• Joy of Music – Over 250 years of quality, innovation, and tradition
Toru Takemitsu
photo: Kiyotane Hayashi

Toru Takemitsu

Country of origin: Japan
Birthday: October 8, 1930
Date of death: February 20, 1996

Upcoming Performances

All in Twilight
March 30, 2024 | Tokyo (Japan) , Yamaha Ginza
12 Songs for Guitar
March 30, 2024 | Tokyo (Japan) , Yamaha Ginza

About Toru Takemitsu

I can well imagine Toru Takemitsu travelling through Japan, not to capture different aspects of the moon, but let’s say to experience the wind whistling through different trees, and returning to the city with a gift. This gift consists of the transformation of nature into art. (John Cage)

Toru Takemitsu was born in Tokyo on 8 October 1930. He began attending the Keika Junior High School in 1943 and resolved to become a composer at the age of 16. During the post-war years, he came into contact with Western music through radio broadcasts by the American occupying forces – not only jazz, but especially classical music by Debussy and Copland and even by Schoenberg. He made his debut at the age of 20 with a piano piece Lento in Due Movimenti. Although Takemitsu was essentially a self-taught composer, he nevertheless sought contact with outstanding teachers: Toshi Ichiyanagi acquainted the composer with the European avant-garde of Messiaen, Nono und Stockhausen, and Fumio Hayasaka introduced Takemitsu to the world of film music and forged contacts to the film director Akira Kurosawa for whom Takemitsu produced several scores to film plots. Alongside his musical studies, Takemitsu also took a great interest in other art forms including modern painting, theatre, film and literature (especially lyric poetry). His cultural-philosophical knowledge was acquired through a lively exchange of ideas with Yasuji Kiyose paired with his own personal experiences. In 1951, the group “Experimental Workshop” was co-founded by Takemitsu, other composers and representatives from a variety of artistic fields; this was a mixed media group whose avant-garde multimedia activities soon caused a sensation. Takemitsu taught composition at Yale University and received numerous invitations for visiting professorships from universities in the USA, Canada and Australia. He died in Tokyo on 20 February 1996. Peter Mussbach and the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden commemorated Takemitsu in their staged project "My Way of Life” in 2004.

Takemitsu’s earliest works display influences of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg, whereas the compositions of his second creative phase reflect his preoccupation with French Impressionism, particularly Debussy. The composer gained initial recognition at the end of the 1950s with his Requiem for strings (1957) which incorporates serial techniques. Takemitsu’s interest in a wide variety of artistic expressive forms and his individual sense of freedom developed through his autodidacticism shaped the character of his avant-garde style. As early as 1950, he utilised a tape recorder to create musical collages from “real” sounds ("musique concrète": Water Music, 1960; Kwaidan, 1964). In the early 1960s, two new elements appeared in Takemitsu’s works: on the one hand, traditional Japanese music (November Steps, 1967, for biwa, shakuhachi and orchestra) in the form of the deliberate juxtaposition of Eastern and Western musical culture and, on the other hand, the musical representation of natural phenomena (ARCI for orchestra, 1963-1966). Representations of the art of Japanese gardens through the utilisation of symbolic musical metaphors are frequently encountered in his compositions (A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden for orchestra, 1977).

Although Takemitsu’s artistically most ambitious works are focused on the genres orchestral and chamber music, the composer also displays great interest in popular music including jazz, pop and French chansons. He composed around a hundred film scores (Dodes’ka-Den, 1996). His 12 Songs for Guitar (1977), containing passages with arrangements of world-famous pop classics (including songs by the Beatles), demonstrate Takemitsu’s affinity with the broader musical tastes generated by the hyper-cultural influences of a media-dominated world.

Takemitsu was the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the Prix Italia, first prize at the Festival of Contemporary Music in Karuisawa (both in 1958), the German Consulate prize at the Tokyo Contemporary Music Festival (1960 and 1961), the major prize at the Japanese Art Festival (1966), the Otaka Prize (1976 and 1981) and the Los Angeles Film Critics Award (for the film “Ran”, 1987), the UNESCO-IMC Music Prize (1991), the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition (1994) and the Glenn Gould Prize (1996). Takemitsu was composer-in-residence at the Canberra Festival of Musica Viva in Australia (1960), at the London Music Digest (1973) and the Evenings for New Music at the State University of New York in Buffalo (1977). In 1979, he was appointed as an honorary member of the Academy of Arts in the German Democratic Republic, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1984, a member of the Ordre des arts et des letters in 1985 and in 1994 as a member of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Worklist

Chronology

1930
Born on October 8 in Tokyo. One month later, taken to Dalian, China, where his father works.
1937
Returns to Japan and enters Fujimae Elementary School in Hongo, Tokyo.
1943
Enters Keika Junior High School
1948
Studies music composition with Yasuji Kiyose, but mainly teaches himself how to compose.
1950
On December 7, makes his debut at the age of 20 with "Lento in due movimento" for piano, performed by Haruko Fujita at the 7th concert of "Shin Sakkyoku-ha Kyokai" (Association of New School of Composition) in Tokyo. The work is dismissed by music critic Ginji Yamane as "not yet music".
1951
In September, with other composers, painters, performers and poets organizes a group supporting collective activities among the arts, Jikken-Kobo (Experimental Workshop), named by poet/critic Shuzo Takiguchi.
1956
In June, composes music for the film "Kurutta Kajitsu" (Crazy Fruits) directed by Yasushi Nakahira. Throughout his life Takemitsu contributed scores for more than 90 films and received numerous domestic and international awards for his film music.
1957
On June 20, the first performance of "Requiem for Strings" by the Tokyo Symphonie Orchestra under the baton of Hitoshi Ueda, a commission from the orchestra. The work is acclaimed by Igor Stravinsky, who comes to Japan two years later.
1958
In August, awarded First Prize at the Competition for Contemporary Music Composition of the 2nd Festival of Contemporary Music in Karuisawa, organized by the Institute of Twentieth Century Music, for "Le Son Calligraphié I"
1958
Wins Prix Italia at the Broadcasting Competition in Italy for "Tableau Noir" for speaker and chamber orchestra, a commission from NHK Radio.
1958
Awarded Incentive Prize at the Japan Art Festival for "Solitude Sonore" for orchestra, a commission from NHK Radio.
1960
In September, awarded German Ambassador's Prize at the 1st Tokyo Contemporary Music Festival, for "Requiem for Strings".
1961
In August, wins German Ambassador's Prize at the 4th Festival of Contemporary Music in Osaka, for "Ring" for flute, terz guitar and lute.
1962
In March, with Toshiro Mayuzumi, Toshi Ichiyanagi and Yuji Takahashi presents his scores written with graphical notation, including "Corona II" for strings, at Graphic Score Exhibition at the Tokyo Art Gallery.
1963
In June, awarded 5th Prize of the UNESCO/IMC (International Music Council) International Rostrum of Composers in Paris, for "Coral Island" for Soprano and orchestra, a commission from Bunka Hoso Radio.
1964
In May, publishes privately a selection of his essays, Toru Takemitsu 1930 ...
1965
In June, wins Prize for Top Excellence in the Year 1965 at the UNESCO/IMC International Rostrum of Composers, in Paris, for "Textures" for piano and orchestra, a commission from NHK Symphony Orchestra for the Tokyo Olympic Art Exhibition Concert.
1966
In November, awarded Grand Prize of the Japan Art Festival for a 4-disc set of Works of Toru Takemitsu, released by Nippon Victor.
1967
In November, the first performance is given of "November Steps" for biwa, shakuhachi and orchestra, a commission from the New York Philharmonic for its 125th anniversary, by Kinshi Tsuruta, Katsuya Yokoyama and the Orchestra under the baton of Seiji Ozawa.
1967
Awarded Prize of the Music Crirics on the West Coast for "Dorian Horizon"
1969
In October, Composer-in-Residence at Canberra Spring Festival of Musica Viva, Australia.
1970
Beginning in March, desings several concerts, including the Music Today series, and symposiums as artistic director of the space Theater or Steel Pavilion at Osaka Expo '70.
1971
In August, Composer-in-Residence at the Marlboro Music School and Festival.
1972
Visits Festival International d'Art Contemporain de Royan for the first performance of "Gémeaux" (first movement), a commission from l'Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF), which was to have been performed by Jean-Claude Malgoire on oboe and Vinko Globokar on trombone, and conducted by Gilbert Amy and Michael Tabachnik with Orchestre Philharmonique de L'ORTF.
1972
In February, Guest Composer at the contemporary music series, The Encounters, of the California Institute of Technology.
1973
In May, Composer-in-Residence at the London Music Digest.
1973
In August, publishes privately a novel Kotsugetsu – aruiwa 'a honey moon' (Bone Moon, or 'a honeymoon').
1973
On October 30, "In an Autumn Garden" for gagaku orchestra, a commission from the National Theatre in Tokyo, is given its first performance by Kunaicho-Shikibushoku-Gakubu (Gagaku Orchestra of the Imperial Household Agency).
1973
Visiting Professor at Harvard University.
1975
In January, Visiting Professor of Music Composition at Yale University.
1975
Receives the Sanford Prize from the Yale University
1975
In February, Guest Composer at the New Music Concerts in Toronto
1975
In March, Guest Composer at Meet the Moderns series of the Brooklyn Philharmonia, directed by Lukas Foss.
1975
Awarded Grand Prize of the Japan Art Festival for "Quatrain" for clarinet, violin, violoncello, piano and orchestra, a commission in celebration of the 200th broadcast of the radio program "TDK Original Concert" of FM Tokyo.
1976
In February, awarded Otaka Prize (for excellence in orchestral works of the year in Japan) for "Quatrain".
1976
In March, Guest Composer-in-Residence at Evenings for New Music of the State University of New York at Buffalo.
1978
As artistic advisor for Festival d´Automne à Paris from October to December, designs 18 concerts of traditional and modern music of Japan in collaboration with an exhibition entitled MA - Espace-temps au Japon, directed by the architect Arata Isozaki.
1979
In May, becomes an Honorary Member of Academie der Künste der DDR.
1980
In March, Composer-in-Residence at the Vancouver Festival of Contemporary Music. Serves as an adjudicator for the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) National Radio Competition for Young Composers.
1980
In June, awarded Prize of the Japan Art Academy
1981
In January, awarded Otaka Prize for "Far Calls. Coming Far!" for violin and orchestra, a commission from Min-On Contemporary Music Composition Festival.
1981
Composer-in-Residence at the CalArts Contemporary Music Festival
1981
In September, Guest Composer at Berliner Festwochen Japan in Berlin at the invitation of DAAD
1981
In November, awarded the Mobil Music Prize
1983
In April, Guest Composer at the New Music Concerts in Toronto.
1983
In June, Composer-in-Residence at the Colorado Music Festival.
1984
In June, Composer-in-Resindence at the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts as the first resident composer for the festival.
1984
In July, elected Honorary Member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
1985
In January, awarded Asahi Prize.
1985
Composer-in-Residence at New Music Days of the Banff Centre held from February to March
1985
In May, awarded Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government
1985
Guest Composer at the Festival Pontino di Musica
1986
In January, Guest Composer at the Melbourne Summer Music Festival.
1986
In February, becomes an Honorary Member of the Academie des Beaux-Arts, France
1987
In February, awarded Los Angeles Film Critics Award for the musical score for the film "Ran" directed by Akira Kurosawa.
1987
Composer-in-Residence des Scotland's Contemporary Music Festival in Glasgow. In September, Composer-in-Residence at the Scotland's Contemporary Music Festival, Musica Nova, Glasgow
1988
In April, Guest Composer at Voices of Change, Southern Methodist University, in Dallas.
1989
In October, awarded International Inter Design Grand Prize of the Japan Inter Design Conference
1989
Awarded the First Hida-Furukawa Musik Grand Prize.
1990
In May, Composer-in-Residence at the Stockholm New Music Festival
1990
Composer-in-Residence at the Leeds Festival of Music
1990
Composer-in-Residence at the Centre Acanthe / the Festival D'Avignon
1990
In December, awarded le Prix International Maurice Ravel
1991
In January, awarded Mainichi Newspaper Art Prize for recent works including "Visions", a commission from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to commemorate its 100th anniversary.
1991
Awarded Tokyo Citizen's Honorary Award for Culture
1991
In May, awarded Suntory Music Prize
1991
In October, awarded the UNESCO/IMC Music Price
1991
In October, a concert series 1791-1891-1991 is held in Vienna in which Richard Stoltzmann performs as a soloist. The concert series is named for the years in which the three works were composed, Mozart's "Clarinet Concerto", Brahm's "Clarinet Quintet" and Takemitsu's "Fantasma/Cantos" for clarinet and orchestra, which was given its first performance in September in England.
1992
In April, Composer-in-Residence at Seattle Spring Festival, then a featured composer at Vancouver New Music.
1992
In November, Composer-in-Residence at The First 20th Century Music Masters given by the ISCM Polish Section, which organizes Takemitsu Days in Warsaw.
1993
Composes his first Hollywood score, for the film Rising Sun, directed by Philip Kaufman.
1993
In May, Composer-in-Residence at the Takefu International Music Festival
1993
Composer-in-Residence at the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts
1993
In September, Composer-in-Residence at the Berliner Festwochen, the Berliner Festspiele
1993
In October, awarded the Japan Foundation Award
1993
In November, Composer-in-Residence at Wien Modern
1993
In December, becomes an Honorary Member of ISCM
1994
In January, becomes an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, England.
1994
In the same month, the Tokyo String Quartet recording of "A Way A Lone" is nominated the 36th Annual Grammy Awards, Best Classical Contemporary Composition.
1994
In March, awarded the Broadcast Cultural Award of NHK.
1994
In April, a documentary film, Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu, directed by Charlotte Zwerin, focusing on his activities as film composer, is produced.
1994
In July, Composer-in-Residence at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo
1994
In October, awarded University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for "Fantasma/Cantos" for clarinet and orchestra, a commission from BBC.
1995
In January, recording of "Fantasma/Cantos" by Richard Stoltzman and the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tadaaki Otaka is nominated fro the 37th Grammy Awards, Best Classical Contemporary Composition.
1995
In March, Featured Composer at the First CineMusic Festival, Gstaad
1995
Awarded with the Career Achievement Award of the Society for the Preservation of Film Music, Los Angeles.
1996
On January 29, "Air" for flute, composed in commemoration of the 70th birthday of Aurèle Nicolet, is given its first performance by Yasukazu Uemura in Oberwil, Switzerland. This is to be the last musical work of Toru Takemitsu.
1996

In early February, while undergoing treatment in the hospital, he receives the news that he is to be awarded the Glenn Gould Prize of the year.

Products

Performances

Set Descending Direction
  • All in Twilight
    March 30, 2024 | Tokyo (Japan) , Yamaha Ginza
  • 12 Songs for Guitar
    March 30, 2024 | Tokyo (Japan) , Yamaha Ginza
    performance of "Amours Perdues"
  • Songs
    March 30, 2024 | Tokyo (Japan) , Yamaha Ginza
    performance of excerpts
  • Three Film Scores
    Conductor: Tobias Grabher
    Orchestra: Camerata Musica Reno
    March 30, 2024 | Bregenz (Austria) , Theater Kosmos
  • Three Film Scores
    Conductor: Tobias Grabher
    Orchestra: Camerata Musica Reno
    March 31, 2024 | Bregenz (Austria) , Theater Kosmos
  • Three Film Scores
    Conductor: Tobias Grabher
    Orchestra: Camerata Musica Reno
    April 1, 2024 | Bregenz (Austria) , Theater Kosmos
  • Songs
    April 6, 2024 | Tokyo (Japan) , Tiara Koto
    performance of "Waltz"
  • A Way a Lone II
    Conductor: N.N.
    Orchestra: Sinfonietta Cracovia
    April 7, 2024 | Kraków (Poland) , Teatr Łaźnia Nowa
  • Rain Tree Sketch II
    April 10, 2024 | Tokyo (Japan) , Oji Hall
  • Death and Resurrection
    Conductor: Ingmar Beck
    Orchestra: Bruckner Orchester Linz
    April 15, 2024 | Wels (Austria) , Stadttheater
  • A String Around Autumn
    Conductor: Alexander Soloviev
    Orchestra: St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
    April 22, 2024 | St.Petersburg (Russia) , Philharmonia Grand Hall
  • A Way a Lone
    Orchestra: Marmen Quartett
    April 28, 2024 | Bochum (Germany) , Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr, Kleiner Saal
  • To the Edge of Dream
    Conductor: Benjamin Shwartz
    Orchestra: Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie
    May 17, 2024 | Koblenz (Germany) , Rhein-Mosel-Halle
  • Three Film Scores
    Conductor: N.N.
    Orchestra: Elèves du Conservatoire Niedermeyer
    May 25, 2024 | Issy-les-Moulilneau (France) , Conservatoire Niedermeyer
  • Fantasma/Cantos II
    Conductor: Marc Albrecht
    Orchestra: Taiwan Philharmonic (National Symphony Orchestra)
    June 2, 2024 | Taipei (Taiwan) , National Recital Hall — National Premiere
  • Fantasma/Cantos II
    Conductor: David Greed
    Orchestra: Sinfonia of Leeds
    June 22, 2024 | Leeds (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) , St Edmund's Church
  • How slow the Wind
    Conductor: Nodoka Okisawa
    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra
    May 9, 2025 | Edinburgh (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) , Usher Hall
  • How slow the Wind
    Conductor: Nodoka Okisawa
    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra
    May 10, 2025 | Glasgow (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) , Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
  • Set Descending Direction