AKIRAIFUKUBE.ORG - Symphony Concertante for Piano and Orchestra

SYMPHONY CONCERTANTE
FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA
(1941)

The construction of the Yamato, a battleship of the Japanese Imperial Navy during World War II

This piece, composed in Sapporo in 1941, premiered in Tokyo on March 3, 1942 with pianist Yoko Matsukuma under the direction of Manfred Gurlitt.

The composer described this piece as "blending Asian indigenous vitality and machine-civilization modernism." That is, this concerto is based on Japan's three pentatonic scales (C-E flat-F-G-B flat, C-D flat-F-G-A flat, C-D-F-G-A), and Ifukube's diversion (such as C-D-F-G-A flat), which then closely connects themes expressing Asian indigenousness, with discords, irregular and complex rhythms, grotesque orchestration emphasizing bass wind instruments and tone clusters ranging two octaves on the piano (which is used many times in the last movement). By this, Ifukube produces a combination of primitive barbarism with the modernistic sound of iron and steel.

First Movement: "Vivace meccanico"

The first movement is in quasi-sonata form. The first theme is mechanical, combining quintuple meter and septuple meter. The second theme is rustic. In coda, a new motif inspired by Japanese hayashi music appears and builds to the climax.

Second Movement: "Lento con malincolia"

This is the only movement that does not have a futuristic feeling. It has a traditional ABA form, brimming with the lonliness of one who lives in the remote north.

Third Movement: "Allegro barbaro"

Slightly rondo-like, with an unrestricted rhapsodic finale. This movement begins with an abrupt, strongly accented rhythm as the main motif. Later, several folk song-like motifs appear, as well more hayashi-inspired themes and repetitions of fanatical explosions.

This work's full score was burnt in the bombing of Tokyo by U.S. forces during 1944 and 1945. Believing the bulk of the score for Symphony Concertante was lost forever, Ifukube used material from it in two of his works completed after the war, Sinfonia Tapkaara and Ritmica Ostinata. However, parts of the score that were once thought to be lost resurfaced in Tokyo in the mid 1990s. In 1997, Ifukube agreed to have the work performed again for the first time in 55 years; that performance appears on The Artistry of Akira Ifukube 5 (KICC-179).

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Acknowledgments:

The Artistry of Akira Ifukube 5 (KICC-179) by Motohide Katayama and translated by Aya Yamagishi.