Yasushi Akutagawa - Hibiki. The Musical World (Various Artists)

Information

Composer: Yasushi Akutagawa

• String Quartet
• Sounds for Organ and Orchestra Hibiki
• Triptyque for String Orchestra (1953)
• Musica per Orchestra Sinfonica (1950)
• Theme of Ako Roshi (1963)

Tomoko Kawada, violin

Tomoshige Yamamoto, violin

Tomomi Shinoszaki, viola

Hiroyasu Yamamoto, cello

Yuka Ishimaru, organ

The New Symphony Orchestra

Kenshiro Sakairi, conductor

Japan Philharmonic Orchestra

Tetsuji Honna, conductor

Date: 2025

Label: KING RECORDS

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This album commemorates the centenary of Japanese composer Yasushi Akutagawa, son of renowned writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa and a prominent cultural figure of his era. Influenced by Akira Ifukube, Akutagawa composed extensively for orchestra, film, and television, while also serving as a broadcaster and chairman of the Japan Copyright Association. The recording presents a comprehensive portrait of his career, featuring newly recorded performances of his early String Quartet and late masterpiece Hibiki for organ and orchestra, alongside key orchestral works from his youth, including music inspired by the Ako Ronin.

Yasushi Akutagawa (1925–1989) was a prominent Japanese composer and conductor. Educated at the Tokyo Music School, he studied with Kunihiko Hashimoto, Kan’ichi Shimofusa, and Akira Ifukube, and was a founding member of the composers’ group Sannin no kai. Influenced by Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Ifukube, he composed orchestral works and film scores, and was active in broadcasting and music education. Notably, he forged close ties with Soviet composers and was the only Japanese composer officially published in the USSR. His legacy is honored through the Yasushi Akutagawa Suntory Award for Music Composition.

High Resolution 24-bit / 192 kHz