(August 1, 1907—October 28, 1953), known in
Japan as Hisato Ōsawa,
Prologue (Life and Career - Hisato Osawa)
/ref> was a Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
composer. His relative neglect today contrasts with the view that he was one of the preeminent Japanese composers of his day.
Biography
He grew up in Kobe, studying piano, organ and choral singing. He moved to the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in 1930 to study composition with Frederick Converse
Frederick Shepherd Converse (January 5, 1871 – June 8, 1940), was an American composer of classical music, whose works include four operas and five symphonies.
Life and career
Converse was born in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Edmund Winc ...
and Carl McKinley at Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
and the New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...
, also taking some lessons with Arnold Schoenberg. It was in America that his early works were composed: The Little Symphony, his First Piano Concerto, his First Symphony, and a Double Bass Concerto (dedicated to Koussevitzky). He was the first Japanese musician who conducted Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1934 he moved to Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and continued his studies, composing his Second Symphony and his Second Piano Concerto.
He returned to Japan in 1936, where his works were met with mixed reactions, being technically too difficult for Japanese orchestras of the time, and being in a fairly modern style. Due to the increasing international tension of the time, he was less and less able to travel, struggling to make a living as a composer. The Third Symphony (named "The Symphony of the Founding of Japan" and dedicated to the then-current Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
, Hirohito) was composed in 1936, with the Third Piano Concerto following in 1938 (named "Kamikaze," after a popular civil aircraft). In 1940 he wrote two cantatas to celebrate the 2600th year of the Emperor. He also wrote musicals and film music
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...
.
After the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Ohzawa taught at the Kobe Jogakuin (Women's College in Kobe, founded by the Methodist mission), composed light music, jazzy concertos for saxophone and trumpet, created an orchestra, and hosted his own radio show featuring the orchestra, which featured popular classics, as well as more modern works by such composers as Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg and Dmitri Shostakovich. He aimed to write a Fourth Symphony, but was stopped by his death, leaving only the title page.
Works
* Piano Trio in D minor (1932)
* Cello Sonata in G minor (1932)
* Sinfonietta (1932)
* Sonatine in E Minor, for piano (1933)
* Piano Quintet in C minor (1933)
* String Quartet in A minor (1933)
* Piano Concerto No. 1 in A minor (1933)
* Six Capriccietti, for piano (1934)
* Les Petis Dessins, for piano (1934)
* Three Pastoral Movements "''Sons of the Earth''", for orchestra (1934)
* Symphony No. 1 (1934)
* Double Bass Concerto (1934) - dedicated to Sergei Koussevitzky
* Symphony No. 2 (1934)
* Piano Concerto No. 2 (1935)
* Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (1935)
* ''Les fragments de la ruelle'', for orchestra (1935)
* ''Petite messe'', pour chœur et orchestre (1935)
* Violin Concertino "To a Chinese Poem" (1936)
* Symphony No. 3 (1937)
* Trois morceaux de primtemps "''Teichu''", for piano (1937)
* Piano Concerto No. 3 "Kamikaze" (1938)
* ''Dawn of the Sea'', cantata (1940)
* ''Festive Music for the Nation'', cantata (1940)
* ''Sakura Fantasy'' for piano and orchestra (1946)
* Saxophone Concerto (1947)
* ''Pegasus Rhapsody'' for saxophone, piano, and orchestra (1949)
* Trumpet Concerto (1950)
* ''Festive Music Celebrating One Thousand Two Hundredth Year of the Great Buddha'' (1952)
Recordings
Naxos Records' "Japanese Classics" series released two discs of his music: one containing the Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphony No. 3, another containing Piano Concerto No. 2 and Symphony No. 2.
References
External links
ClassicsToday.com review of the Third Piano Concerto and Third Symphony Naxos recording
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohzawa, Hisato
1907 births
1953 deaths
20th-century classical composers
20th-century Japanese composers
20th-century Japanese male musicians
Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni
Japanese classical composers
Japanese male classical composers
Musicians from Hyōgo Prefecture
Musicians from Kobe
New England Conservatory alumni