Ifukllbe, Akira

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Ifukllbe, Akira

Ifukllbe, Akira, Japanese composer; b. Kushiro, March 7, 1914. As a young man, he was trained in forestry. He then took lessons from Alexander Tcherepnin. His music is rooted in Japanese modalities, but he adorns them with impressionistic harmonies.

Works

dramatic: Ballet: Salome (1948); Enchanted Citadel (Tokyo, Dec. 20, 1949); Fire of Prometheus (1950); Drums of Japan (Tokyo, Dec. 29, 1951); The Martyrs of Japan (Tokyo, March 30, 1972). ORCH.: Japanese Rhapsody (1935; Boston, April 5, 1936); Triptyque aborigène (1937); Piano Concerto (1941; Tokyo, March 3, 1942; MS destroyed in an air raid); Ballade symphonique (Tokyo, Nov. 20, 1943); Arctic Forest (Changchun, Manchuria, April 26, 1944); 2 violin concertos: No. 1 (Tokyo, June 22, 1948) and No. 2 (1978); Bascana (1949); Rapsodia concertante for Violin and Orch. (1951); Buddha (1953); Sinfonia Tapkaara (1954; Indianapolis, Jan. 21, 1955; rev. 1979; Tokyo, April 6, 1980); Ritmica ostinata for Piano and Orch. (1961); Rondo in Burlesque for Concert Band (1972); Lauda concertata for Marimba and Orch. (1976; rev. 1979); Eglogue symphonique for Orch. and Japanese Instruments (1982); Gotama, the Buddha, symphonic ode for Chorus and Orch. (1989); Tomo no Oto, orch. paraphrase (1990); Japanese Suite (1991); Kushiro Marshland, symphonic tableaux (1993). other:Okhotsk, choral ode for Chorus and Orch. (1958); guitar pieces.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire