Akira Miyoshi
Encyclopedia
Akira Miyoshi (born January 10, 1933, Suginami, Tokyo
) is a Japan
ese composer.
Miyoshi was a child prodigy
on piano, studying with Kozaburo Hirai and Tomojiro Ikenouchi
. He studied French literature at the University of Tokyo
, and then at the Paris Conservatory with Henri Challan
and Raymond Gallois-Montbrun
from 1955 to 1957. He was very influenced by Henri Dutilleux
. He returned to Japan in 1957 and continued studying French, graduating in 1960. In 1965, he became a professor at the Toho Gakuen School of Music
. Miyoshi is the recipient of the 31st Suntory Music Award
(1999). He has won four Otaka prizes for his compositions.
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
) is a Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese composer.
Miyoshi was a child prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
on piano, studying with Kozaburo Hirai and Tomojiro Ikenouchi
Tomojiro Ikenouchi
was a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music and professor born in Tokyo, Japan. The son of a haiku poet, Ikenouchi traveled to Paris in 1927, where he studied composition with Henri Büsser and piano with Lazare Levy. His music is influenced by French Impressionist music...
. He studied French literature at the University of Tokyo
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
, and then at the Paris Conservatory with Henri Challan
Henri Challan
Henri Challan was a French composer and music educator. He had a long association with the Conservatoire de Paris where he was both a student and a faculty member. He was a pupil of Jean Gallon and Henri Büsser and was appointed a professor of harmony in 1936. That same year he won both the first...
and Raymond Gallois-Montbrun
Raymond Gallois-Montbrun
Raymond Gallois-Montbrun was a French violinist and composer.He studied violin and composition at the Conservatoire de Paris, and won the Prix de Rome in 1944....
from 1955 to 1957. He was very influenced by Henri Dutilleux
Henri Dutilleux
Henri Dutilleux is one of the most important French composers of the second half of the 20th century, producing work in the tradition of Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and Albert Roussel, but in a style distinctly his own...
. He returned to Japan in 1957 and continued studying French, graduating in 1960. In 1965, he became a professor at the Toho Gakuen School of Music
Toho Gakuen School of Music
is a private conservatoire located in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan.-History:Toho Gakuen was founded in 1948 in Kudan as a music school for children, and two years later opened the Toho High School of Music, to provide quality musical education to teenage girls. 1955 saw the establishment of the Junior...
. Miyoshi is the recipient of the 31st Suntory Music Award
Suntory Music Award
The , previously known as the , designed to promote Western music in Japan, has been given by the Suntory Music Foundation since their establishment in 1969. The award is presented annually to individuals or groups for the greatest achievement in the development of Western or contemporary music in...
(1999). He has won four Otaka prizes for his compositions.
Orchestral
- 1960 Trois mouvements symphoniques – (Kôkyô sanshô)
- 1962 Concerto for piano and orchestra
- 1964 Duel for soprano and orchestra
- 1965 Concerto for violin and orchestra
- 1969 Concerto for marimba and string ensemble
- 1969 Odes métamorphosées
- 1970 Festival Overture
- 1970 Requiem for mixed choir and orchestra
- 1974 Concerto for cello and orchestra
- 1978 Noesis
- 1979 Psaume for mixed choir and orchestra
- 1982 En-Soi Lointain
- 1984 Kyômon for children's choir and orchestra
- 1988 Litania pour Fuji
- 1991 Création sonore
- 1991 Etoiles à cordes
- 1995 Dispersion de l'été
- 1996 Étoile à échos for cello and orchestra
- 1997 Fruits de brume
- 1998 Chanson terminale: Effeuillage des Vagues
Works for wind orchestra
- 1972 Sapporo Olympic Fanfare
- 1987 Subliminal Festa – (Secret Rites)
- 1990 Stars Atlanpic '96
- 1991 Cross-By March
- 2000 Millennium Fanfare
- 2002 West Wind (timpani concerto)
Chamber music
- 1954 Violin Sonata
- 1955 Sonata for flute, cello and piano
- 1962 String Quartet No. 1
- 1967 String Quartet No. 2
- 1969 Huit poèmes for flute octet
- 1973 Nocturne for flute, clarinet, marimba, double bass and percussion
- 1975 Litania for double bass and percussion
- 1979 Hommage for flute, violin and piano
- 1980 Ixtacchihuatl for percussion ensemble
- 1982 Rêve colorie for two clarinets
- 1985 Message Sonore for flute, clarinet, marimba, double bass and percussion
- 1987 C6H for cello
- 1989 Ombre Scintillante for flute and harp
- 1989 Perspective en Spirale for clarinet and piano
- 1990 5 Esquisses for tuba and marimba
- 1992 String Quartet No. 3: Constellation Noire
Music for piano
- 1958 Piano Sonata
- 1960 Suite In Such Time
- 1973 Chaînes Prelude for piano
- 1980 En vers for piano
- 1981 A Diary of the Sea (28 pieces)
- 1984 Phenomene sonore I for two pianos
- 1985 Cahier sonore for four-hand piano
- 1995 Phenomene sonore II for two pianos
- 1998 Pour le piano – mouvement circulaire et croisé
Music for guitar
- 1974 Protase "de loin à rien" for two guitars
- 1975 Epitase
- 1985 5 Poèmes
- 1989 Constellation Noire for guitar and string quartet
Music for Percussion
- 1962 Conversation – Suite for marimba
- Tender Talk
- So Nice It Was...Repeatedly
- Lingering Chagrin
- Again The Hazy Answer!
- A Lame Excuse
- 1968 Torse III for marimba
- These
- Chant
- Commentaire
- Synthese
- 1977 Étude Concertante for 2 marimbas
- 1987 Rin-sai for marimba solo and six percussion players
- 1991 Ripple for marimba solo
- 2001 Prelude Etudes for marimba
Music for traditional Japanese instruments
- 1972 Torse IV for shakuhachiShakuhachiThe is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
, 2 kotoKoto (musical instrument)The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...
, 17-gen and string quartet - 1986 Ryusho Kyoku Suifu for shakuhachi, 2 koto und 17-gen
- 1994 Gikyoku for Japanese instruments
Songs
- 1962 En blanc for soprano and piano
- 1962 Sei sanryoh hari for soprano and piano
- 1991 Koeru Kage ni for soprano and piano
Choral music
- 1962 Three Lyrics(Mittsu no Jojoh) for women's choir and piano
- 1962 To my married Daughter for mixed choir
- 1966 Four Seasons for mixed choir
- 1968 Five Pictures for Children for mixed choir and piano
- The weathercock
- The trumpet-shell
- "Yajiro-be" – A balancing toy
- The sand-glass
- A top of acorn
- 1970 Ohson fuki(Ohson didn't come back) for men's choir and piano
- 1971 Four Autumn Songs for women's choir and piano
- 1972 Odeko no koitsu for children's choir and piano
- 1973 5 Japanese Folksongs for mixed choir
- Awa odori
- Sado OkesaSado OkesaSado Okesa is a Japanese folk song that originated in Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture.-General:"Okesa' or "Okesabushi" is a style of the Japanese folk songs that is said to have originated in Amakusa City, Kumamoto Prefecture. They typically describe the dialog between a man and a woman in love,...
- Kiso bushi
- Soran bushi
- Itsuki no komoriuta
- 1973 Otewanmiso no uta for mixed choir
- 1975 Hengetan'ei for mixed choir, shakuhachi, percussion instrument and 17-gen
- 1976 Kitsune-no-uta(Song of Fox) for children's choir, speaker, and piano
- 1978 Klee no ehon dai1shū(KleePaul KleePaul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
's Picture book No.1) for mixed choir and guitar - 1979 Klee no ehon dai2shū(KleePaul KleePaul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
's Picture book No.2) for men's choir - 1982 Norainu Doji for women's choir and piano
- 1983 Ballades to the Earth for mixed choir
- 1983 Poems of Animals for mixed choir and piano
- 1984 Poems of Animals for women's choir and piano
- 1984 Collection of songs "Died in the Country" for mixed choir and two pianos
- 1985 Letters To God for children's choir and marimba
- 1987 Umi(The Sea) for mixed choir and two pianos
- 1991 Yamagara Diary for children's choir, sanukite and marimba
- 1992 Asakura Sanka for speaker, mixed choir, Japanese flute and TaikoTaikomeans "drum" in Japanese . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming...
- 1996 Kamuy no kaze (Wind of Kamuy) for mixed choir and piano
- 2007 The Day - August 6 for mixed choir and piano
Books and writings
- Akira Miyoshi: The Silent Beat of Japanese Music, in Japanese Essences (Japan as I see it – 3) Shichi Yamamoto, Kenichi Fukui et al., Tokyo. 1985.
- Yoko Narasaki: Toru TakemitsuToru Takemitsuwas a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu possessed consummate skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre...
to Akira Miyoshi no Sakkyoku Yoshiki (The Style of Composition of Toru Takemitsu and Akira Miyoshi). Tokyo: Ongaku no Tomosha, 1994.