Otaka Hisatada: Japanese Suite

Regarding Japanese composers of the 1930s-50s, they are sometimes described with epithets such as “Germanic school,” “French school,” or “nationalist school,” but Otaka Hisatada likely belongs to none of these. The title Japanese Suite might not entirely avoid evoking “Japanism.” In the 1930s, when Otaka composed this work, there was a pursuit of “Japanese elements” and a debate surrounding “Japanese harmony.” However, his works allow for the coexistence of Japanese and non-Japanese elements, and their characteristic lies precisely in this refined ambivalence.

Japanese Suite, Otaka's Op. 1, was completed in 1936 (Showa 11) for submission to the Vienna Academy of Music. The score was published by Universal Edition in Vienna in 1940, and by Kawai Gakufu in 1965. This work, later arranged for orchestra, possesses a remarkably rich sense of color.

Japanese Suite consists of four movements:

• Morning: The first movement, “Morning,” creates a fantastical atmosphere with semitones and appoggiaturas, while its understated music evokes a pure morning.
• Playing Children: In “Playing Children,” which is primarily driven by sixteenth notes, a hide-and-seek motif (“Are you ready? Not yet!”) is used in the relaxed middle section.
• Lullaby: The third movement, “Lullaby,” as its title suggests, presents a lullaby melody (“Nennen kororiyo, okororiyo”). The serenely emerging melody is tinged with melancholy.
• Festival: In the final movement, “Festival,” flutes layer over each other, increasing the liveliness as shime-daiko drums beat out the rhythm of a village festival.

Composers who have created works with the same title, Japanese Suite, include Kosaku Yamada, Akira Ifukube, Koichi Kishi, Sadao Bekku, Yasuki Hirai, J. Laska, and G. Holst. While some commonalities can be observed, such as Holst incorporating the same lullaby as Otaka into his own work, the works by the aforementioned Japanese composers tend to exhibit a more pronounced indigenous character compared to Otaka's Japanese Suite.