Yūzō Toyama

Yūzō Toyama ( Japanese 外 山 雄 三 , Toyama Yūzō ; born May 10, 1931 in Ushigome- ku, Tokyo (today: Shinjuku , Tokyo ), Japan ) is a Japanese composer and conductor .

biography

He completed his studies in composition at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music . In 1950 he received the second prize for the chamber music work Trois Pieces Caracteristiques pour Clarinette, Basson et Piano of the 20th Music Competition of Japan . He graduated in 1952 and gained experience as a conductor with the NHK Symphony Orchestra , where he was employed as a full-time conductor in 1956. Immediately afterwards he went to Vienna for two years and completed his conducting studies. During this time he also took part in Erich Leinsdorf's master classes at the Salzburg Mozarteum .

During the world tour of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in 1960, he presented both his skills as a conductor and as a composer, because his Rhapsody for Orchestra was also on the program . Further orchestral tours went through North and South America in 1966 and through Southeast Asia in 1979, all of which were widely recognized. In the meantime he had gained recognition and so he was invited to Moscow in 1968 to conduct his cello concerto with the soloist Mstislav Rostropowitsch . Around the same time, his ballet music Yugen was first performed in Australia and then repeated in European cities (London, Paris and Brussels).

He has conducted leading Japanese Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra Osaka , Symphony Kyoto (1967-1971) and Philharmonic Orchestra Nagoya . In addition to his full-time work with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, he has also been the musical director of the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra since 1989 . He is also musical advisor to the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra. He has received numerous national and international awards and prizes.

His services to the performance of operas by European composers in Japan are very great. He successfully performed Peter Grimes The Rape of Lucretia , The Turn of the Screw and Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites , as well as Akira Miyoshi's operas Hasekura Tsunenaga and To-I Ho .

Nevertheless, he remained very active as a composer and his oeuvre includes more than 225 works in almost all genres.

Works

Works for orchestra

• 1953 Berceuse
• 1960 Rhapsody for Orchestra
• 1961 Divertimento for Orchestra
• 1964 Rhapsody on to Okinawan Melody
• 1966 Symphony "Homecoming" (No. 1)
• 1967 Concerto for Cello and Orchestra
• 1982 Symphonic Poem "Matsura"
• 1983 Fantasia Kyoto
• 1992 Concerto for Harp and Orchestra
• 1996 Songs by the poetry of Kazue Shinkawa for soprano and orchestra
• 1999 Symphony No. 2
• Dance of the Celestials
• Little Symphony
• Suite from the Ballet "Yugen"
  1. Dance of men
  2. Dance of the Heavenly
• Yagibushi

Works for wind orchestra

• 1990 (Pub.) Rhapsody for Band (Arr.- Gemba Fujita)

Stage works

• 1965 Yugen Ballet

Chamber music

• 1964 sonata for violin and piano
• 1974 Lullaby for Cello and Piano
• 1982 Japanese Lyric Suite
• 1989 Passa tempo for 6 horns

Web links

• Official Website (Japanese)