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Takemitsu, Toru

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Takemitsu, Toru (b Tokyo (/places/asia/japanese-political-geography/tokyo), 1930; d Tokyo, 1996).

Japanese composer. Organized experimental workshop for painters and composers in Tokyo, 1951.
Designed Space Theatre at Osaka Exposition 1970. Visiting prof., Yale Univ. 1975. Comp.-in-residence
Aldeburgh Fest. 1984, Hudders eld Fest. 1990. His mus. uses avant-garde procedures and much of it is on
tape. In uenced at rst by Schoenberg, Messiaen, and Schae er's musique concrète. Much concerned,
like Ligeti, with timbre. Works incl.:ORCH.: Requiem, str. (1957); Solitude Sonore (1958); Tableau noir,
narr., chamber orch. (1958); Scene, vc., str. (1959); Coral Island, sop., orch. (1959); Music of Trees (1961);
Arc, Part I, pf., orch. (1963–6/1976), Part II, pf., orch. (1964–6/1976); Dorian Horizon, 17 str. (1966); Green
(1967); November Steps, shakuhachi, biwa, orch. (1967); Asterism, pf., orch. (1967); Crossing, 4 instr.
soloists, women's vv., 2 orchs. (1970); Eucalypts I, ., ob., hp., str. (1970); Winter (1971); Cassiopeia, perc.
solo, orch. (1971); Gemeaux, ob., tb., 2 orch, 2 cond. (1971–86); Autumn, biwa, shakuhachi, orch. (1973);
Gitimalya (Bouquet of Songs), marimba, orch. (1974); Quatrain, vn., vc., cl., pf., orch. (1975); Marginalia
(1976); A Flock descends into the pentagonal garden (1977); Far Calls, Coming, far!, vn., orch. (1980);
Dreamtime (1981); A Way a Lone II (vers. of str. qt.), str. (1981); Toward the Sea II (vers. of work for alt. .,
gui.), alt. ., hp., str. (1981); Star-Isle (1982): Rain Coming, chamber orch. (1982); To the Edge of Dream,
gui., orch. (1983); Orion and Pleiades (/literature-and-arts/classical-literature-mythology-and-
folklore/folklore-and-mythology/pleiades), vc., orch. (1984); Vers, l'arc-en-ciel, Palma, gui., ob. d'amore,
orch. (1984); riverrun, pf., orch. (1984); Dream/Window (1985); I hear the water dreaming, ., orch.
(1987); Nostalghia (in memory of Andrey Tarkovsky), vn., str. (1987); Twill by Twilight (in memory of
Morton Feldman (/people/literature-and-arts/music-history-composers-and-performers-
biographies/morton-feldman)) (1988); Tree Line, chamber orch. (1988); A String Around Autumn, va.,
orch. (1989); Visions (1990); My Way of Life (in memory of Michael Vyner), bar., ch., orch. (1990); From
me ows what you call Time, 5 perc., orch. ( ).CHORAL: Wind Horse, ch. (1961–6); Grass, male ch.
(1982); Handmade Proverbs (4 Pop Songs), 6 male vv. ( )CHAMBER MUSIC: Distance de fée, vn., pf.
(1951, rev. 1989); Le son calligraphié I and II, 4 vv., 2 va., 2 vc. (1958–60); Masque, 2 . (1959–60);
Landscape, str. qt. (1960); Ring, ., gui., lute (1961); Sacri ce, alt. ., lute, vib. (1962); Valeria, vn., vc.,
gui., elec. org. (1965); Hika, vn., pf. (1966); Munari by Munari, perc. solo (1967–72); Stanza I, gui., pf., hp.,
vib., female v. (1969); Eucalypts II, ., ob., hp. (1971); Voice, . (1971); Stanza II, hp., tape (1971); Distance,
ob. (1972); Folios, gui. (1974); Garden Rain, brass (1974); Bryce, ., 2 hp., 2 perc. (1976); Waves, solo cl.,
hn., 2 tb., bass drum (1976); Quatrain II, cl., vn., vc., pf. (1977); Waterways, cl., vn., vc., pf., 2 hp., 2 vib.
(1978); A Way a Lone, str. qt. (1981); Toward the Sea, alt. ., gui. (1981); Rain Spell, ., cl., hp., pf., vib.
(1982); Rocking Mirror Daybreak, 2 vn. (1983); From far beyond Chrysanthemums and November Fog,
vn., pf. (1983); Orion, vc., pf. (1984); Entre-Temps, ob., str. qt. (1986); Rain Dreaming, hpd. (1986); All in
Twilight, gui. (1987); Itinerant, . (1989); Toward the Sea III, alt. ., hp. ( ).ELEC. MUS. & THEATRE
PIECES: Static Relief, magnetic tape (/science-and-technology/computers-and-electrical-
engineering/electrical-engineering/magnetic-tape) (1955); Vocalism A.I., magnetic tape (/science-and-
technology/computers-and-electrical-engineering/electrical-engineering/magnetic-tape) (1956); Sky,
Horse and Death, tape (1958); Water Music (/literature-and-arts/performing-arts/music-history/water-
music), tape (1960); Kwaidan, tape (1964); Toward, tape (1970); A Minneapolis Garden, tape (1986); The
Sea is Still, tape ( ).PIANO: Lento in due movimenti (1950); Uninterrupted Rest (1952–9); Piano
Distance (1961); Crossing (1962); For away (1973); Les yeux clos I (1979), II (1988); Rain Tree Sketch (1982).
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE

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