was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

Biography

Irino was born in

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Vladivostok. He attended high school in Tokyo and went on to study

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

(now University of Tokyo). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Irino, along with colleagues

Minao Shibata ; September 29, 1916, Tokyo – February 2, 1996, Tokyo) was a Japanese composer. Minao studied botany at Tokyo University, graduating in 1939, and made further studies in the fine arts while studying music privately with Saburo Moroi and playin ...

and Kunio Toda, studied the twelve-tone method of composition devised by

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

. In 1951, Irino used the composition technique to compose his ''Concerto da Camera for Seven Instruments''. This work is credited to be the first Japanese dodecaphonic composition.『日本の作曲20世紀』（音楽之友社）142頁 an
現代日本のオーケストラ音楽第28回演奏会　プログラム
/ref> During the same time, the magazine ''Ongaku Geijutsu'' published two articles by Irino: "Schoenberg's Composing Technique" and "What is Twelve-Tone Music?" Subsequently, Irino used the twelve-tone technique in numerous compositions and wrote extensively about contemporary music. Working to introduce foreign contemporary music and music literature to Japan, he made Japanese translations of important books such as ''Die Komposition mit zwölf Tönen'' (12音による作曲技法) by

Josef Rufer Josef Rufer (1893–1985) was an Austrian-born musicologist. He is regarded as a significant figure mainly on account of his association with and writings on Arnold Schoenberg. Rufer was a pupil of Alexander von Zemlinsky and Schoenberg in Vien ...

and ''Schoenberg and His School'' (シェーンベルクとその楽派) by

René Leibowitz René Leibowitz (; 17 February 1913 – 29 August 1972) was a Polish, later naturalised French, composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher. He was historically significant in promoting the music of the Second Viennese School in Paris after ...

. Irino did not, however, compose

serial music In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were als ...

, a technique of the same period widely used with the

Darmstadt School Darmstadt School refers to a group of composers who were associated with the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music (Darmstädter Ferienkurse) from the early 1950s to the early 1960s in Darmstadt, Germany, and who shared some aesthe ...

. In 1973, the Asian Composers League was established by Irino and his colleagues. After his death, the Irino Award and the Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize (sponsored by the Asian Composers League) were established to promote young composers. Notable students include Kimi Sato.

Awards

* 6th Mainichi Music Award for ''Sinfonietta'' (1953) * 6th Odaka Award for ''Concerto Grosso for Double String and Wind Orchestras'' (1957) * 8th Odaka Award for ''Symphonia'' (1959)

Works

Yoshirō Irino's music is mainly published by

Zen-On Music Company Ltd is a music publishing company based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by ...

, Ongaku No Tomo Sha, Stage works * , Music for the

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

Drama (1962) Orchestra * ''Adagietto and Allegro Vivace'' (1949) * ''Sinfonietta'' for Small Orchestra (1953) * ''Ricercari'' for Small Orchestra (1954) * ''Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra'' (1955) * ''Concerto Grosso'' for Double String and Wind Orchestras (1957) * ''Symphonia'' (1959) * ''Concerto for String Orchestra'' (1960) * ''Music for Harpsichord, Percussion and 19 Strings'' (1963) * ''Symphonia No. 2'' (1964) * ''Theme and Variations'' (1967) * for Two

Shakuhachi A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

and Orchestra (1973) Jazz band * ''Suite for Jazz Band'' (1960) Chamber music * ''Sonata for Cello and Piano'' (1945) * ''String Quartet No. 1'' (1945) * Sonatina for Flute and Piano (1946) * ''Piano Trio, Op. 4'' (1948) * ''String Sextet'' (1950) * ''Concerto da Camera for Seven Instruments'' (1951) * ''Quintet for Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Trumpet, Cello and Piano'' (1958) * ''Divertimento for Seven Winds'' (1958) * ''Music for Violin and Cello'' (1959) * ''Music for Vibraphone and Piano'' (1961) * ''Partita for Wind Quintet'' (1962) * ''String Trio'' (1965) * ''Three Movements for Two

Koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...

s and

Jūshichi-gen The is a variant of the with 17 strings instead of the typical 13. The instrument is also known as , "17 stringed ", or "bass " (although with a greater number of strings also exist). The was invented in 1921 by Michio Miyagi, a musician who ...

'' (1966) * ''Seven Inventions'' for Guitar and Six Players (1967) * ''Sonata for Violin and Piano'' (1967) * ''Duo concertante'' for Shakuhachi and Koto (1968) * ''Three Movements'' for Cello Solo (1969) * ''Sonata for Four Players'' (1970) * ''Trio for H.R.S. '70'' for Flute, Violin and Harpsichord (1970) * ''Globus I'' for Horn and Percussion (1971) * ''Suite for Viola Solo'' (1971) * ''Globus II'' for Marimba, Percussion and Double Bass (1971) * ''Strömung'' for Flute, Harp and Percussion (1973) * ''Globus III'' for

Hichiriki The is a double reed Japanese used as one of two main melodic instruments in Japanese music. It is one of the "sacred" instruments and is often heard at Shinto weddings in Japan. Its sound is often described as haunting. According to schola ...

, Violin, Cello Harp, Piano and Two Dancers (1975) * ''Klänge'' for Piano and Percussion (1976) * for Marimba Solo (1977) * ''Cosmos'' for

, Two Sō (

), Violin, Piano and Percussion (1978) Piano * ''Variations'' (1943) * ''Three Pieces'' (1958) * ''Music for Two Pianos'' (1963) * (1967) * ''Three Little Pieces'' (1967–68) * ''Four Small Pieces'' (1969) * ''Piano Pieces for Children'' (1972–75) Vocal * (1959) * for Mixed Chorus and Percussion (1960) * (1966) * for Soprano and Tenor with Harp and Harpsichord (1977) Film music * (1958) * (1961) * (1964); based on the novel by

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered fo ...

School songs * Irino wrote school songs for about two dozen Japanese schools.

References

External links

Yoshiro Irino Institute of Music

Asian Composers League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irino, Yoshiro Vladimir 1921 births 1980 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century Japanese male musicians Japanese classical composers Japanese film score composers Japanese male classical composers Japanese male film score composers