Voice for flute solo

Tōru Takemitsu (1930-1996) was a Japanese composer, known for combining elements of oriental and occidental philosophy, mixing sounds, silence, tradition and innovation.
Born in Tokyo, he was enlisted in military service at the age of 14 during World War II. Due to prolonged illness after the war, he was exposed to Western music through the U.S. Armed forces network where he worked at that time. His bitter experiences of Japanese military service explained his unwillingness to pursue traditional music of his native Japan. Mostly self-taught Takemitsu was lured by electronic music possibilities and was a founding member of experimental workshop Jikken Kōbō in early 1950s.

He received international recognition with his Requiem for string orchestra (1957) when Stravinsky accidentally listen to it and later invited him for lunch.  This facilitated his first comission from the Koussevitzky Foundation – symphonic work Dorian Horizon (1966). Further musical explorations of Takemitsu were inspired by Olivier Messiaen, John Cage (and his Zen practice) and Anton Webern as well as studies of traditional Japanese instruments from which his “November steps” for biwa, shakuhachi and orchestra was premiered by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra led by Seiji Ozawa and strengthened his international reputation as one of the leading Japanese composers of the 20th century. Considered as the first Japanese composer who was fully recognized in the West, Takemitsu legacy consists of several hundreds of various works, including scores for more than 90 films and publishing 20 books.