One Of Japan's Greatest Composers Comes To The West

New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ iUniverse) The Western world is keenly aware of 20th Century European composers such as Benjamin Britten, Gustav Mahler and Igor Stravinsky. The names of these Western composers have become iconic through performances in concert halls across the U.S. and Europe as well as being featured in television and movies. However, classical music is not a solely Western art form and its practitioners are not exclusively from the Western world.

Now, one of the greatest Japanese composers of the 20th Century is brought to life for the West through A Memoir of Toru Takemitsu, (published by iUniverse), by Asaka Takemitsu, translated into English by Tomoko Isshiki.

Like many of the great composers throughout history, Toru Takemitsu was largely self-taught. Drawing inspiration from multiple sources, Takemitsu combined many influences to create a musical style that would eventually be both sought after and praised by his contemporaries in Japan and abroad.

Because A Memoir of Toru Takemitsu was written with the aid of his wife, it gives readers not only the "raw data" of Takemitsu's life, but a unique window into who the man was and how he interacted with the world around him. From his time as a military conscript in the Japanese army during WWII to the dark days of post-war Japan and Takemitsu's eventual success, A Memoir of Toru Takemitsu takes readers on the journey of his amazing life in a uniquely humanistic way. This perspective brings to life an extraordinary man whose Requiem for Stringswas hailed by Igor Stravinsky as a masterpiece.