Joji Yuasa
Japanese composer born 12 August 1929 in Koriyama; died 21 July 2024.
Joji Yuasa was born in Koriyama in 1929. After studying medicine, Yuasa decided to pursue music, studying composition at the “Experimental Workshop” in Tokyo (1951-1957). Arguably the most prominent Japanese composer of his generation after Takemitsu, Yuasa played a significant role in the development of the electro-acoustic music scene in Japan during the 1950s, and remains one of the most influential experimental composers in his home country to this day.
Along with Ichiyanagi, Matsudaïra, Takemitsu, and others, Yuasa was a member of the “TranSonic” group. He has composed the scores for many documentaries and experimental films, and has spent considerable time teaching abroad, i.e., in Germany and Canada, and in San Diego from 1982. He was in residence at IRCAM in 1988, culminating in the premiere of his work, Nine Levels by Ze-Ami, for seventeen musicians and tape.
His music is characterised by an acute sensitivity to sound colour and a highly formalised, logical conception of musical form.
© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 1999
- Solo (excluding voice)
- Cosmos Haptic for piano (), 6 mn 30 s, Schott
- Domain for flute (1978), 10 mn, Schott
- Cosmos Haptic II Transfiguration, for piano (1986), 13 mn, Schott
- Chamber music
- Cosmos Haptic IV for cello and piano (), 10 mn, Schott
- A Winter Day Homage to Bashô, for flute, clarinet, percussion, harp and piano (1981), 18 mn, Schott
- Instrumental ensemble music
- Chronoplastic Between Stasis and Kinesis, for orchestra (1972), 14 mn, Schott
- A Perspective for Orchestra (1983), 11 mn, Schott
- elec ircam Nine Levels by Ze-Ami for ensemble and tape (1988), 32 mn, Schott [program note]
- Eye on Genesis II for orchestra (1992), 13 mn, Schott
- Chronoplastic II Hommage à Edgar Varèse, for orchestra (1999), 16 mn, Schott
- Vocal music and instrument(s)
- Cosmic Solitude for baritone, mixed choir and orchestra (1997), 10 mn, Schott
- 1999
- Chronoplastic II Hommage à Edgar Varèse, for orchestra, 16 mn, Schott
- 1997
- Cosmic Solitude for baritone, mixed choir and orchestra, 10 mn, Schott
- 1992
- Eye on Genesis II for orchestra, 13 mn, Schott
- 1988
- elec ircam Nine Levels by Ze-Ami for ensemble and tape, 32 mn, Schott [program note]
- 1986
- Cosmos Haptic II Transfiguration, for piano, 13 mn, Schott
- 1983
- A Perspective for Orchestra, 11 mn, Schott
- 1981
- A Winter Day Homage to Bashô, for flute, clarinet, percussion, harp and piano, 18 mn, Schott
- 1978
- Domain for flute, 10 mn, Schott
- 1972
- Chronoplastic Between Stasis and Kinesis, for orchestra, 14 mn, Schott
- Date de composition inconnue
- Cosmos Haptic for piano, 6 mn 30 s, Schott
- Cosmos Haptic IV for cello and piano, 10 mn, Schott
Liens Internet
- Schott : www.schott-music.com
Bibliographie
- Luciana GALLIANO, The Music of Jōji Yuasa, Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012.
- « Interview with Roger Reynolds, Joji Yuasa, and Charles Wuorinen », in Computer Music Journal, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Winter, 1984), p. 45-54.
- Joji YUASA, « Mind in Art », in Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Summer, 1993), p. 178-185.
- Joji YUASA, « The World of Nō as I Perceive It, concerning Some Problems in Music », in Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Summer, 1993), p. 186-191.
- Joji YUASA, « Theater as an Environmental Medium », in Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Summer, 1993), p. 192-209.
- Joji YUASA, « The Degeneration of Music-What Does It Mean? », in Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Summer, 1993), p. 210-215.
- Joji YUASA, « Temporality and I: From the Composer’s Workshop », in Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Summer, 1993), p. 216-228.