Born in Tokyo, Oct 8, 1930
Died in Tokyo, Feb 20, 1996
- Takemitsu was an innovative, mostly self-taught Japanese composer whose music blends modernist Western styles Japanese traditional music and instruments.
- Takemitsu’s first encounter with Western music came while he was serving as a conscripted member of the Japanese military in WWII: his officer played a recording of a French popular song for a group of conscripts. French music would go on to be a huge influence for Takemitsu, especially the music of Debussy and Messaien.
- In the 1950s, Takemitsu and several other composers formed a group called Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Workshop) to explore avant-garde multimedia projects.
- Takemitsu’s music began to find audiences outside Japan when Stravinksy heard his Requiem for Strings (composed 1957) in 1959, and declared it a masterpiece.
- Takemitsu was also an influential essayist and writer on music.1
Profile on Takemitsu from Schott Music
Guide to Takemitsu’s music from The Guardian
Sources
- Yoko Narazaki and Masakata Kanazawa, “Takemitsu, Tōru,” Grove Music Online (20010, accessed November 17, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000027403.