was a Japanese composer and one of the first Japanese women to compose classical music in the Western tradition.

Biography

Kikuko Kawahira was born on the

Ryukyu The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

island of

Miyako-jima is the largest and the most populous island among the Miyako Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Miyako Island is administered as part of the City of Miyakojima, which includes not only Miyako Island, but also five other populated islands. ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, and studied voice at the Nihon Music School and composition at

Tokyo Music School or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...

. She studied with teachers including with Taijiro Goh, Kanichi Shimofusa,

Hisatada Otaka Hisatada Otaka (Japanese: 尾高尚忠; 26 September 1911 – 16 February 1951) was a Japanese composer and conductor. He was the conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra from 1942 to 1951. Otaka was born in Japan and studied in musical arts ear ...

and Kishio Hirao. Working as a composer, she produced songs and orchestral music using the Ryukyuan

pentatonic A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancie ...

scale. In 1954 she studied the

dodecaphonic The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

method in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

with

Hans-Joachim Koellreutter Hans-Joachim Koellreutter (2 September 1915 – 13 September 2005) was a Brazilian composer, teacher and musicologist. Koellreutter was born in Freiburg, Germany and lived in Brazil from 1937 onward, where he became one of the country's most i ...

, and incorporated atonal composition into her work. She was awarded the Mainichi Prize for Cultural Publication in 1955, and a prize by the Okinawan government for her opera ''Okinawa monogatari'' in 1968. She died in Tokyo. The BBC describe her as "one of the first Japanese women to compose Western classical music".

Works

Selected works include: *''Ryūkyū no min’yō'' ('Folksongs of Ryūkyū') 1954 *''Okinawa monogatari'' opera *''Miyako-jima engi'' (Legend of Miyako Island) (ballet), 1949 *''Ryūkyū hiwa'' (A Hidden Story of Ryūkyū) (jazz ballet), 1951 *''Hiren Karafune'' (Love Tragedy on Tang Boat) (op, 4, Kanai and K. Yano), 1960 *''Okinawa monogatari'' (Tale of Okinawa), 1997 *''Symphony, no.1'', 1938 *''Okinawa buyō kumikyoku'' (Okinawan Dance Suite): no.1, 1940, no.2, 1946 *''Ryūkyū kyōsōkyoku'' (Ryūkyū Rhapsody) no.1, 1946 *''Symphony, no.2'', 1946 *''Uruma no shi'' (Poem on Uruma), 1952 *''Festival Overture 'Hishō, 1972 *''Ryūkyū kyōsōkyoku no.2'', pianoforte octet, 1950 *''Ryūkyū Ballade'', pianoforte, 1951 *''Sonata'', violin, pianoforte, 1952 *''Brazil Rhapsody'', pianoforte, 1955 *''Hamachidori hensōkyoku'' (Variations on Hamachidori), koto, Electone, percussion, 1970 *''Okinawa min'yō niyoru gasshōkyoku-shū'' (Choral Pieces on Okinawan Folksongs), 1953–60 *''Haha to ko no Okinawa no uta'' (Okinawan Songs for a Mother and Children), 1965 Her work has been recorded and issued on CD, including: *''Just For Me - Noriko Ogawa plays Japanese piano music'' (1997) BIS *''Bridges to Japan'' Audio CD (17 October 2000) Bis, ASIN: B0000508RU

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanai, Kikuko 1911 births 1986 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century women composers Japanese classical composers Japanese women classical composers Japanese opera composers Musicians from Okinawa Prefecture People from Okinawa Prefecture Women opera composers