Ifukube: Sinfonia Tapkaara / Ritmica OSTinata / Symphonic Fantasia No.1

Description

Akira Ifukube (b.1914)Sinfonia Tapkaara Ritmica Ostinata Symphonic Fantasia No. 1Akira Ifukube was born in 1914 in Hokkaido into afamily whose ancestry could be traced back at least tothe seventh century, serving as hereditary Shinto priestsat the Ube Shrine in Tottori. The political and culturalchanges in Japan in the nineteenth century and the lossof traditional aristocratic power led Ifukube'sgrandfather to move to the relatively neglected northernisland of Hokkaido, where his father held an officialposition. Hokkaido brought contact with the music ofthe inigenous Ainu and of other more recent settlers.Schooling in Sapporo introduced him to the latestwestern music through records and scores of Ravel, deFalla and Stravinsky, to whose styles he felt close,suggesting that it might be possible for him to createNorth Asian music, where the ethnic sounds andaesthetics of Ainu and Japanese were to be combinedwith his sympathy for Slavic elements. Particularlyfascinated by Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps, hebegan composing by teaching himself in his lateadolescence.In 1935, when he was a student majoring in forestryat the Agricultural Department of Hokkaido ImperialUniversity, Ifukube applied for the Tcherepnin Awardswith his Japanese Rhapsody for full orchestra (Naxos8.555071) and was chosen by the Paris jury for firstprize. The work received its world premi?¿re in Tokyo in1936, by Fabien Sevitsky (Serge Koussevitsky'snephew) and the Boston People's Symphony Orchestra.This success brought Ifukube an opportunity forstudying briefly with Tcherepnin in Yokohama. In 1938his first work, Piano Suite, received an award at theVenice International Contemporary Music Festival.Some of Ifukube's works were published in the UnitedStates and Europe, sponsored by Tcherepnin, withsuccess that astonished the musical world in Tokyo.Ifukube, however, remained a \Sunday composer for along time, becoming a forestry officer after graduationand living in the deep mountains of Hokkaido. He readabout musical theories and studied scores, composingonly at night lit by the lamp in his hut. His way of lifereflected his antipathy to the Occidental concept ofmodern urban life. In these surroundings he studied themusic of northern races and wrote some importantworks, including his Symphony Concerto for piano andorchestra (1941) and Symphonic Ballade (1943).After World War II Ifukube eventually became aprofessional composer and moved to Tokyo. In thosedays, many of his contemporaries were eager toassimilate avant-garde music from Europe, but Ifukubewas against the movement and kept composingconsistently in an ethnic style, finally winningacceptance. His music, brimming with multi-culturalmelodies and rhythms, persistent ostinato and violentrhythms, has exerted influence even on Japanese popmusic. Ifukube is a cult figure for those who aspire forand advocate Asian music in modern Japan. It is alsopossible to define his repetitive music in relation tominimalist or post-minimalist