and was concerned with pure tuning and Shōhei's Enharmonicum. Abe introduced the Enharmonicum to an ensemble in which he played the cello himself. He preferred the pure tuning over the tempered tuning of the modern pianos, and therefore developed a preference for string instruments, as these could generate the pure tuning.

In 1935 his first string quartet was performed and he joined the Japanese Association of Contemporary Composers. From 1937 on, he attended conducting courses with Joseph Rosenstock for four years , who worked with him on Beethoven's symphonies in detail. In 1936 he composed Theme with Variations for orchestra and directed the premiere himself. In 1937, his little suite for orchestra was premiered in Shanghai under the direction of Pringsheim. His second string quartet was also premiered in 1937. In 1938 he married Matsuo Midori and the cello concerto in D minor was awarded first prize at the Felix Weingartner Competition. This really put him in the spotlight for the first time. The first performance of the concert had to wait four years until March 31, 1942. In 1943 his 4th string quartet was premiered. In 1944 he was drafted into the Navy until the end of the war.

Time after 1945

After the war he came to radio and conducted the TBO Tokyo Broadcasting Orchestra, among other things, in theater performances. He also worked at the Ernie Pyle Theater in Tokyo, a theater used to entertain the American armed forces. Here he conducted the orchestra and arranged and composed music for modern dance theater , including jungle drum in the choreography by Itō Michio . While working with Ito, his interest in dance and rhythmic music increased. As a neoclassicist, he loved clear Allegro music. This preference grew stronger. Even Carl Orff's music influenced Abe. Abe felt attracted by the primitivist and repetitive style. He discovered the Carmina Burana for himself and acquired a score in Tokyo after the war. This music brought Abe into the world of ostinato . In 1947 he wrote Pastorale for piano and orchestra and his 5th string quartet. Both works were premiered. In 1948 he was appointed music director of the imperial orchestra. He held this office for six years. The orchestra was a rather smaller ensemble and performed waltzes and serenades for foreign guests of the emperor at his festivals. In contrast to Abe, the members of the orchestra came from the Japanese musical tradition, and so Abe used this time to get to know Gagaku better from them. The preoccupation with traditional Japanese music expanded his compositional style. His neoclassical style became clearer, simpler and more lively. He used rhythmic ostinati and patterns. He also processed traditional Japanese music in a moderate way.

Abe Kōmei was a founding member of the Chijinkai group in 1948. It was active between 1950 and 1955. The members of the group were composers and must have been born and raised in Japan. The aim was to honor traditional Japanese culture, western musical traditions and the music of the future. They wanted to combine the characteristics of the Japanese melody with the European composition techniques and the French harmony and structure. It was thought that the French aesthetic was more closely related to the Japanese than the academic rigor of German music. Other members of the group were Hirao Kishio , who died early, Takata Saburō (born December 18, 1913, † October 22, 2000) and Kijima Kiyohiko (born February 19, 1917, † July 14, 1998). Chijinkai held six concerts until 1955, which were also broadcast on the radio. Abe's first flute sonata was performed in one of the concerts.

In 1950 he composed the seventh string quartet, which was premiered in the same year. In 1953 Abe Kōmei became professor at the Elizabeth Music College in Hiroshima. In the spring of 1954 he switched to the municipal college for music . In 1957 the 1st symphony was premiered and won the Manichi Press Music Award. The premiere of the 2nd symphony took place in 1960. For her, Abe received the sponsorship award at an art festival. In that year he also arranged the Divertimento for alto saxophone and piano, composed in 1951, and created an orchestral version. At the premiere, Sakaguchi played Arata, one of the pioneers of saxophone playing in Japan. In December 1964 Abe completed the Sinfonietta. The premiere took place on January 14, 1965. The Japan Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Akeo Watanabe played in the orchestra's 92nd subscription concert. In 1967 Arvid Janssons performed the work with the Leningrad Philharmonic . This was a great success for Abe as his works had only been performed in Japan until then.

In 1969, the City College of Music was renamed the Kyōto City Art School and a faculty for music was set up. Abe Kōmei was its chairman until 1974. From 1977 he worked at Hiroshima Bunka Two-year College for another five years . In this phase he was very busy with teaching and hardly composed. Only around the beginning of the 80s did he find more time to compose.

Koyama Kiyoshige was one of his composition students .

Works (selection)

Orchestral works

  • Theme with variations 1935 First performance: February 8, 1936 in Tokyo
  • Suite for orchestra. 1935. First performance in Shanghai under Klaus Pringsheim senior
  • Small suite for orchestra [blueprint] op. 2. 1936 First performance: February 27, 1937 in Tokyo OCLC 605916378
  • Cello Concerto in D minor 1937. I Andante maestoso - Allegro II Intermezzo III. Andante-Allegro OCLC 42249418 First performed March 31, 1942
  • Piano concert 1945. First performance in Tokyo on March 27, 1947 Pastorale for piano and orchestra 1945
  • Divertimento for alto saxophone and orchestra 1953. Arrangement of the piano version from 1951
  • Symphony No. 1. I Allegro con brio II Adagietto III Vivace assai. He completed it in 1957. In the same year, the world premiere with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra TSO under the direction of Hideo Saito (born May 23, 1902, † September 18, 1974) took place. OCLC 915447872 OCLC 5382296
  • Symphony No. 2, premiered in Tokyo on October 10, 1960
  • Serenade. First performance in Tokyo on October 7, 1963 I Miniature overture II March III Lullaby IV Scherzo V Nocturn: Solioquy VI Finale
  • Sinfonietta. I Allegro con brio II Moderato III Scherzo IV Allegro assai. OCLC 247595223
  • Piccola sinfonia for strings. [Small string symphony] String quintet for two violins, viola, cello and double bass. 1984 OCLC 472512813

Ballet music

Chamber music

  • From 1934 to 1994 he composed sixteen string quartets. No. 1 1934. No. 2 1937. No. 3 1939. No. 4 1941. No. 5 1946. No. 6 1948. No. 7 1950 OCLC 906414790 I Allegro non troppo con sentimento ed espressione II Scherzo presto III Quasi recitativo IV final presto. No. 8 1952. No. 9 1955 OCLC 77281860 . No. 10 1978 OCLC 729392872 I Allegro con brio II Adagietto III Presto bruscamente, 1981. No. 11 1982 OCLC 9865364 . No. 12 1987 OCLC 699872618 No. 13 1989. No. 14 1990 I Allegro vivace II Andante con grazia - Presto - Andante III Allegro OCLC 472760886 . No. 15 1992 OCLC 246528110 . No. 16 1994
  • Sonata for flute and piano No. 1. 1942 I Allegro moderato (sonata main azo form) II Andantino quasi Allegretto (theme with four variations) III Presto (sonata main azo form). Published 1981 in Tokyo by Ongaku OCLC 313187005
  • Clarinet Quintet 1942
  • Sonata for flute and piano No. 2. 1949
  • Divertimento for alto saxophone and piano in E flat major 1951. I Andante sostenuto - Allegro II Adagietto III Allegro OCLC 793286611
  • Divertimento for nine instruments. 1954
  • Sextet for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano 1964
  • Variations on a Theme by Grieg for brass ensemble. 1972

Vocal music

  • A collection of songs. Composed by Komei Abe. Japanese texts with English translation. Published in Tokyo by Ongaku No Tomo Sha Corp. 1985. 63 pages OCLC 367586077
  • Kaze No Yukue for soprano and piano. 1993
  • Kareno Komach i for mezzo-soprano and piano. 1994
  • Beautiful Actors and Actresses for mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano, duration 5 minutes, premiered in Tokyo 2001
  • White Magnolia for mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano, duration 4 minutes, premiered in Tokyo 2002

He also wrote choral music.

Piano music

  • Three Sonatinas for Children 1972 OCLC 51547270 No. 1 in F major 3 movements: 2nd movement theme with variations. No. 2 in G major 3 movements. No. 3 in C minor
  • Dreamland [Traumland] 22 short and easy piano pieces for children 1986
  • Pictures for Children OCLC 156983134

reception

Komei Abe's music was in 2009 for the soundtrack of the film Lawrence Jones y la mesa del Rey Salomón used . Specifically, these were the Divertimento for alto saxophone and orchestra and the Sinfonietta. The recordings of the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra under Dimitrij Jablonski with Alexej Wolkow as soloist were used.

Prizes and awards

Komei Abe received the following prizes and awards:

  • First prize at the Weingartner Award for the cello concerto in D minor in 1937
  • Manichi Press Music Award. For the Symphony No. 1 1957
  • Ministry of Education Arts Festival Award 1957
  • Ministry of Education Encouragement Award 1960

literature

  • Kuritīku Hachijū: 安 部 幸 明 [Abe Kōmei]. Tokyo, Ongakunosekaisha. 1997. 120 pages (Japanese)

Recordings

  • Divertimento for alto saxophone and piano. In: Komei Abe: Collected Works of Chamber Music. Charm of tone and melody. Kazuo Tomioka, alto saxophone; Eiko Tomioka, piano. Recorded on December 27, 2003 at Tōkyō Bunka Kaikan LEKINE, 2004
  • Divertimento, version for alto saxophone and orchestra. Alexej Wolkow, alto saxophone. Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. Head of Dimitri Jablonski. Naxos 8.557987. 2007
  • Dreamland. Easy piano pieces for children . (World premiere as a recording) Mayumi Sayada, piano. Mittenwald 03-5957-1512. 2014
  • Symphony No. 1. Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. Head of Dimitri Jablonski. Naxos 8.557987. 2007
  • Symphony No. 2 Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Directed by: Hitoshi Ueda recording from the concert on November 10, 1960 Denon: COCQ - 85276
  • Sinfonietta. Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. Head of Dimitri Jablonski. Naxos 8.557987. 2007
  • String Quartet No. 7. Nyū Ātsu Gengaku Shijūsōdan / New Arts String Quartet: Kenji Kobayashi, violin I. Masanobu Hirao, violin II. Sumiko Edo, viola. Masaharu Kanda, violoncello. Live recording from September 18, 1999 OCLC 783856304
  • String Quartet No. 8 and No. 14. In: Komei Abe: Collected Works of Chamber Music. Charm of tone and melody. Quartetto Canoro: Chiyoko Uehara, violin I. Mariko Igusa, violin II. Tomoko Yanagisawa, viola. Sanae Mima. Violoncello. Recorded on December 27, 2003 at Tōkyō Bunka Kaikan LEKINE, 2004

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Komei Abe-Bio, Albums, Pictures - Naxos Classical Music. Retrieved April 27, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Nicolas Slonimsky, Laura Kuhn, Dennis McIntire: Abe, Komei . In: Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians . The Gale Group, Inc., 2001 (English, online ).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Japanese composers 8 Yukiaki Abe. 2013, accessed on April 29, 2017 (jp).
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Morihide Katayama: ABE: Symphony No. 1 / Divertimento / Sinfonietta. Naxos, accessed April 27, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Irene Suchy : Klaus Pringsheim. In: Lexicon of persecuted musicians from the Nazi era, Hamburg: Universität Hamburg. Claudia Maurer-Zenck, Peter Petersen, 2007, accessed April 29, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Japanese composers 8 Yukiaki Abe. 2013, accessed on April 29, 2017 (jp).
  7. ↑ Luciana Galliano: Yogaku: Japanese Music in the 20th Century . Scarecrow Press, 2002, ISBN 978-1-4616-7455-9 , pp. 182 ff .
  8. ↑ James Siddons: Toru Takemitsu: A Bio-bibliography . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, ISBN 978-0-313-27237-0 , pp. 5 .
  9. ↑ Japan Phil Series | Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. Retrieved April 29, 2017 (English).
  10. ^ Sinfonietta (1964). January 1, 1973, accessed April 29, 2017 (undetermined).
  11. ↑ a b Tim Rutherford-Johnson; Michael Kennedy; Joyce Bourne Kennedy: Komei Abe . In: The Oxford Dictionary of Music . 6th edition. Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-957810-8 .
  12. ↑ Motohide Katayama: Kiyoshige Koyama. (PDF) In: Just for me booklet for the CD. 1997, accessed April 29, 2017 .
  13. ^ Jean-Paul Giraudet: Komei Abe. March 25, 2013, accessed April 29, 2017 (French).
  14. ↑ Komei Abe: Serenade. Retrieved April 29, 2017 (jp).
  15. ↑ Komei Abe: Piccola sinfonia for strings / Komei Abe. - Score .. - For violin, viola, violoncello and double bass. Ed .: The Japan Federation of Composers. Tokyo 1985.
  16. ↑ TCMLibrary OPAC Book information details. Retrieved April 29, 2017 .
  17. ↑ a b Tim Rutherford-Johnson; Michael Kennedy; Joyce Bourne Kennedy: Komei Abe . In: The Oxford Dictionary of Music . 6th edition. Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-957810-8 .
  18. ^ A b Suntory Music Foundation (Ed.): Works by Japanese Composers 2001-2002 . S. 10 (English, online [PDF]).
  19. ^ Nicolas Slonimsky, Laura Kuhn, Dennis McIntire: Abe, Komei . In: Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians . The Gale Group, Inc., 2001 (English, online ).
  20. ↑ Jane Magrath: Komei Abe . In: Pianists Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature . Alfred Music, 2006, ISBN 978-1-4574-3897-4 , pp. 256 (English).
  21. ^ David Hernández: Lawrence Jones and the King Salomon's Table. December 25, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2017 .
  22. ^ The Resource Center for Japanese Music - Composers. Retrieved April 29, 2017 .
  23. ↑ ク リ テ ィ ー ク 80: 安 部 幸 明 . 音 楽 の 世界 社, 東京 1997, ISBN 4-87662-217-5 .
  24. ↑ a b 『安 部 幸 明 先生 没 後 10 年 、 そ ろ そ ろ 再 評 価 を』 . In: cookie の 雑 記帳 . ( Online [accessed April 29, 2017]).
Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Abe is the family name, Kōmei the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Abe, Kōmei
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 安 部 幸 明 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese composer, music teacher, conductor and cellist
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Hiroshima
DATE OF DEATH December 28, 2006
Place of death Tokyo