AKIRAIFUKUBE.ORG - Sinfonia Tapkaara

SINFONIA TAPKAARA
(1954, revised 1979)

Traditional Ainu dancing

The title "Tapkaara" refers to a kind of Ainu dancing style. This ritualistic dance is performed by a male; the dancer stretches his arms out in front and stamps his feet. In this dance, there is a sense of appreciating nature's blessings and praising the god Earth.

Ifukube had direct contact with various Ainu religious and secular arts, such as "Tapkaara", in Otofuke, where he spent his boyhood years. He wrote this symphony concentrating on the nostalgia towards the life of the Ainu and the vast stretches of lowland landscapes around Otofuke.

Sinfonia Tapkaara was written in 1954, the same year as the film music for Godzilla, and was performed the following year by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Fabien Sevitzky. The composer added substantial revisions in 1979. This revised edition was first performed in 1980 by the New Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yasushi Akutagawa.

Yasushi Akutagawa (left) and Akira Ifukube (right) review the revised score for Sinfonia Tapkaara (1980)

Sinfonia Tapkaara consists of three movements:

First movement, "Lento-Allegro": This movement is in quasi-sonata form led by a daring introduction. It is constructed from a vigorous first theme and a tranquil second theme.

Second movement, "Adagio": This movement proceeds very calmly with two main melodies as an axis. One is a melody denoted by the flute accompanied by the harp's descending scale, and the other a melody played on the English horn joined to an ostinato pattern by the oboe. What is reflected here is the vast landscapes of Hokkaido and the quiet daily lives of the Ainu.

Third movement, "Vivace": The composer had stated that this movement "shall be played as if carrying a bottle of sake by the waist". After four introductory bars, a theme accompanied by strongly accented repetitious notes, which is like a strolling man stamping his feet, fervently intensifies. This escalation is repeated even more intensely, interposing a canon-like middle section led by an oboe solo.

This work was dedicated to Ifukube's close friend, the music critic Atsushi Miura

Title page of the original 1954 manuscript of Sinfonia Tapkaara (left) and promotional flyer for the world premiere (right)

Please use your browser's BACK button to return to the Music Library

Acknowledgments:

The Artistry of Akira Ifukube by Motohide Katayama and translated by Junko Nonoyama.