Toru Takemitsu Biography

Toru Takemitsu, Composer
Occup.Composer
FromJapan
BornOctober 8, 1930
Hongō, Tokyo, Japan
DiedFebruary 20, 1996
Minato, Tokyo, Japan
CauseLung cancer
Aged65 years
Early Life
Toru Takemitsu was born on October 8, 1930, in Tokyo, Japan. He was an extremely influential Japanese composer who integrated Western classical techniques with standard Eastern elements to produce a special and unique design. Takemitsu's household moved frequently throughout his childhood due to his daddy's occupation in the Armed Forces, which exposed him to numerous regions of Japan, along with the music and culture of each area.

Takemitsu was primarily self-taught in music structure. He started to pursue his passion for music after experiencing a life-changing occasion in 1944. When he was 14 years of ages, Takemitsu was conscripted into a labor camp during World War II. It was during this time that he discovered his love for music and decided to become a composer. After the war ended, he started to study music composition with the help of modern music ratings.

Early Career and Artistic Development
In 1950, Toru Takemitsu began gaining acknowledgment as a composer with his very first significant structure, the triptych "Sacrifice - Hymn to the Sea - Wind Horse". The piece showcased his distinct blending of Japanese and Western symphonic music.

Takemitsu's structures started to attract international attention in 1957 when his "Requiem for Strings" was given its first performance by the NHK Symphony Orchestra. The piece garnered the attention of Igor Stravinsky, a popular composer, who praised Takemitsu's work. This recognition helped enhance Takemitsu's profession and additional establish him as a leading figure in modern music.

Takemitsu likewise developed a close friendship with the progressive artists and authors who formed the Jikken Kobo (Experimental Workshop), a group committed to multimedia artistic experimentation. His involvement with the group affected his work and his expedition of multimedia and electroacoustic music.

Movie Scoring and Musical Achievements
Takemitsu made up scores for more than 100 movies throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. A few of his most notable works consist of scores for the films "Kwaidan" (1964), "Woman in the Dunes" (1964), "Ran" (1985), and "Black Rain" (1989). Teaming up with directors like Akira Kurosawa and Hiroshi Teshigahara, Takemitsu's movie music further developed his credibility as a flexible and ingenious composer.

In addition to his operate in movie, Takemitsu continued to make up various pieces for orchestra, chamber ensembles, choral groups, and solo instrumentalists. Some of his most well known structures from this duration consist of "November Steps" (1967), "A Flock Descends Into the Pentagonal Garden" (1977), and "Vers, l'arc-en-ciel, Palma" (1987).

Awards and Legacy
Toru Takemitsu received various awards and honors throughout his lifetime, consisting of the Prix Italia (1967), the Gravemeyer Award for Music Composition (1994), and the Glenn Gould Prize (1996). In 1995, he was awarded the Japanese Order of Culture, one of the highest honors a person can receive in Japan for their contributions to culture.

Takemitsu's influence and tradition continue to have a profound effect on music composition today. His unique and ingenious blending of Eastern and Western music has inspired many authors and musicians to check out brand-new methods to include diverse components to produce their own design. His extensive work in movie scoring likewise set a high standard for modern movie music structure.

Toru Takemitsu died on February 20, 1996, in Tokyo, at the age of 65. His music and contributions to the world of structure will continue to be kept in mind and celebrated as a vital part of modern music history.

Our collection contains 7 quotes who is written / told by Toru.

Related authors: Barbara Kolb (Composer), Lawrence Taylor (Athlete), Igor Stravinsky (Composer)

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7 Famous quotes by Toru Takemitsu

Small: Although I am basically self taught, I consider Debussy my teacher - the most important elements are co
"Although I am basically self taught, I consider Debussy my teacher - the most important elements are colour, light and shadow"
Small: Music should be able to invoke the natural emotions in all human beings. Music is not notes fixed on ap
"Music should be able to invoke the natural emotions in all human beings. Music is not notes fixed on apiece of paper"
Small: I probably belong to a type of composer of songs who keeps thinking about melody... I am old fashioned
"I probably belong to a type of composer of songs who keeps thinking about melody... I am old fashioned"
Small: Music is a form of prayer
"Music is a form of prayer"
Small: I always want to write erotic music... Not only about the love between men and women, but in a much mor
"I always want to write erotic music... Not only about the love between men and women, but in a much more universal sense - about the sensuality of the mechanism of the universe... about life"
Small: The art music of the West has developed through out its history by means of individual geniuses, and ou
"The art music of the West has developed through out its history by means of individual geniuses, and out of the soil supporting them; non-Western musicians were born, and grew like the grasses of the field"
Small: Composition gives proper meaning to the natural streams of sound that penetrate the world
"Composition gives proper meaning to the natural streams of sound that penetrate the world"