was a Japanese pianist and composer of the

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

. Taki was born in

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 ...

, but moved to many places during his childhood owing to his father's job. He graduated from the

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 ...

in 1901. One of his famous pieces is " Kōjō no Tsuki" (Moon Over the Ruined Castle), which was included in the songbook for junior high school students, along with the "Hakone-Hachiri" (箱根八里). "Hana" (花, "Flower") is also a well-known song. In the same year, Taki went to the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

in Germany for further studies, but fell seriously ill with

pulmonary tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

and therefore returned to Japan. He lived quietly in the country afterwards, but soon died at the age of 23. His posthumous work is a solo piano piece called "Urami" (憾, "Regret"), which he wrote four months before he died.

Recordings

*"Kōjō no Tsuki" performed by

Jean-Pierre Rampal Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. He has been personally "credited with returning to the flute the popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th century." Biography Ea ...

and Ensemble Lunaire, ''Japanese Folk Melodies''. transcribed by Akio Yashiro,

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

, 1978. *"Kōjō no Tsuki" performed by New Kyoto Ensemble, ''Distant Winds: The Music of Japan''. Intersound, 1992. (no composers are credited on this album)

References

External links

* – ''Kojo no Tsuki'' * – ''Kojo no Tsuki'' * – ''Urami (regret)'' * * 1879 births 1903 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century Japanese composers 19th-century Japanese male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century Japanese male musicians Japanese classical composers Japanese classical pianists Japanese male classical composers Japanese male classical pianists Japanese Romantic composers Musicians from Tokyo Tokyo Music School alumni Tuberculosis deaths in Japan {{Japan-musician-stub