was a Japanese composer of
contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...
.
Biography
Born in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, Ishii studied composition privately (with
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 ...
and
Tomojiro Ikenouchi) and conducting with
Akeo Watanabe from 1952 in Tokyo. In 1958, he moved to
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, where he continued his studies under
Boris Blacher
Boris Blacher (30 January 1975) was a German composer and librettist.
Life
Blacher was born when his parents (of German-Estonian and Russian backgrounds) were living within a Russian-speaking community in the Manchurian town of Niuzhuang () (h ...
and
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 Vi ...
. In 1962 he returned to Japan .
His music has been performed by the ''
taiko
are a broad range of Traditional Japanese musical instruments, Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese language, Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various J ...
'' group
Kodo __NOTOC__
Kodo may refer to:
Japan
* ''Kōdō'' (香道), ceremonial appreciation of incense
* Nippon Kodo (日本香堂), an incense company
* Kodō (taiko group) (鼓童), a ''taiko'' drumming group
* Kodo-kai (弘道会), a yakuza criminal o ...
and he has composed for Japanese instruments as well as symphony orchestra and other Western instruments.
In 1999, Ishii produced the opera ''Tojirareta Fune''. That same year Ishii received the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
with Purple Ribbon for his contributions to Japanese music.
His father was the first recipient of the award 44 years earlier.
He died in
Kashiwa,
Chiba,
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 ...
, at the Kashiwa National Cancer Center of
thyroid cancer
Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck, ...
on April 8, 2003, at the age of 66.
Selected works
Orchestral Music
* ''Symphonic Poem GIOH,'' Op. 60. (1984); recorded 1988 DENON, The Contemporary Music of Japan, COCO-70960, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Koizumi, Kazuhiro conductor, Akao, Michiko, Yokobue, a typical Japanese Flute.
* ''Sō-Gū II'' for Gagaku and Symphonic Orchestra, recorded 1971
Parlophone
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...
by the Gagaku Ensemble and the
Japan Philharmonic Orchestra under
Seiji Ozawa
was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After cond ...
.
*Score for
Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis 1988
Sources
*Funayama, Takashi. 1997. "Klänge zwischen Ost und West: Betrachtungen zu Maki Ishiis ''Fūshi''", translated by Reinhold Quandt and Chris Drake. In ''Sei no hibiki, tō no hibiki: Ishii Maki no ongaku—Futatsu no sekai kara no sōzō/Westlicher Klang, östlicher Klang: Die Musik Maki Ishiis—Schöpfung aus zwei Musikwelten'', edited by Christa Ishii-Meinecke, 118–49. Celle: Hermann Moeck. .
*
*Kido, Toshirō. 1997. "Ikonologie der Klänge: Die Musik Maki Ishiis und das räumliche Konzept in der traditionellen japanischen Musik", translated by Robin Thompson and Christa Ishii-Meinecke. In ''Sei no hibiki, tō no hibiki: Ishii Maki no ongaku—Futatsu no sekai kara no sōzō/Westlicher Klang, östlicher Klang: Die Musik Maki Ishiis—Schöpfung aus zwei Musikwelten'', edited by Christa Ishii-Meinecke, 180–225. Celle: Hermann Moeck. .
*Mattner, Lothar. 1988. "Verharrende Zeit: Der Komponist Maki Ishii". ''Neue Zeitschrift für Musik'' 149, no. 11 (November): 19–22.
*Sparrer, Walter-Wolfgang. 1999. "Buddhistisches und christliches, expressionistisches und bruitistisches: Zur deutschen Erstaufführung von Maki Ishiis Oper Das Schiff ohne Augen im Berliner
Hebbel Theater
The Hebbel-Theater (Hebbel Theatre) is a historic theatre building for plays in Berlin-Kreuzberg, Germany. It has been a venue of the company Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) from 2003.
The theatre, with approximately 800 seats, was built by Oskar Kaufmann ...
". ''Neue Zeitschrift für Musik'' 160, no. 6 (November–December): 58.
Further reading
*
References
External links
Maki Ishii official siteMaki Ishii official siteMaki Ishii official siteMaki Ishii former official site
1936 births
2003 deaths
20th-century Japanese classical composers
20th-century Japanese male musicians
Composers from Tokyo
Deaths from cancer in Japan
Deaths from thyroid cancer
Japanese male classical composers
Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon
{{Japan-composer-stub