Tomotani, Koji

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Tomotani, Kōji

Tomotani, Kōji, Japanese composer; b. Hiroshima, Sept. 26, 1947. He studied at the Kunitachi Music Coll. in 1974, then went to France, where he had lessons with M. Bitsch and Messiaen (1974-76) and also studied at the École Normale de Musique de Paris (degree, 1975). His Cosmic Landscape trilogy is rooted in the concept of “eternal return/’ the “wheel of time symbolizing an intimate link between boundless space (the cosmos) and boundless time (eternity); each of the three works variously contrasts the elements of ’sound-space/ represented by tone-clusters and time relationships, and ’spaces/ which punctuate the elements comprising the ’sound-space.’”

Works

Concerto for Biwa and Orch. (1977); Gyō for Fué and Biwa (1978); Livre de Shura for Percussion Ensemble (1980); Mla-Cakra I for Flute and Piano (1981) and II for Shakuhachi and Percussion (1983); Torana for Soprano, Oboe d’Amore, and Piano (1982); Cosmic Landscape I for Flute and Harpsichord (1985), II for Orch. (1987), and III for Clarinet (1990); Spectrum I for Flute and Piano (1988) and II for Piano (1989).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire