Toshiro Mayuzumi | |
|---|---|
黛 敏郎 | |
 | |
| Born | 20 February 1929 Yokohama, Japan |
| Died | 10 April 1997 (aged 68) |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | Yoshie Taira (daughter-in-law) |
Toshiro Mayuzumi (黛 敏郎 Mayuzumi Toshirō Japanese pronunciation: [majɯꜜzɯmi toɕiɾoː]; 20 February 1929 – 10 April 1997) was a Japanese composer known for his implementation of avant-garde instrumentation alongside traditional Japanese musical techniques. His works drew inspiration from a variety of sources ranging from jazz to Balinese music, and he was considered a pioneer in the realm of musique concrète and electronic music,[1][2] being the first artist in his country to explore these techniques.[3] Over the span of his career, he has written symphonies, ballets, operas, and film scores.[4] Mayuzumi was the recipient of an Otaka prize by the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Purple Medal of Merit.[5]
Born in Yokohama, Mayuzumi was a student of Tomojirō Ikenouchi and Akira Ifukube at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music immediately following the Second World War, graduating in 1951. He then went to Europe where he attended the Paris Conservatoire national supérieur de musique, studying with Aubin and becoming familiar with the new developments of Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Boulez, as well as with the techniques of musique concrète[6]
He was initially enthusiastic about avant-garde Western music, especially that of Varèse, but beginning in 1957 he turned to pan-Asianism.[7]
A prolific composer for the cinema, he composed more than a hundred film scores between Wagaya wa tanoshii (My House Is Fun) in 1951 and Jo no mai in 1984. The best-known film with a score by Mayuzumi is The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.
Mayuzumi was received a special award from the Suntory Music Award in July 1997.[8]
He died in Kawasaki, Kanagawa in 1997.
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Mayuzumi served as the chairman of the Nihon wo mamoru Kokumin Kaigi (Japanese: 日本を守る国民会議, lit. 'National Conference to Defend [or Protect] Japan'), an ultraconservative organization that supported constitutional revision. He was pivotal in its merger with the Nihon wo mamoru Kai (Japanese: 日本を守る会, lit. 'Society for the Protection of Japan') to form the Nippon Kaigi, and was slated to become the organization's first leader, but passed away shortly before it was inaugurated.[9]
Mayuzumi became the first representative of the Liberal Democratic Party_(Japan)'s supporter organization, the Liberal National Congress, in 1977, and continued to serve as its representative until his death 20 years later.
When foreign minister and deputy prime minister Tsutomu Hata stated that "[Japan] must tell [its] children what their forefathers did in Asia before and during the war", Mayuzumi stated in response "It's deplorable that the prime minister of Japan would talk so carelessly. In the past, people have been more indirect about the war".[10]
