Hisatada Otaka
Hisatada Otaka | |
---|---|
尾高尚忠 | |
Born | |
Died | [1] (aged 39) Japan | 16 February 1951
Occupation(s) | Conductor, Composer |
Children | Tadaaki Otaka, Atsutada Otaka, Michiko Otaki |
Hisatada Otaka (Japanese: 尾高尚忠; 26 September 1911 – 16 February 1951) was a Japanese composer and conductor. He was the conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra from 1942 to 1951.
Otaka was born in Japan and studied in musical arts early, however he dropped out of high school and moved to Vienna for six years for conducting and composing, during his studies in Vienna he became friends with Andrzej Panufnik and started composing works. In 1940, Otaka moved back to Japan where he took the role as conductor for the NHK Symphony Orchestra, become a music teacher and compose most of his significant works such as his Symphony and Cello Concerto, however his life came to an abrupt end at the age of 39, leaving an unfinished Flute Concerto rewrite which one of his students, Hikaru Hayashi, would take on and complete.
When Otaka died he left behind three children, all of whom play his work regularly particularly the youngest son
Life
Early life, studies in Vienna
Hisatada Otaka was born in Tokyo on 26 September 1911, the youngest of 11 children, he was the 6th son of
Return to Japan
In 1940, the Otakas left and moved to Japan, where Hisatada would live for the rest of his life. Initially he was assistant to Joseph Rosenstock, who was the conductor of the Japan Symphony Orchestra (also known at the time as the Nippon Symphony Orchestra, later known as the NHK Symphony Orchestra), and made his Japanese conducting debut in January 1941.[11]: 240–242 In 1942 Otaka became a conductor of the orchestra, alongside Rosenstock, and Kazuo Yamada.[12][1][a] Otaka was highly respected as a conductor until his sudden death in 1951,[1][4] after which, he was succeeded by Kurt Wöss.[14]
Besides conducting, Otaka also composed prolifically, and had taught Hikaru Hayashi,[15] Kan Ishii,[16]: 22 and Kikuko Kanai.[16]: 23 Among Otaka's compositions are his first symphony ("Society for the Construction of the Bell Tower of Peace"),[17] Cello Concerto (1944),[18] Flute Concerto, and Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra (1943).[19]
Death and legacy
On 16 February 1951, Hisatada Otaka died at the age of 39, from what Andrzej Panufnik says was overwork.[10]
Due to his significant contributions to, and long stay with, the Japanese Symphony Orchestra, the
Hisatada Otaka's youngest son, Tadaaki Otaka, conducts his father's work regularly, along with the works of Andrzej Panufnik.[22][9]
Hisatada's other children, Michiko Otaki and Atsutada Otaki, also play his work. Such as the piano duet piece Midare.[23]
Personal life
Hisatada Otaka married Misao Otaka sometime before 1940. According to Panufnik, they were already married when they would invite Panufnik to their house in Vienna, and they left Vienna for Japan in 1940.[24]
When the couple moved to Japan, they had a daughter and two sons. Michiko Otaki (in or after 1940), the daughter, is a pianist.
When Hisatada Otaka died in 1951, the couple's children were still very young (Tadaaki being only 4 years old), and therefore Misao was left as a widowed mother.
Selected compositions
- Japanische Suite No. 1 (Nihon Kumikyoku)[5] (Op. 12; 1936)[28]
- Sinfonietta for Strings (1937)[1]
- Japanische Suite No. 2 (Op. 18; Premiered 2 December 1939)[29]
- Midare Capriccio for 2 pianos (Op. 11 1939;[30][31] rev. 1947?)[32] (Premiered 2 December 1939)[29][b]
- Sonatine for piano (Op. 13; 1940)[33]
- Piano Trio (1941)[34]
- Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra (1943)[19]
- Two string quartets
- Cello Concerto (1944)[18][c]
- Poem for Soprano and Orchestra (c. 1944)[11]: 242
- Symphony No. 1 "Society for the Construction of the Bell Tower of Peace"[36] (incomplete or partially lost)[d] (Op. 35; 1948[34]–1949)[17]
- Movements:[37]
- Maestoso – Allegro appassionato
- Adagio assai sostenuto, molto espressivo ‒ Andante con moto, ma sempre sostenuto ‒ Adagio sostenuto
- Movements:[37]
- Flute Concerto (Op. 30a 1948; 30b 1951)[38]: 14 [e]
- Concerto for Piano and String Symphony (????)[40]
The most popular of Otaka's work is his flute concerto, which is played and recorded commonly, and was supported among his peers.[11][41]
Style
Otaka's style reflects much of his teachers in the 1930s, showing Viennese and German styles.
- Flute concerto
However, the flute concerto Op. 30 is written in a specific French romantic style, although with distinct sections Japanese themes, it is written differently than many other concert works by Otaka, seemingly independent from the style of his teachers from Germany and Vienna, The Guardian said the piece had a "jazzy inflection" during the slower movement of the concerto, due to the French style and structure many French flautists performed the piece such as Jean-Pierre Rampal and Emmanuel Pahud[42] and was popular in France.[22][41]
References
Notes
- ^ Although Otaka was not a permanent conductor, as the NHK orchestra would not have any permanent conductors until 1951, he was one of the most frequent conductors of the orchestra.[13]
- ^ Based on a 17th-century koto piece of the same name.[31]
- ^ One of the first Japanese Cello concertos.[35]
- attacca, meaning without pause, continue to the next movement, implying that there are more movements, either lost or not created; this is supported due to the recent discovery of the 2nd movement in 2006, which premiered on 2 or 3 September 2006 by the NHK Symphony Orchestra with conductor Yuzo Toyama.[37] The symphony has no relation to the Japanese Peace Bell as that was created after Otaka's death, however was made with a description of "Praying for world peace.", referencing World War II, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[36]
- ^ The flute concerto was originally completed in 1948 for chamber orchestra as Op. 30a, when it was finished it was the first Japanese flute concerto.[39] In 1951, Hisatada Otaka started a rewrite for a bigger orchestra, but was left incomplete since Otaka's death that year, however his student, Hikaru Hayashi, completed the work in 1951 as Op. 30b.[38]: 116 Otaka's son, Atsutada Otaka, made an arrangement of the work in 2001.[38]: 16
References
- ^ a b c d e "Otaka, Hisatada". encyclopedia.com.
- ^ National Diet Library. "『人事興信録 第5版』" (in Japanese). p. 39.
- ^ a b 富樫康 (1956). 日本の作曲家 (in Japanese). 音楽之友社. p. 120. (From page 120: "尾高尚忠 Histada Otaka 渋沢栄一の外孫にあたる彼は,学者肌の銀行家を父に持ち, 11 人兄弟の末子として明治 44 年 9 月 26 日,東京に生れた。両親共義太夫をたしなむ程度であったが,父は彼が幼少の頃他界した。彼の兄朝雄は東大法律学教授 東京府立第五中学卒業後,成城高等学校文科に入学して開放的な生活に入った彼は 18 歳の時,単なる音楽愛好家たることに満足 ...")
- ^ ISBN 978-3-030-78209-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-7008-0384-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-86205-043-7. [Hisatada Otaka: Contemporary Japanese Musician. In 1937 Otaka had won a competition for the best Japanese composition, which was announced by Felix Weingartner after his tour of Japan, and had been Joseph Marx's student in Vienna since 1937. To promote contemporary Japanese music, a composition competition has been held in Japan every year since 1931, financed by Tokyo Nichi Nichi and Mainichi Shimbun and supported by the Ministry of Education. Some composers tried to compose entirely in the western way, others like Konoeand Otaka in European music, ... to find new means of expression for the Japanese spirit Otaka by transcribing old Japanese music into the western tonal language as it were, like Konoe in his arrangement of old Japanese court music, which was often on his program..."]
- ^ Germany and You. Stangen Verlag. 1939.
- ISBN 978-2-213-70001-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-351-54291-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-413-58880-7.
- ^ Japan Broadcasting Corporation). (Originally Japanese, English translation most likely by the University of Californiaon September 24, 2010)
- ^ Nihon Gaiji Kyōkai (1942). Contemporary Japan. Vol. 3. Foreign Affairs Association of Japan.
This year, it was again renamed the Nippon Symphony Orchestra with Kazuo Yamada, Hisatada Otaka and Rosenstock selected as its conductors.
(Volume 3; Part 3) - ^ "[missing]". The Strad. Vol. 77, no. 913–924. 1966. p. 9.[title missing]
- ISBN 978-3-7618-0160-4.
- ISBN 978-0-253-01023-0.
- ^ a b Michael Herman. Stephen Ellis (ed.). "Asian Symphonies – Discography" (PDF). MusicWeb International.
- ^ a b 橫浜開港資料館 [Yokohama Archives of History Museum] (2004). "Otaka, Hisatada". ドン・ブラウン・コレクション書籍目錄 [Don Brown Collection Book List] (in Japanese and English). 橫浜開港資料館 [Yokohama Archives of History Museum]. p. 366.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4773-1786-0. (Originally published February 2011, revised version (this version) April 2018)
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-94216-4.
- ISBN 978-0-226-08549-4.
- ISBN 4-7700-2847-4.
- ^ a b c Glyn Pursglove (2 April 2013). "Unpretentious Intelligence in Otaka's Conducting". Seen and Heard.
- ISBN 978-1-4616-7455-9. (Originally in Japanese, translation to English by Martin Mayes)
- ^ In Andrzej Panufnik's autobiography Composing Myself (1987), he says on page 71, "... my closest friend was the Japanese Hisatada Otaka ... He and his enchanting wife, Misao, often invited me to their flat so that we could work together. Misao was a fine pianist, so she and I would play together from a piano reduction while Hisatada conducted us; then it would be my..."
- ^ "Michiko Otaki". Naxos.
- ^ "作曲家の尾高惇忠氏死去" [Composer Atsutada Odaka passes away]. Sankei Digital Inc. 21 February 2021.
- ^ "Tadaaki Otaka". Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra.
- ^ "Otaka – Japanische Suite for Orchestra".
- ^ ISBN 978-3-631-36827-5.
- ISBN 978-0-253-11306-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8108-0937-6.
- ^ Niklaus Aeschbacher cond. NHK Symphony Orchestra (1957)
- ^ "[listing]". The New Schwann. Vol. 38, no. 3–4. 1986. p. 179.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-674-37299-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87666-597-8. (Originally Russian, translated to English)
- ^ a b "Praying for world peace we offer this musical composition: First symphony, first movement". Stanford University Libraries (Catalog record). 1949.
- ^ a b "The 157th Subscription Concert in the NHK Hall – NSO 80th Anniversary Phamplet" (PDF) (in Japanese and English). September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2009.
- ^ a b c Daniel Ryan Gallagher (2019). Flute Repertoire from Japan: An Analysis of Twentieth-Century Flute Sonatas. Ohio State University.
- ISBN 978-88-7063-494-5.
- ^ "[review]date=1994". Vietnam Economic Times. Vol. 113–118. 2003. p. 108. The book mentions the piano concerto being played in Ho Chi Minh City, conducted by Thanh Nam; the concert also featured Tran Vuong Thach's flute concerto and ballet.
- ^ a b Rian Evans (31 March 2013). "BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Otaka – review". The Guardian.
- ^ Irem Çatı (October 2019). "Through the month with Emmanuel Pahud". Concerti.
Further reading
- Nicolas Slonimsky; Laura Kuhn; Dennis McIntire (2019). Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. p. [page needed].
External links
- Media related to Hisatada Otaka at Wikimedia Commons
- Masakata Kanazawa (20 January 2001). "Otaka, Hisatada". ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. (subscription required)
- Hisatada Otaka discography at Discogs