Toshi Ichiyanagi (一柳 慧, Ichiyanagi Toshi, 4 February 1933 – 7 October 2022) was a Japanese avant-garde composer and pianist. One of the leading composers in Japan during the
postwar era, Ichiyanagi worked in a range of genres, composing Western-style operas and orchestral and chamber works, as well as compositions using traditional Japanese instruments.[1] Ichiyanagi is known for incorporating avant-garde techniques into his works, such as
chance music,
extended technique, and nontraditional scoring.[1] Ichiyanagi was married to artist
Yoko Ono from 1956 to 1962.
Ichiyanagi was married to
Yoko Ono from 1956 to 1962.[2] His decision to return to Japan, while Ono remained in New York, rendered the marriage untenable.
Many of Ichiyanagi's early scores use graphic notation: Sapporo (1963) is one of the better known examples.[4] Another notable early work is the 1960 composition Kaiki, which combined Japanese instruments, shō and
koto, and western instruments,
harmonica and
saxophone. Another work, Distance (1961), required the performers to play from a distance of three meters from their instruments. Anima 7 (1964) stated that chosen action should be performed "as slowly as possible". In 1963, Ichiyanagi co-founded an avant-garde music collective called New Direction along with fellow composers
Takehisa Kosugi,
Yūji Takahashi, and
Kenji Kobayashi, and others.[1] The group disbanded in the late 1960s when most of its members relocated to New York, while Ichiyanagi remained in Japan.[1]
Ichiyanagi's later works shifted away from experimental means toward more conventional forms, including symphonies, operas and concertos.[4] He was the recipient of the 33rd
Suntory Music Award (2001) and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts John Cage Award (2018). He has been honored with Japan's
Order of Culture.[5]
Personal life and death
Ichiyanagi's father, Shinji, was a cellist, while his mother, Mitsuko, gave piano lessons in their home and was her son's first piano teacher. After Ichiyanagi's marriage to Yoko Ono ended in 1962, he was married a second time in 1963 to Sumiko, who died in 1993. They had a son, Kei (b. 1964), who is still living as of 2022.[6]
Ichiyanagi died in Tokyo on 7 October 2022, at the age of 89.[7][8]
Saya: Perspective in Love, directed by Seiji Izumi (1986)
References
^
abcdefgMerewether, Charles, ed. (2007). Art, Anti-Art, Non-Art: Experimentations in the Public Sphere in Postwar Japan, 1950–1970. Getty Research Institute. p. 121.
ISBN978-0892368662.
^Japan, An Illustrated Encyclopedia, Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1993, p. 1155 mentions that she married him in 1956, but does not say until when they were married.
^Merewether, Charles, ed. (2007). Art, Anti-Art, Non-Art: Experimentations in the Public Sphere in Postwar Japan, 1950–1970. Getty Research Institute. p. 121.
ISBN978-0892368662.
Toshi Ichiyanagi (一柳 慧, Ichiyanagi Toshi, 4 February 1933 – 7 October 2022) was a Japanese avant-garde composer and pianist. One of the leading composers in Japan during the
postwar era, Ichiyanagi worked in a range of genres, composing Western-style operas and orchestral and chamber works, as well as compositions using traditional Japanese instruments.[1] Ichiyanagi is known for incorporating avant-garde techniques into his works, such as
chance music,
extended technique, and nontraditional scoring.[1] Ichiyanagi was married to artist
Yoko Ono from 1956 to 1962.
Ichiyanagi was married to
Yoko Ono from 1956 to 1962.[2] His decision to return to Japan, while Ono remained in New York, rendered the marriage untenable.
Many of Ichiyanagi's early scores use graphic notation: Sapporo (1963) is one of the better known examples.[4] Another notable early work is the 1960 composition Kaiki, which combined Japanese instruments, shō and
koto, and western instruments,
harmonica and
saxophone. Another work, Distance (1961), required the performers to play from a distance of three meters from their instruments. Anima 7 (1964) stated that chosen action should be performed "as slowly as possible". In 1963, Ichiyanagi co-founded an avant-garde music collective called New Direction along with fellow composers
Takehisa Kosugi,
Yūji Takahashi, and
Kenji Kobayashi, and others.[1] The group disbanded in the late 1960s when most of its members relocated to New York, while Ichiyanagi remained in Japan.[1]
Ichiyanagi's later works shifted away from experimental means toward more conventional forms, including symphonies, operas and concertos.[4] He was the recipient of the 33rd
Suntory Music Award (2001) and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts John Cage Award (2018). He has been honored with Japan's
Order of Culture.[5]
Personal life and death
Ichiyanagi's father, Shinji, was a cellist, while his mother, Mitsuko, gave piano lessons in their home and was her son's first piano teacher. After Ichiyanagi's marriage to Yoko Ono ended in 1962, he was married a second time in 1963 to Sumiko, who died in 1993. They had a son, Kei (b. 1964), who is still living as of 2022.[6]
Ichiyanagi died in Tokyo on 7 October 2022, at the age of 89.[7][8]
Saya: Perspective in Love, directed by Seiji Izumi (1986)
References
^
abcdefgMerewether, Charles, ed. (2007). Art, Anti-Art, Non-Art: Experimentations in the Public Sphere in Postwar Japan, 1950–1970. Getty Research Institute. p. 121.
ISBN978-0892368662.
^Japan, An Illustrated Encyclopedia, Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1993, p. 1155 mentions that she married him in 1956, but does not say until when they were married.
^Merewether, Charles, ed. (2007). Art, Anti-Art, Non-Art: Experimentations in the Public Sphere in Postwar Japan, 1950–1970. Getty Research Institute. p. 121.
ISBN978-0892368662.