(September 14, 1904 – May 6, 1949) was a Japanese

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist, conductor, and musical educator. He was born in the Hongō district of

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 ...

. In 1923, he entered the Tokyo Music School (presently

Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music 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 ...

) where he studied violin and conducting. In composition, he was largely self-taught, but later he would study that subject as a graduate student at the same school. Initially, he was active as a composer and

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, but he soon made himself a name as an accomplished teacher, and in 1933 was appointed as professor at his alma mater. Some of his students who would go on to become distinguished composers in their own right were

Akio Yashiro was a Japanese composer. Biography He was born in Tokyo. Yashiro entered the Tokyo Music School (presently the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music) in 1945, where he studied composition under Saburo Moroi, Kunihiko Hashimoto, Tomoji ...

Yasushi Akutagawa was a Japanese composer and conductor. His father was Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. Biography Akutagawa was born and raised in Tabata, Tokyo, the son of writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. Akutagawa studied composition with Kunihiko Hashimoto, Kan'ichi Sh ...

, Ikuma Dan, and

Toshiro Mayuzumi Toshiro Mayuzumi (黛敏郎 ''Mayuzumi Toshirō'' ; 20 February 1929 – 10 April 1997) was a Japanese composer known for his implementation of Avant-garde music, avant-garde instrumentation alongside traditional Japanese musical technique ...

. Between 1934 and 1937, he visited

Wien en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

as a Japanese government scholar to study with

Egon Wellesz Egon Joseph Wellesz CBE (21 October 1885 – 9 November 1974) was an Austrian, later British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music. Early life and education in Vienna Egon Joseph Wellesz was ...

. During this period, he was introduced to the likes of

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

, Wilhelm Furtwängler, and Bruno Walter. Before returning, he also made a sojourn to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where he studied with

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

. In February 1949, Hashimoto converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He died at age 44 on May 6, 1949 in

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

from

gastric cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

List of works

Orchestral

* ''Three Characteristic Dances'' for Strings (1927) * ''Scherzo con sentimento'' (1927/28) * Symphony No. 1 in D (1940) * Symphony No. 2 in F (1947)

Ballet

* ''Hydrangea Otaxa'' (1927) * ''Yaya the Witch'' (1927) * ''Yoshida Palace'' (1931) * ''Heavenly Maiden and Fisherman'' (1932)

Chamber

* Etude for Violin and Cello (1930)

Choral

* ''Celebrating the Birth of the Prince'', Cantata (1934)

Vocal

* ''Mould'' (黴, Kabi) for voice and piano (1928); words by Sumako Fukao (深尾須磨子) * ''Tiger Beetle'' (斑猫, Hanmyo) for voice and piano (1928); words by Sumako Fukao (深尾須磨子) * ''Cakes and a Girl'' (お菓子と娘, Okashi-to-Musume) for voice and piano (1928); words by Yaso Saijō (西條八十) * ''Looking at Mount Fuji'' (富士山見たら, Fujisan-Mitara) for voice and piano (1929); words by Shōji Kubota (久保田宵二) * ''Dance'' (舞, Mai) for voice and piano (1929); words by Sumako Fukao (深尾須磨子) * ''Rice Planting Song'' (田植唄, Taue-Uta) for voice and piano (1930); words by Ryuha Hayashi (林柳波) * ''Winter Suite'' for solo voice and chamber ensemble (1945); words by Sumako Fukao (深尾須磨子) * ''Three Wasan (Three Prayers of Japanese Buddhists)'' (三つの和讃, Mittsu no Wasan) for solo voice and orchestra (1948)

External links

References

1904 births 1949 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century Japanese educators 20th-century Japanese male musicians Ballet composers Japanese classical composers Japanese classical violinists Japanese conductors (music) Japanese male classical composers Japanese male conductors (music) Japanese music educators Male classical violinists {{Japan-composer-stub