Yoshihisa Taira

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Yoshihisa Taira ( Japanese 平 義 久 , Taira Yoshihisa ; born June 3, 1937 in Tokyo Prefecture , † March 13, 2005 in Paris ) was a Japanese composer living in France .

life and work

Taira studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts and initially worked as a jazz pianist. In 1966 he moved to Paris and studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with André Jolivet , Henri Dutilleux and Olivier Messiaen . For his compositions he was a. a. awarded the Premier Prix Lily Boulanger (1971), the Grand Prix de Composition of the SACEM (1974) and the Prix ​​Florent Schmitt of the Académie des Beaux-Arts . He taught at the École Normale de Musique de Paris . The Japanese composer Malika Kishino is one of his students .

The music of Taira - like the compositions of many Asian composers - is often seen in Europe and America in a somewhat generalized way with a focus on tradition, as the following description shows:

“In his music, Taira maintains a balance between traditional, traditional Japanese and contemporary western music and aesthetics. His use of time and space, tonality, lyricism and silence as well as idiomatic elements such as precise articulation, abrupt contrasts in dynamics and the use of glissandi are rooted in traditional Japanese art and fused with modern French aesthetics. "

"Throughout his music, Taïra maintains a thoughtful balance between traditional Japanese and Western contemporary music and aesthetics. His treatment of time and space, sonority, poetic lyricism, silence and many idiomatic techniques such as precise articulation, abrupt dynamic contrasts and glissandi are derived from traditional Japanese music and art, and are compatible with a French modernist aesthetic. "

In the process, the individual characteristics of the compositions are lost, which Taira has to a large extent, as a glance at Erosion I (for flute and orchestra, 1980) shows. Claus-Henning Bachmann characterizes it as “a particularly coherent variation piece by one of those Asians who were influenced by Paris and who have developed their own fragile, suggestively ritual-like and intellectually concretized style. Here the flutes describe from the lowest to the highest tuning [...] and the orchestra a process of attraction and detachment, complex harmonic density and simple melodic coherence, of circular movement that urges balance, calm, flatness, and one threatening forlornness, because the individual voice is exposed to destruction (erosion) and is barely audible at the end. "

Works

orchestra

  • Hiérophonie III , 1969
  • Stratus for flute, harp and string orchestra, 1971
  • Chromophonie , 1973
  • Sonomorphy III , 1975
  • Méditations , 1977
  • Trans-Apparence for 29 instruments, 1977
  • Erosion I for flute and orchestra, 1980
  • Moksa, Vimoksa , 1983
  • Tourbillon for 6 percussionists and orchestra, 1984
  • Polyèdre , 1987
  • Flautissimo for 32 flutes, 1988
  • Facettes for chamber orchestra, 1994
  • Saï-Sô , 1997
  • Réminiscence for flute and orchestra, 1998
  • Saiun for chamber orchestra, 2002
  • Retour for soprano and chamber orchestra, 2003

Chamber music

  • Trio for flute, violoncello and piano, 1967
  • Hiérophonie I for 4 cellos, 1969
  • Hiérophonie II for 15 instruments, 1970
  • Fusion for 2 flutes and 3 percussionists, 1971
  • Sonomorphie II for voice, oboe, violoncello, harp and percussion
  • Stratus for flute and harp, 1972
  • Dioptase for string trio , 1972
  • Ignescences for 2 pianos and percussion, 1972
  • Radiance for piano and 13 instruments, 1973
  • Pentalpha for 5 instruments, 1974
  • Eveil for oboe and harp, 1974
  • Hiérophonie V for 6 percussionists, 1974
  • Clea for 12 strings, 1976
  • Interférences I for 2 violoncellos, 1976
  • Dimorphie for 2 percussionists, 1980
  • Fu-mon for 4 flutes, 1980
  • Ressac for 13 instruments, 1981
  • Pénombre I for 2 guitars and 12 strings, 1981
  • Delta for piccolo, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 3 percussionists, viola, cello and double bass, 1981
  • Pénombre II for double bass and piano, 1982
  • Tourbillon for 6 percussionists, 1984
  • Prolifération for octobass flute and 14 instruments, 1984
  • Synchrony for 2 flutes (or flute and shakuhachi), 1986
  • Pénombre III for harp and 6 instruments, 1987
  • Aiolos for flute and harp and tape (ad.lib.), 1989
  • Synergie I for 2 double basses, 1990
  • Pénombre IV for flute and 4 instruments, 1991
  • Hexaphonie for string sextet, 1992
  • Trichromie for 3 percussionists, 1992
  • Pentamorphs for wind quintet, 1993
  • Pénombre V for violin and piano, 1994
  • Filigrane I for flute and piano, 1994
  • Pénombre VI for alto saxophone and piano, 1996
  • Divergence for string quartet, 1996
  • Zéphuros for alto flute and piano, 1997
  • Ambre for 2 flutes (Taira's last work), 2005

solo

  • Sonata for violin, 1967
  • Sonata for viola, 1968
  • Sonomorphie I for piano, 1970
  • Sublimation for harp, 1971
  • Hiérophonie IV for 4 flutes (1 player), 1971
  • Maya for bass or alto flute, 1972
  • Convergence I for marimba, 1975
  • Convergence II for double bass, 1976
  • Convergence III for violin, 1976
  • Cadenza I for flute, 1980
  • Monodrame I for percussion, 1984
  • Monodrame II for bassoon, 1986
  • Monodrame III for guitar, 1988
  • Sho Ro for piano, 1993
  • Facettes for electric guitar, 1994
  • Monodrame VI for vibraphone, 2002
  • Tamuke for Shakuhachi

literature

  • Claus-Henning Bachmann: Dramaturgy of the body and absolute music - The ninth “Rencontres Internationales de Musique Contemporaine” in Metz , in: New magazine for music 1981, pp. 59–61
  • Traviesieres Magazine - Numéro Spécial III , 1997 (French). Special issue on Taira, contains u. a .:
    • Pierre-Yves Artaud : Surgi de l'absence , Portrait, pp. 5–9
    • Pierre-Yves Artaud: Yoshihisa Taïra, de Tokyo à Paris - naissance d'un créateur , interview with Taira, pp. 10–21
    • Pierre-Yves Artaud: Quelques clés pour l'interprétation de la musique de Yoshihisa Taïra , pp. 23–28
    • Emmanuel Hondré: Les oeuvres avec flûte de Yoshihisa Taïra , pp. 31–47
    • Brigitte Mathivet: Discography , pp. 48–49
    • Emmanuel Hondré: Yoshihisa Taïra & Pierre-Yves Artaud , conversation, pp. 51–56
    • Eiko Shiono: Entretien avec Henri Dutilleux , conversation about Taira and his works, pp. 59–62
  • Judith Ann Herd: Taïra, Yoshihisa , in: New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , 2nd edition 2001

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Judith Ann Herd in: New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
  2. ↑ Claus-Henning Bachmann in: Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 1981, p. 60
personal data
SURNAME Taira, Yoshihisa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 平 義 久 (Japanese); Taïra, Yoshihisa (French)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 3, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Tokyo prefecture
DATE OF DEATH March 13, 2005
Place of death Paris