Akira Miyoshi (三善　晃; January 10, 1933 – 4 October 2013) was a Japanese composer.

Biography

Miyoshi was born in

Suginami is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Suginami City in English. As of June 1, 2022, Suginami has an estimated population of 588,354 and a population density of 17,274 persons per km2. The total area is 34.06 km2 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. He was a

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

on the piano, studying with Kozaburo Hirai and Tomojiro Ikenouchi. He studied French literature at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

, and then studied composition with

Henri Challan Henri Edmond Émile Challan (12 December 1910 in Asnières – 18 February 1977 in the 14th arrondissement of Paris) was a French composer and music educator. He had a long association with the Conservatoire de Paris where he was both a student and ...

and Raymond Gallois-Montbrun at the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

from 1955 to 1957. He was very influenced by

Henri Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer active mainly in the second half of the 20th century. His small body of published work, which garnered international acclaim, followed in the tradition of ...

. Oxford Music on Line, ''Miyoshi, Akiro'' He returned to Japan in 1957 and graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1960. In 1965, he became a professor at the

Toho Gakuen School of Music is a private music school in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. History Toho Gakuen was founded in 1948 in Ichigaya (Tokyo) as the Music School for Children, and two years later moved to Sengawa (current address at Wakabacyo, Chofushi, Tokyo) and opened th ...

. In 1996, Miyoshi was awarded the Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Government. In 1999, he received the 31st

Suntory Music Award The , previously known as the , designed to promote Western music in Japan, has been given by the Suntory Music Foundation since their establishment in 1969. The award is presented annually to individuals or groups for the greatest achievement in ...

. He received the Otaka prize six times for his compositions.

Works

Orchestral

* 1960 ''Trois mouvements symphoniques – (Kôkyô sanshô)'' * 1962 ''Concerto'' for piano and orchestra * 1964 ''Duel'' for soprano and orchestra * 1964 ''Concerto for Orchestra'' * 1965 ''Concerto for violin and orchestra'' * 1969 ''Concerto'' for marimba and string ensemble * 1969 ''Odes métamorphosées'' * 1970 ''Festival Overture'' * 1970 ''Requiem'' for mixed choir and orchestra * 1974 ''Concerto'' for cello and orchestra * 1978 ''Noesis'' * 1979 ''Psaume'' for mixed choir and orchestra * 1982 ''En-Soi Lointain'' * 1984 ''Kyômon'' for children's choir and orchestra * 1988 ''Litania pour Fuji'' * 1991 ''Création sonore'' * 1991 ''Etoiles à cordes'' * 1995 ''Dispersion de l'été'' * 1996 ''Étoile à échos'' for cello and orchestra * 1997 ''Fruits de brume'' * 1998 ''Chanson terminale: Effeuillage des Vagues''

Works for wind orchestra

* 1972 ''Sapporo Olympic Fanfare'' * 1987 ''Subliminal Festa – (Secret Rites)'' * 1990 ''Stars Atlanpic '96'' * 1991 ''Cross-By March'' * 2000 ''Millennium Fanfare'' * 2002 ''West Wind'' (timpani concerto)

Chamber music

* 1954 ''Violin Sonata'' * 1955 ''Sonata'' for flute, cello and piano * 1962 ''String Quartet No. 1'' * 1967 ''String Quartet No. 2'' * 1969 ''Huit poèmes'' for flute octet * 1973 ''Nocturne'' for flute, clarinet, marimba, double bass and percussion * 1975 ''Litania'' for double bass and percussion * 1979 ''Hommage'' for flute, violin and piano * 1980 ''Ixtacchihuatl'' for percussion ensemble * 1982 ''Rêve colorie'' for two clarinets * 1985 ''Message Sonore'' for flute, clarinet, marimba, double bass and percussion * 1987 ''C6H'' for cello * 1989 ''Ombre Scintillante'' for flute and harp * 1989 ''Perspective en Spirale'' for clarinet and piano * 1990 ''5 Esquisses'' for tuba and marimba * 1992 ''String Quartet No. 3: Constellation Noire''

Music for piano

* 1958 ''Piano Sonata'' * 1960 Suite ''In Such Time'' * 1973 ''Chaînes'' Prelude for piano * 1980 ''En vers'' for piano * 1981 ''A Diary of the Sea'' (28 pieces) * 1984 ''Phenomene sonore I'' for two pianos * 1985 ''Cahier sonore'' for four-hand piano * 1995 ''Phenomene sonore II'' for two pianos * 1998 ''Pour le piano – mouvement circulaire et croisé''

Music for guitar

* 1974 ''Protase "de loin à rien"'' for two guitars * 1975 ''Epitase'' * 1985 ''5 Poèmes'' * 1989 ''Constellation Noire'' for guitar and string quartet

Music for Percussion

* 1962 ''Conversation'' – Suite for marimba *# Tender Talk *# So Nice It Was...Repeatedly *# Lingering Chagrin *# Again The Hazy Answer! *# A Lame Excuse * 1965 ''Torse III'' for marimba *# These *# Chant *# Commentaire *# Synthese * 1977 ''Étude Concertante'' for 2 marimbas * 1987 ''Rin-sai'' for marimba solo and six percussion players * 1991 ''Ripple'' for marimba solo * 2001 ''Prelude Etudes'' for marimba

Music for traditional Japanese instruments

* 1972 ''Torse IV'' for

shakuhachi A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

, 2

koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...

, 17-gen and string quartet * 1986 ''Ryusho Kyoku Suifu'' for shakuhachi, 2 koto und 17-gen * 1994 ''Gikyoku'' for Japanese instruments

Songs

* 1962 ''En blanc'' for soprano and piano * 1962 ''Sei sanryoh hari'' for soprano and piano * 1991 ''Koeru Kage ni'' for soprano and piano

Choral music

* 1962 ''Three Lyrics (Mittsu no Jojoh)'' for women's choir and piano * 1962 ''To my married Daughter'' for mixed choir * 1966 ''Four Seasons'' for mixed choir * 1968 ''Five Pictures for Children'' for mixed choir and piano *# The weathercock *# The trumpet-shell *# "Yajiro-be" – A balancing toy *# The sand-glass *# A top of acorn * 1970 ''Ohson fuki (Ohson didn't come back)'' for men's choir and piano * 1971 ''Four Autumn Songs'' for women's choir and piano * 1972 ''Odeko no koitsu'' for children's choir and piano * 1973 ''5 Japanese Folksongs'' for mixed choir *# Awa odori *# Sado Okesa *# Kiso bushi *# Soran bushi *# Itsuki no komoriuta * 1973 ''Otewanmiso no uta'' for mixed choir * 1975 ''Hengetan'ei'' for mixed choir, shakuhachi, percussion instrument and 17-gen * 1976 ''Kitsune-no-uta (Song of Fox)'' for children's choir, speaker, and piano * 1978 ''Klee no ehon dai1shū (

Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

's Picture book No.1)'' for mixed choir and guitar * 1979 ''Klee no ehon dai2shū (

's Picture book No.2)'' for men's choir * 1982 ''Norainu Doji'' for women's choir and piano * 1983 ''Ballades to the Earth'' for mixed choir * 1983 ''Poems of Animals'' for mixed choir and piano * 1984 ''Poems of Animals'' for women's choir and piano * 1984 ''Collection of songs "Died in the Country"'' for mixed choir and two pianos * 1985 ''Letters To God'' for children's choir and marimba * 1987 ''Umi (The Sea)'' for mixed choir and two pianos * 1991 ''Yamagara Diary'' for children's choir, sanukite and marimba * 1992 ''Asakura Sanka'' for speaker, mixed choir, Japanese flute and

Taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming m ...

* 1996 ''Kamuy no kaze (Wind of Kamuy)'' for mixed choir and piano * 2007 ''The Day - August 6'' for mixed choir and piano

Stage works

Incomplete list: * 1959 ''Ondine'', opera * 1999 ''Faraway Sail'', opera

Anime music

* ''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

Books and writings

* Akira Miyoshi: ''The Silent Beat of Japanese Music'', in Japanese Essences (Japan as I see it – 3) Shichi Yamamoto, Kenichi Fukui et al., Tokyo. 1985. * Yoko Narasaki: ''

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Toru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Est ...

to Akira Miyoshi no Sakkyoku Yoshiki'' (The Style of Composition of Toru Takemitsu and Akira Miyoshi). Tokyo: Ongaku no Tomosha, 1994.

External links

*
Akira Miyoshi - List of WorksAkira Miyoshi (TOKYO CONCERTS)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miyoshi, Akira 1933 births 2013 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century Japanese male musicians 21st-century classical composers 21st-century Japanese composers 21st-century Japanese male musicians Toho Gakuen School of Music faculty Concert band composers Conservatoire de Paris alumni Composers for the classical guitar Japanese classical composers Japanese classical guitarists Japanese male classical composers Japanese opera composers Male opera composers People from Suginami