AKIRAIKFUBE.ORG - Japanese Rhapsody

JAPANESE RHAPSODY
(1935)

Japanese title: Nihon Kyoshikyoku

A traditional Japanese matsuri (festival)

This is Akira Ifukube's first orchestral work. In his late teens, he planned this work as a concerto for solo violin and percussion orchestra. But at the request of his pen-friend conductor living in the U.S., Fabien Sevitzky, Ifukube changed his initial concept and began to compose a three-movement work for full orchestra using nine percussionists. He named it Japanese Rhapsody.

During this time, the application requirements for the Tcherepnin Award were announced and Ifukube decided to use Japanese Rhapsody as his entry piece. After its completion in 1935, the score was sent to both Sevitzky and Tcherepnin. Abiding by the performance time limit in the award's entry rules, Ifukube had no choice but to drop the first movement of the original score. The dropped first movement of Japanese Rhapsody, "Jongara Dance," became the second movement of his 1943 orchestral piece, Ballata Sinfonica.

Alexander Tcherepnin (left) and Fabien Sevitzky (right)

Japanese Rhapsody won first prize of the Tcherepnin competition and, in 1936, it was premiered by the Boston People's Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sevitzky. Afterwards, the work was performed in various places in Europe and the US, bringing Ifukube his first international success. When Japanese Rhapsody had its Finnish premiere in Helsinki in 1938, Jean Sibelius heard the performance on the radio. Often critical of "modern music," Sibelius approved of Ifukube's composition.

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius circa 1940

The Tcherepnin Award's judges were Albert Roussel, Arthur Honegger, Jacques Ibert, Aleksander Tansman, Tibor Harsányi, Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Henri Gil-Marchex and Henri Prunière. These judges were unanimous in their decision that Japanese Rhapsody should take first prize.

From the left: Albert Roussel, Arthur Honneger, Jacques Ibert, Aleksander Tansman, Tibor Harsányi and Pierre-Octave Ferroud

The work consists of two parts, "Nocturne" and "Fête."

The first movement, "Nocturne", is a rustic-sounding theme presented by a haunting viola solo and is accompanied by a rhythmic ostinato of the percussion instruments. After the middle section, which colorfully expresses night's dense darkness and solitude, the original theme returns.

The second movement, "Fête", sustains the atmosphere of a raucous festival. At the time of the Tcherepnin Award's judging, Roussel described this movement as "wonderful, but the percussion is too strong." It is said that Ifukube explained to Tcherepnin, who had conveyed the earlier comment, "This movement merely has percussion as dominant and the melodic accompaniment of the orchestra is joined to it, like decoration." In other words, the main purpose of "Fête" is not the progression of its enchanting folk-like melody; it is concerned more with the rhythmic vitality of the percussion.

Japanese Rhapsody was dedicated to maestro Sevitzky.

Alexander Tcherepnin (left) and Akira Ifukube (second from left)

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Acknowledgments:

The Artistry of Akira Ifukube 1 (KICC-177) by Motohide Katayama and translated by Junko Nonoyama.