Works of Yasushi AKUTAGAWA (1997)

This is the second in my posting of The Japanese Cinema Music Series. Every track contains exquisite melodies, some elegiac and emotional, others cheerful, and all bear repeated listening. Don’t let the mono sound on some tracks put you off as the sound quality is quite good for the age, although it would be great to have them re-recorded in stereo by a modern Japanese orchestra or the LSO.

https://mega.co.nz/#!EElTjQRD!Znx9_ZjEPaL8xTL8MOIDdprsqtaK62uIDx5gwRf 1r68

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasushi_Akutagawa

Japanese title: 芥川也寸志の世界
Format: MP3-320
Size: 142 MB
Tracks: 13
Time: 62 minutes
Source: my CD bought in Japan

Track list

01. Where Chimneys Are Seen (1953) 煙突の見える場所 Entotsu no mieru basho (1:53)

02. A Cat, Two Women, and One Man (1956) 猫と庄造と二人のをんな Neko to shōzō to futari no onna (1:00)

03. Dosanko (1958) 道産子 (どさんこ) Dosanko (4:24)

04. Fires on the Plain (1959) 野火 Nobi (1:50 min)

05. Zero Focus (1961) ゼロの焦点 Zero no shōten (3:34 min)

06. An Actor’s Revenge (1963) 雪之丞変化 Yukinojō henge (2:18)

07. The Scarlet Camellia (1965) 五瓣の椿 Goben no tsubaki (4:53)

08. Shadow Wave (1965) 波影 Nami kage (3:51)

09. The Shadow Within (1970) 影の車 Kage no kuruma (5:59)

10. Portrait of Hell (1969) 地獄変 Jigokuhen (11:13 min)

11. Mount Hakkōda (1977) 八甲田山 Hakkōda-san (6:10)

12. Village of the Eight Tombs (1977) 八つ墓村 Yatsuhaka-mura (8:36)

13. The Demon (1978) 鬼畜 Kichiku (6:22)

Tracks 11-13 stereo, rest mono

Yasushi Akutagawa was born in Tokyo in 1925, the son of one of the leading Japanese writers of the first half of the 20th century, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (he wrote the story for the classic Kurosawa film Rashōmon). He showed musical talent at an early age and studied in Tokyo with Ifukube and Kunihiko Hashimoto, guided by the aesthetic philosophy of rough manliness of the former and the lyricism of the latter. He was greatly influenced by the music of Shostakovich and Prokofiev, which was widely heard in Japan after the war, and he played an important part in the musical exchange between Japan and the Soviet Union. He was popular as a master of ceremonies of TV shows, being soft-spoken but articulate and dandy. As an educator, he devoted himself to train an amateur orchestra, Shin Kokyo Gakudan (The New Symphony Orchestra). His compositions include an opera, Orpheus of Hiroshima; Ellora Symphony; a cello concerto; and some hundred examples of music for the cinema. Akutagawa’s music has a strong and cheerful style. He died in 1989 and was married three times.

Thank you so much! This is a fabulous compilation. No complaints about the sound here! The only ones of these I’ve seen are the two Ichikawas – Fires on the Plain and An Actor’s Revenge – both recommended. Now I want to discover more Akutagawa 🙂

Wonderful, simply wonderful. Thank you !

Thank you Yen for another wonderful contribution 😮
It is always great to discover and hear new composers.

Thanks 🙂

Please for re-up!!!

I’ve been in China for three months so just noticed your request. New link in first post. I don’t have a scanner so photographed the front and back of the CD, sorry for the distortion.

This is so cool! Thank you!

thanks Yen

Thanks Yen.

Thanks.

Great, thanks Yen !

Thank you!!

Thank you!