Robin Sena
06-23-2010, 01:30 PM
The legend of Japanese synthesist Isao Tomita, better known as Tomita and his reputation for synthesised versions of classical music, using a modular Moog and a multitrack tape machine.
From the notes of his first album, Snowflakes Are Dancing:
Isao Tomita was born in Tokyo in 1932. He studied art history at Keio
University inTokyo and pursued his interest in music and electronics with
private teachers. While still a student he submitted a composition called Wind
Mills to the Japan Federation of Choral Organizations to be used by contestants
in a choral competition, and it was accepted. This led to requests for other compositions.
He wrote the theme music used by the Japanese gymnastics team in the 1956 Olympics
and then turned to films and television, particularly the latter. He has written the
background music for such year-long NHK series as The Life of the Flower (1960),
The Heaven and the Earth (1969),The New Tale of Heike (1972) and
Kaishu Katsu (1974), and for his contributions to the industry Tomita was awarded
the prestigious Television Grand Prix for 1973. He has also composed music for TV
anime cartoon projects, including The King of the Jungle ,which was shown on NBC under the title White Lion; this music was later incorporatedinto a tone poem, which was performed by the Japanese Philharmonic. For Expo '70 he provided the music for the
Toshiba Hall, and he has been commissioned to compose the music for the Japanese
government hall at the 1975 Okinawa Marine Expo.
In 1973 Tomita established Plasma Music, which is dedicated to the creation of music
by electronic means. Other members of the group include Kinji Kitashoji, who specialiazes
in rock music, and Mitsuo Miyamoto, who specializes in mood music. Among the projects
being planned are a piano-synthesizer concerto; The Prince of Stars, an original piece being composed by Tomita as a fantasy based on a synthesizer, and Orchestral Prayer, for the Ohara Sanzenin Temple in Kyoto, which would utilise traditional Japanese instruments coupled with synthesizers.
Below is his discography, much of it on RCA Red Seal records:
1974:
Snowflakes Are Dancing (The Newest Sound Of Debussy)
RCA Red Seal ARL1-0488
Side One: Snowflakes Are Dancing (Children's Corner, No. 4); Reverie; Gardens In The Rain (Estampes, No. 3); Clair De Lune (Suite Bergamasque, No. 3); Arabesque No. 1.
Side Two: The Engulfed Cathedral (Préludes, Book 1, No. 10); Passepied (Suite Bergamasque, No. 4); The Girl With The Flaxen Hair (Préludes, Book 1, No. 8); Golliwog's Cakewalk (Children's Corner, No. 6); Footprints In The Snow (Préludes, Book 1, No. 6).
1975:
Mussorgsksii: Pictures At An Exhibition
RCA Red Seal ARL1-0838
Side One: Promenade#1; The Gnome; Promonade#2; The Old Castle; Promenade#3; Tuileries; Bydlo; Promonade#4; The Ballet Of The Chicks In Their Shells.
Side Two: The Two Jews; Limoges; Catacombs; Cum Mortuis In Lingua Mortua; Baba I'aga (Hut On Fowls' Legs); The Great Gate Of Kiev.
1976:
The Firebird
RCA Red Seal ARL1-1312
Side One (Stravinskii: The Firebird): Introduction And Dance Of The Firebird; Round Of The Princesses (Khorovod); Infernal Dance Of King Kastchei; Berceuse And Finale.
Side Two: Debussy: Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun; Mussorgsksii: A Night On Bald Mountain.
Holst: The Planets (aka The Tomita Planets)
RCA Red Seal ARL 1-1919
Side One: Mars, The Bringer Of War; Venus, The Bringer Of Peace, Mercury, The Winged Messenger.
Side Two: Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity; Saturn, The Bringer Of Old Age; Uranus, The Magician; Neptune, The Mystic.
1978:
Kosmos
RCA Red Seal ARL1-2616
Side One: Williams: Star Wars (Main Title); Strauss & Wagner: Space Fantasy; Honegger: Pacific 231; Ives: The Unanswered Question.
Side Two: Rodrigo: Aranjuez; Grieg: Peer Gynt: Solvejg's Song; Dinicu: Hora Staccato; Bach: The Sea Named Solaris.
1979:
The Bermuda Triangle
RCA Red Seal ARL1-2885
Side One: A Space Ship Lands Emitting Silvery Light (Tomita: The Arrival of a UFO); Electromagnetic Waves Descend (Prokofiev: Romeo
& Juliet Suite No. 2); A World of Different Dimensions (Sibelius: Valse Triste); The Giant Pyramid & Its Ancient People (Prokofiev: Scythian Suite); Venus In A Space Uniform Shining In Fluorescent Light (Williams: Close Encounters Of The Third Kind); Space Children In The Underground Kingdom Called
Agharta (Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5: Second Movement); The Earth - A Hollow Vessel (Tomita: Dororo).
Side Two: The Song Of Venus (Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1: First Movement); Dawn Over The Triangle & Mysterious Electric Waves (Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6: First Movement/Tomita: Computer Data Signals); The Dazzling Cylinder That Crashed In Tunguska, Siberia (Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6: First Movement); The Harp Of The Ancient People With Songs Of Venus & Space Children (Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1: Third Movement); B5 The Visionary Flight To The 1448 Nebular Group Of The Bootes (Tomita: Departure Of The UFO/Prokofiev: Scythian Suite/Yamamoto: Vocoder).
1980:
Bolero
RCA Red Seal ARL1-3412
Side One: Bolero; Pavane Of The Sleeping Beauty; Hop-O'-My-Thumb; Laideronette, Empress Of The Pagodas; Conversations Of Beauty And The Beast; Mother Goose Suite: The Fairy Garden.
Side Two: Daphnis Et Chloé: Suite No. 2 (Daytime, Pantomime, General Dance); Pavane For A Dead Princess.
1982:
Grand Canyon
RCA Red Seal ARL1-4317
Side One: Grand Canyon Suite; Sunrise; Painted Desert; On The Trail.
Side Two: Grand Canyon Suite; Sunset; Cloudburst; Syncopated Clock.
1984:
Canon Of The Three Stars
RCA Red Seal ARL1-5184
Side One: Canon Of The Three Stars; Whistletrain; Vocalise; Dawn Chorus.
Side Two: Adagio Of The Sky; Pegasus; Cosmic Chorale; Vela-X Pulsar.
From the notes of his first album, Snowflakes Are Dancing:
Isao Tomita was born in Tokyo in 1932. He studied art history at Keio
University inTokyo and pursued his interest in music and electronics with
private teachers. While still a student he submitted a composition called Wind
Mills to the Japan Federation of Choral Organizations to be used by contestants
in a choral competition, and it was accepted. This led to requests for other compositions.
He wrote the theme music used by the Japanese gymnastics team in the 1956 Olympics
and then turned to films and television, particularly the latter. He has written the
background music for such year-long NHK series as The Life of the Flower (1960),
The Heaven and the Earth (1969),The New Tale of Heike (1972) and
Kaishu Katsu (1974), and for his contributions to the industry Tomita was awarded
the prestigious Television Grand Prix for 1973. He has also composed music for TV
anime cartoon projects, including The King of the Jungle ,which was shown on NBC under the title White Lion; this music was later incorporatedinto a tone poem, which was performed by the Japanese Philharmonic. For Expo '70 he provided the music for the
Toshiba Hall, and he has been commissioned to compose the music for the Japanese
government hall at the 1975 Okinawa Marine Expo.
In 1973 Tomita established Plasma Music, which is dedicated to the creation of music
by electronic means. Other members of the group include Kinji Kitashoji, who specialiazes
in rock music, and Mitsuo Miyamoto, who specializes in mood music. Among the projects
being planned are a piano-synthesizer concerto; The Prince of Stars, an original piece being composed by Tomita as a fantasy based on a synthesizer, and Orchestral Prayer, for the Ohara Sanzenin Temple in Kyoto, which would utilise traditional Japanese instruments coupled with synthesizers.
Below is his discography, much of it on RCA Red Seal records:
1974:
Snowflakes Are Dancing (The Newest Sound Of Debussy)
RCA Red Seal ARL1-0488
Side One: Snowflakes Are Dancing (Children's Corner, No. 4); Reverie; Gardens In The Rain (Estampes, No. 3); Clair De Lune (Suite Bergamasque, No. 3); Arabesque No. 1.
Side Two: The Engulfed Cathedral (Préludes, Book 1, No. 10); Passepied (Suite Bergamasque, No. 4); The Girl With The Flaxen Hair (Préludes, Book 1, No. 8); Golliwog's Cakewalk (Children's Corner, No. 6); Footprints In The Snow (Préludes, Book 1, No. 6).
1975:
Mussorgsksii: Pictures At An Exhibition
RCA Red Seal ARL1-0838
Side One: Promenade#1; The Gnome; Promonade#2; The Old Castle; Promenade#3; Tuileries; Bydlo; Promonade#4; The Ballet Of The Chicks In Their Shells.
Side Two: The Two Jews; Limoges; Catacombs; Cum Mortuis In Lingua Mortua; Baba I'aga (Hut On Fowls' Legs); The Great Gate Of Kiev.
1976:
The Firebird
RCA Red Seal ARL1-1312
Side One (Stravinskii: The Firebird): Introduction And Dance Of The Firebird; Round Of The Princesses (Khorovod); Infernal Dance Of King Kastchei; Berceuse And Finale.
Side Two: Debussy: Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun; Mussorgsksii: A Night On Bald Mountain.
Holst: The Planets (aka The Tomita Planets)
RCA Red Seal ARL 1-1919
Side One: Mars, The Bringer Of War; Venus, The Bringer Of Peace, Mercury, The Winged Messenger.
Side Two: Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity; Saturn, The Bringer Of Old Age; Uranus, The Magician; Neptune, The Mystic.
1978:
Kosmos
RCA Red Seal ARL1-2616
Side One: Williams: Star Wars (Main Title); Strauss & Wagner: Space Fantasy; Honegger: Pacific 231; Ives: The Unanswered Question.
Side Two: Rodrigo: Aranjuez; Grieg: Peer Gynt: Solvejg's Song; Dinicu: Hora Staccato; Bach: The Sea Named Solaris.
1979:
The Bermuda Triangle
RCA Red Seal ARL1-2885
Side One: A Space Ship Lands Emitting Silvery Light (Tomita: The Arrival of a UFO); Electromagnetic Waves Descend (Prokofiev: Romeo
& Juliet Suite No. 2); A World of Different Dimensions (Sibelius: Valse Triste); The Giant Pyramid & Its Ancient People (Prokofiev: Scythian Suite); Venus In A Space Uniform Shining In Fluorescent Light (Williams: Close Encounters Of The Third Kind); Space Children In The Underground Kingdom Called
Agharta (Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5: Second Movement); The Earth - A Hollow Vessel (Tomita: Dororo).
Side Two: The Song Of Venus (Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1: First Movement); Dawn Over The Triangle & Mysterious Electric Waves (Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6: First Movement/Tomita: Computer Data Signals); The Dazzling Cylinder That Crashed In Tunguska, Siberia (Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6: First Movement); The Harp Of The Ancient People With Songs Of Venus & Space Children (Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1: Third Movement); B5 The Visionary Flight To The 1448 Nebular Group Of The Bootes (Tomita: Departure Of The UFO/Prokofiev: Scythian Suite/Yamamoto: Vocoder).
1980:
Bolero
RCA Red Seal ARL1-3412
Side One: Bolero; Pavane Of The Sleeping Beauty; Hop-O'-My-Thumb; Laideronette, Empress Of The Pagodas; Conversations Of Beauty And The Beast; Mother Goose Suite: The Fairy Garden.
Side Two: Daphnis Et Chloé: Suite No. 2 (Daytime, Pantomime, General Dance); Pavane For A Dead Princess.
1982:
Grand Canyon
RCA Red Seal ARL1-4317
Side One: Grand Canyon Suite; Sunrise; Painted Desert; On The Trail.
Side Two: Grand Canyon Suite; Sunset; Cloudburst; Syncopated Clock.
1984:
Canon Of The Three Stars
RCA Red Seal ARL1-5184
Side One: Canon Of The Three Stars; Whistletrain; Vocalise; Dawn Chorus.
Side Two: Adagio Of The Sky; Pegasus; Cosmic Chorale; Vela-X Pulsar.