Takemitsu, Toru 1930 - 1996
Author: Nakatsuji, Maho
Last updated：April 24, 2018
Author: Nakatsuji, Maho
Toru Takemitsu: A Biography
Toru Takemitsu is one of the internationally renowned Japanese composers.
Born in Tokyo on October 8, 1930 (Showa 5), he moved to Dalian, China, where his father worked, shortly after his birth. In 1937, he returned to Japan alone. At the elementary school he entered that same year, he received his first piano lessons from a music teacher. As a junior high school student, Takemitsu was conscripted for labor mobilization. In 1945, while working at an army food base in Saitama, he had a decisive encounter with music, deeply moved by the chanson "Parlez-moi d'amour" played on a hand-cranked gramophone brought by a young officer.
Although he decided to pursue a career in music, young Takemitsu lacked the financial means to purchase a piano shortly after the end of the Pacific War. At that time, Takemitsu imagined the sound of music using a paper piano with keys drawn on cardboard. From late 1946, he found work and began living and working at a US military camp, where he started playing the piano daily.
After hearing Yasuji Kiyose's "Violin Sonata No. 1" at a concert in 1948, Takemitsu wished to study under Kiyose. Subsequently, through Kiyose, Takemitsu became acquainted with Fumio Hayasaka and began assisting him with his film music work. Although Takemitsu largely studied the technical aspects of composition on his own, he closely observed the creative processes of Kiyose and Hayasaka. Toru Takemitsu made his debut in the music world in 1950. His piano piece "Lento in Due Movimenti" was performed at the 7th New Composers Association Concert held at Yomiuri Hall. Regarding this work, music critic Ginji Yamane harshly criticized it as "pre-music," but Joji Yuasa and others praised Takemitsu.
In 1951, he formed the avant-garde artist group "Jikken Kobo" (Experimental Workshop) with Kuniharu Akiyama, Hiroyoshi Suzuki, Takahiro Sonoda, and others. The name "Jikken Kobo" was given by Shuzo Takiguchi. Even after the activities of "Jikken Kobo" concluded, Takemitsu and Takiguchi continued their close association. In the early 1950s, Takemitsu contracted tuberculosis. In 1954, while he was bedridden, a piano was brought into his home; it was a gift from Toshiro Mayuzumi. "Requiem for Strings," composed with an awareness of his own mortality and in memory of Fumio Hayasaka, premiered in 1957. This work received praise from Igor Stravinsky, who was visiting Japan at the time.
In the 1960s, opportunities for activity at the Sogetsu Art Center in Akasaka increased. It functioned as an experimental venue, where the use of new media was also explored. For concerts at the Sogetsu Art Center, Takemitsu began composing using graphic notation, releasing works such as "Corona for Pianists." And with "November Steps" for shakuhachi, biwa, and orchestra, which premiered in 1967, Takemitsu gained worldwide attention. This commissioned work, composed to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic, was premiered in the United States by Seiji Ozawa (conductor), Kinshi Tsuruta (biwa), Katsuya Yokoyama (shakuhachi), and others. In addition to works like "A Autumn Garden" (1979) for gagaku, commissioned by the National Theatre, Takemitsu also used traditional Japanese instruments in his film scores.
The first film to explicitly feature Takemitsu's name was Ko Nakahira's "Crazed Fruit" (1956). This film, Yujiro Ishihara's debut starring role, was colored by music incorporating jazz and Hawaiian elements. In Hiroshi Teshigahara's "Woman in the Dunes" (1964), string glissandos created a grating sound, and in Masaki Kobayashi's "Kwaidan" (1965), musique concrète was utilized to its fullest extent. In Akira Kurosawa's "Ran" (1985), Takemitsu employed a subtractive approach to sound design, emphasizing silence and stillness.
Among Takemitsu's works, some pieces show a strong connection to visual arts. Inspired by Odilon Redon's paintings, he composed the piano pieces "Les Yeux Clos" (1-2, 1979-88), and drawing inspiration from Paul Klee's paintings, he composed the orchestral work "Marginalia" (1976) and "All in Twilight" for guitar (1987). Observing photographs by Man Ray, sculptures by Joan Miró, and other works, he cultivated visual experiences and sublimated them into his own compositions.
His major works include orchestral pieces such as "Textures" (1964), "Dorian Horizon" (1966), "Quatrain" (1975), and "Far Calls. Coming, far!" (1980), as well as songs like "Small Sky" (1962) and "What the Dead Man Left Behind" (1965). His solo piano works include "Uninterrupted Rest" (1-3, 1952-59) and "Piano Distance" (1961), and his piano concertos include "Arc" (1-2, 1963-64) and "Quotation of Dream" (1991). The rich layering of sounds emanating from his works is described as the "Takemitsu Tone."
Furthermore, Takemitsu's originality is also recognized in his thoughts on music and language, traces of which can be seen in numerous essays and work titles. His books include "Oto, Chinmoku to Hakariaeru Hodo ni" (Sound, as much as silence can measure) (Shinchosha, 1971), "Yume to Kazu" (Dream and Number) (Libroport, 1987), and "Jikan no Entei" (The Garden of Time) (Shinchosha, 1996), all of which are collected in "The Complete Works of Toru Takemitsu" (5 volumes) published by Shinchosha in 2000. In 1995, Takemitsu was diagnosed with cancer. While hospitalized, he developed interstitial pneumonia due to collagen disease. Toru Takemitsu passed away on February 20, 1996. One month before his death, he wrote the following passage: "Gradually, my heart became captivated by the sea that connects different regions of this earth, and by its ever-changing, rich expressions. If possible, I would like to possess a graceful and robust body like a whale and swim in a sea with no west or east." In his later years, Takemitsu focused on composing using the three symbolic pitches of the sea (SEA) – E-flat (Es), E, and A – as motifs. For Takemitsu, creation was about playing in a river of sound, while expanding concepts such as water and dreams.
Author : Sudoh, Eiko
Last Updated: April 1, 2008
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Author : Sudoh, Eiko
A leading Japanese composer. He studied composition almost entirely self-taught, apart from a brief period of tutelage under Yasuji Kiyose. In 1951, he formed the avant-garde art group "Jikken Kobo" (Experimental Workshop) with Kuniharu Akiyama, Hiroyoshi Suzuki, and others. In 1957, his Requiem for Strings was recognized by Igor Stravinsky during the latter's visit to Japan, marking his sudden emergence in the music world. Subsequently, in 1967, he gained international recognition with November Steps for shakuhachi, biwa, and orchestra. His piano solo works, consistently composed throughout his life, reveal a stylistic evolution: beginning with Two Lento Movements (1950), which critic Ginji Yamane famously described as "pre-musical"; followed by an experimental creative period from Piano Distance (1961) onwards; and finally, a mature period characterized by the "Takemitsu Tone" from Les Yeux Clos (1979) onwards. He was also active in the fields of film music, writing, and the planning of music festivals, exerting significant social influence. His unique music, which incorporated Western avant-garde techniques while embracing natural imagery such as "water," "birds," and "gardens," continues to be highly acclaimed worldwide, even more than a decade after his passing.
Author : Nakatsuji, Maho
Last Updated: April 24, 2018
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Author : Nakatsuji, Maho
Tōru Takemitsu is one of the most internationally renowned Japanese composers.
Early Life and Influences
He was born in Tokyo on October 8 in 1930, but shortly thereafter he moved to China where his father was working. In 1937, he returned to Japan alone and entered elementary school, where he learned the basics of the piano. Takemitsu was mobilized for labor when he was in junior high school. It was during his military service at an army food base in Saitama prefecture in 1945 that he had a defining encounter with Western music. A young military officer played a gramophone record of the French chanson “Parlez-moi d’amour”, which gave Takemitsu a strong shock. He decided to make his way to music, but it was not long after the end of the Pacific War and young Takemitsu couldn’t afford to buy a piano. In those days, he imagined the sounds using a paper piano with the keyboard written on cardboard. From the end of 1946, Takemitsu gained employment at an American military base and he became able to play the piano almost every day. At a concert in 1948, Takemitsu listened to “Violin Sonata No. 1” composed by Yasuji Kiyose and it stirred a desire in Takemitsu to learn from him. After that, Takemitsu was taken under the wings of Fumio Hayasaka through Kiyose and he started to assist with Hayasaka’s work for film music. Takemitsu was essentially self-educated but he observed closely the compositional work of Kiyose and Hayasaka.
Debut and Experimental Workshop
It was in 1950 that Takemitsu appeared on the music scene. The piano piece “Futatsu no Lento (Lento in Due Movimenti)” was performed in the seventh recital of ‘Shin Sakkyoku-ha Kyōkai (the New Association of Composers)’ held in Yomiuri Hall. The music critic Ginji Yamane criticized the piece severely, describing it as ‘being before music’, but the composer Jōji Yuasa spoke of the piece in terms of high praise. In 1951, together with musicians and artists such as Kuniharu Akiyama, Hiroyoshi Suzuki, and Takahiro Sonoda, Takemitsu founded a new group, the ‘Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Workshop)’, which was named by Shūzō Takiguchi. Takemitsu and Takiguchi continued to be on intimate terms after the end of ‘Jikken Kōbō’.
International Recognition and New Directions
Takemitsu got tuberculosis in the first half of the 1950s. One day when he was sick in bed, a piano was carried into his home in 1954. It was a present from Toshirō Mayuzumi. “Requiem for strings”, composed with an awareness towards his own death and for mourning the death of Fumio Hayasaka, was first put on stage in 1957. Later this work was applauded by I. Stravinsky when he visited Japan. The opportunities for activities at the Sōgetsu Art Center in Akasaka increased in the 1960s. The center functioned as a place for experimentation and uses of new media was tried out there. Takemitsu began to adapt the graphic score and composed “Pianist no tame no Corona (Corona for Pianists)” for a recital at Sōgetsu Art Center. Takemitsu attracted a great deal of attention in the world by his work for shakuhachi, biwa and orchestra, “November steps”. This commissioned work was composed for the 125th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and was given the first public performance by Seiji Ozawa (conductor), Kinshi Tsuruta (biwa player) and Katsuya Yokoyama (shakuhachi player) in the United States of America. Takemitsu also made use of traditional Japanese instruments for “Shūteiga ichigu (In an Autumn Garden)”, which was composed at the request of the National Theater in 1979, and for gagaku music as well as some film music.
Film Scores
The first film which included Takemitsu’s name was “Kurutta Kajitsu (Insane Fruit)” which was directed by Kō Nakahira in 1956. The film stars Yūjirō Ishihara for the first time and the music written by Takemitsu makes use of jazz and Hawaiian music which bring a special excitement to the work. In “Suna no Onna (Woman in Sand)” directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara in 1964, glissandos by the strings sounds like creaks and in “Kaidan (Ghost Story)”, ‘musique concrète’ was fully used. In the director Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran (Rebellion)”, released in 1985, Takemitsu tried to compose with techniques of subtraction and ‘no-sound’ or silence.
Interdisciplinary Inspirations
Within Takemitsu’s oeuvre, there are also works which have a close relationship to the fine arts. Takemitsu composed the piano piece “Tojita Me (Closed Eyes)” (1-2, 1979-1988) inspired by a picture of O. Rudon’s and wrote the orchestra piece “Marginalia” (1976) and “Subete ha Usuakari no Naka de (All in the dim Light)” (1987) for guitar with an idea from P. Klee. When Takemitsu saw the photography of M. Ray and the sculpture of J. Milo, it aroused his visual experience and inspired his works.
Major Works and the 'Takemitsu Tone'
The most important works of Takemitsu include:
- the orchestra music “Textures” (1964)
- “Chihei-sen no Dōria (The Dorian Horizen)” (1966)
- “Quatrain” (1975)
- “Tōi Yobigoe no Kanata he! (Far calls, coming Far!)” (1980)
- the songs “Chīsana Sora (Small Sky)” (1962)
- “Shinda Otoko no Nokoshita Mono ha (What the dead Man left)” (1965)
- the piano solo “Saegirarenai Kyūsoku (Uninterrupted Rest)” (1-3, 1952-59)
- “Piano Distance” (1961)
- the piano concerto “Arc” (1-2, 1963-64)
- “Yume no Inyō (Quotation of Dream)” (1991)
The rich resonance of sounds that emanate from his works are designated the ‘Takemitsu tone’.
Writings and Musical Philosophy
The uniqueness of Takemitsu can be seen in his thoughts on music and use of language, which appears in many sentences and titles of works. Examples of Takemitsu’s writings, also included in “Takemitsu Tōru Chosaku-syū (Tōru Takemitsu complete Works)” (in 5 volumes) published by Shinchō-sha in 2000, are:
- “Oto, Chinmoku to hakariaeruhodoni (Sound, confronting the Silence)” (published by Shinchō-sha in 1971)
- “Yume to Kazu (Dream and Number)” (published by Libroport in 1987)
- “Jikan no Entei (Gardener of Time)” (published by Shinchō-sha in 1996)
Final Years and Legacy
Takemitsu was diagnosed with cancer in 1995 and interstitial pneumonia from a collagen disease was discovered during his hospitalization. Tōru Takemitsu passed away on February 20 in 1996. A month before his death, he left a text of prose which reads as follows: “I was gradually captivated by the sea, which connects the different areas of the earth, and its ample forms of expressions which are full of variety. If possible, with the graceful robust body like that of a whale, I want to swim the sea without west or east.” In Takemitsu’s last years, he was absorbed in composing with a three-note motif, which are symbolic of the sea, Es, E, and A. For Takemitsu, as he expanded the concepts of water and dream, composing was indeed a play in the river of sound.
Works(38)
Concerto
Works with orchestral accompaniment (5)
Piano Solo
pieces (3)
character pieces (6)
Reduction/Arrangement (1)
transcription (3)
Various works (8)
Piano Ensemble
Various works (1)
Chamber Music
character pieces (4)
Chamber music (3)