Takashi Yoshimatsu

(born March 18,1953) is a contemporary Japanese composer of classical music. He is well known for composing the 2003 remake of Astro Boy.

Takashi Yoshimatsu was born in Tokyo, Japan, and like Toru Takemitsu, the composer generally considered to be Japan's greatest in the western classical style, did not receive formal musical training while growing up. He left the faculty of technology of Keio University in 1972, and joined an amateur band named NOA as a keyboard player, emulating the music of Pink Floyd. He became interested in the jazz and progressive rock scenes, particularly in the possibilities being explored through electronic music.

He was a fan of the Walker Brothers and the Ventures when he was 13, but symphonies of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky fascinated him when he was 14. Since then he composed a number of pieces before making his name with the serialist 'Threnody for Toki' in 1981. Soon afterwards, he became disenchanted with atonal music, and began to compose in a free neo-romantic style with strong influences from jazz, rock and Japanese classical music, underscoring his reputation with his 1985 guitar concerto. As of 2004, Yoshimatsu has presented five symphonies, six concertos (one each for bassoon, piano, cello, guitar, trombone, and saxophone), a number of sonatas, and various shorter pieces for ensembles of various sizes. His 'Atom Hearts Club Suites' for string orchestra explicitly pay homage to the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Yoshimatsu's supporters enjoy his easy, tuneful style and sense of the capacities of different instruments, although critics complain that his work is simply a post-modern jumble with little coherent theme.

He published some essays and primers about classical music. He likes to draw pictures and illustrated their books by himself.

Major works

Orchestral

*"Threnody to Toki" for piano and string orchestra (1980)
*"Chikap" (1982)
*"Guitar Concerto "Pegasus Effect" (1984)
*"The Age of Birds" (1986)
*"Bassoon Concerto "Unicorn Circuit" (1988)
*"Kamui-Chikap Symphony" (1990)
*"Symphony No. 2 "At Terra" (1991)
*"White Landscapes" (1991/97)
*"Trombone Concerto "Orion Machine" (1993)
*"Saxophone Concerto "Cyber Bird" (1993)
*"Dream Colored Mobile II" (1993/98)
*"Ode to Birds and Rainbow" (1994)
*"Piano Concerto "Memo Flora" (1997)
*"Atom Hearts Club Suite I" for string orchestra (1997)
*"And Birds Are Still..." (1997)
*"While an Angel Falls into a Doze..." for piano and string ensemble (1998)
*"Symphony No. 3" (1998)
*"Atom Hearts Club Suite II" for string orchestra
*"Symphony No. 4" (2000)
*"Prelude to the Celebration of Birds (2000)
*"Symphony No. 5" (2001)
*"Cello Concerto "Centaurus Unit" (2003)
*"Saxophone Concerto "Albireo mode" (2005)

Chamber

*"Forgetful Angel I" for harmonica/violin and piano (1978)
*"Forgetful Angel II" for harmonica and guitar (1979)
*"U-Getsu-Fu" for shakuhachi and 17-gen (1980)
*"Chikap" for 15 flutes (1981)
*"Digital Bird Suite" for flute and guitar/piano (1982)
*"Rainbow Colored Prism I" for 2 pianos, 2 cellos and horn (1983)
*"4 Pieces in Bird Shape" for clarinet and piano (1983)
*"Random Bird Variations" for 2 pianos (1985)
*"Forgetful Angel III" for harmonica and accordion (1985)
*"Soh-Gyo-Fu" for shakuhachi and 20-gen (1986)
*"Pleiades Dances IIa" for violin/flute and piano (1987)
*"Melting Dream" for violin/saxophone/harmonica and piano (1987)
*"Sui-Gen-Fu" for shakuhachi and 13-gen (1989)
*"Fuzzy Bird Sonata" for saxophone and piano (1991)
*"Bird Prism" for 2 flutes and piano (1991)
*"Bird Rhythm" for percussion group (1991)
*"3 White Landscapes" for flute, bassoon/cello and harp (1991)
*"Rainbow Colored Mobile" for mandolin orchestra (1992)
*"Dream Colored Mobile" for saxophone/oboe/cello, harp and string quartet (1993)
*"Mimic Bird Comic" for horn and percussions (1995)
*"Bird Dream Dance" for gagaku ensemble (1997)
*"Atom Hearts Club Quartet" for string quartet (1997)
*"Within Dreams Without Dreams" for 2-^gen, clarinet, violin and cello (1998)
*"Atom Hearts Club Duo" for 2 guitars (1999)
*"Metal Snail Suite" for euphonium and piano (1999)
*"Stellar Dream Dances" for Japanese instruments ensemble (2002)
*"3 Exotic Songs" for soprano sax and guitar (2002)
*"Partita a la Chesire Cat" for piano and percussion (2005)
*"Sei-Gen-Fu" for sho and 20-gen (2006)
*"Wind Dream Dances" for shakuhachi and 20-gen (2006)

Piano solo

*"Regulus Circuit" (1979)
*"Pleiades Dances I" (1986)
*"Pleiades Dances II" (1987)
*"Pleiades Dances III" (1988)
*"Pleiades Dances IV" (1992)
*"Pleiades Dances V" (1992)
*"Piano Folio" (1997)
*"Pleiades Dances VI" (1998)
*"Pleiades Dances VII" (1999)
*"Pleiades Dances VIII" (2000)
*"Pleiades Dances IX" (2001)
*"Tapiola Visions" for piano left hand (2004)
*"Ainola Lyrical Ballads" for piano left hand (2006)
*"Gauche Dances" for piano left hand (2006)

Guitar solo

*"Litmus Distance" (1980)
*"Tender Toys" (1983)
*"Wind Color Vector" (1991)
*"Guitar Sonata "Sky Color Tensor" (1992)
*"Water Color Scalar" (1993)
*"2 Little Pieces" (1994)
*"Around the Round Ground" (1997)
*"4 Little Dream Songs" (1997)

Japanese Instrument solo

*"Moyura" for 20-gen (1990)
*"Nabari" for 17-gen (1992)
*"Subaru" for 20-gen (1999)

External links

* [http://homepage3.nifty.com/t-yoshimatsu/ Takashi Yoshimatsu]