Kikuko Kanai
Born(1911-03-13)13 March 1911
Miyako Islands, Japan
Died17 February 1986(1986-02-17) (aged 74)
Other names金井 喜久子
Occupationcomposer

Kikuko Kanai (金井 喜久子, Kanai Kikuko, née Kawahira, 13 March 1911 – 17 February 1986) 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 island of Miyako-jima, Okinawa, and studied voice at the Nihon Music School and composition at Tokyo Music School. She studied with teachers including with Taijiro Goh, Kanichi Shimofusa, Hisatada Otaka and Kishio Hirao. Working as a composer, she produced songs and orchestral music using the Ryukyuan pentatonic scale.

In 1954 she studied the dodecaphonic method in Brazil with Hans-Joachim Koellreutter, and incorporated atonal composition into her work.[1][2] 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.[3]

The BBC describe her as "one of the first Japanese women to compose Western classical music".[4]

Works

Selected works include:

Her work has been recorded and issued on CD, including:

References

  1. ^ Tyrrell, John (2001). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians: Volume 13.
  2. ^ Katayama, Motohide (1997). Just For Me - Noriko Ogawa plays Japanese piano music (CD booklet).
  3. ^ Kanazawa, Masakata. "Kanai (née Kawahira), Kikuko". Retrieved 22 December 2010.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "BBC Radio 3 to shine light on 'forgotten' composers". BBC News. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
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