Yasushi Akutagawa
was a Japanese composer and conductor. His father was Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
Biography
Akutagawa was born and raised in Tabata, Tokyo, the son of writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
Akutagawa studied composition with Kunihiko Hashimoto, Kan'ichi S ...
's ''Ellora Symphony'' was composed in 1958 after a visit to the
Ellora Caves
The Ellora Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Aurangabad, India. It is one of the largest rock-cut cave complexes in the world, with artwork dating from the period 600–1000 AD, including Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain caves., Quote: "The ...
in
Aurangabad
Aurangabad (), officially renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023, is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. One of several
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese
primitivistic symphonies
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...
composed in the 1950s, including
Akira Ifukube
was a Japanese composer. He is best known for composing several entries in the Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' franchise as well as developing the Godzilla, titular monster's roar.
Biography Early years in Hokkaido
Akira Ifukube was born o ...
's
Sinfonia Tapkaara and
Kan Ishii's
Sinfonia Ainu, it is representative of Akutagawa's most adventurous period, when he associated
Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to:
*TORU, spacecraft system
*Tōru (given name), Japanese male given name
*Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
*Tõru
Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Es ...
and
Toshiro Mayuzumi and embraced
avant-garde music
Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elem ...
.
Instead of the traditional multi-movement layout, which Akutagawa had used in his
Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...
ian
Prima Sinfonia three years earlier, the Ellora Symphony is structured in fifteen sequences: eight caressing "feminine" fragments marked
Adagio or
Andante and seven aggressive "masculine" ones marked
Allegro
Allegro may refer to:
Common meanings
* Allegro (music), a tempo marking that indicates to playing quickly and brightly (from Italian meaning ''cheerful'')
* Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement
Artistic works
* L'Allegro (1645), a poem b ...
. The later assemble mainly in the last half of the work, translating in an Introduction and Allegro-like form.
References
* Akutagawa - Ellora Symphony, Trinita Sinfonica, Rapsodia.
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...
,
Takuo Yuasa
is a Japanese conductor.
Early life
Takuo Yuasa was born in Osaka, Japan, where he studied piano, cello, flute, and clarinet. At age 18, he received a scholarship to study in the US at the University of Cincinnati, eventually completing a bache ...
.
Naxos Records
Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...
. Booklet notes by
Morihide Katayama.
Akutagawa
Compositions by Yasushi Akutagawa
1958 compositions
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