Rentaro Taki

Japanese: 滝廉太郎 - たき・れんたろう

Year of death: June 29, 1903 (Meiji 36)
Year of birth: August 24, 1879 (Meiji 12)
A composer of the Meiji period. Known for "Kojo no Tsuki" and "Hana." Born in Tokyo as the eldest son of Yoshihiro and Masako, he moved to Yokohama, Toyama, Tokyo, and Oita due to his father's job transfers. After graduating from a higher elementary school in Taketa, he moved to Tokyo and entered the Tokyo Music School (Tokyo University of the Arts Faculty of Music) in 1894. After graduating in 1898, he entered the graduate school, and the following year became a consultant at the school, teaching the next generation of students. In 1891, he went to Germany as the first student to study abroad under the Ministry of Education, and entered the Leipzig Conservatory (Felix Mendelssohn Conservatory). However, he developed chest problems due to a cold and was soon hospitalized at the university hospital (Karl Marx University Hospital). Although he had planned to stay in Germany for three years, he was forced to return to Japan one year and three months after arriving in Germany. After returning to Japan, he recuperated in Oita, but finally died at the young age of 23 years and 10 months. He is buried at Manjuji Temple in Kanaike-cho, Oita City. His works include "Minuet," the first piano piece in Japan, "Kan" (his last work), and the tetralogy "Four Seasons" (Flowers, Summer Cool, Moon, Snow) (all except "Summer Cool" are choral pieces), which Rentaro sent out with great ambition at a time when all artistic songs in Japan were set to Western melodies and Japanese lyrics. "Moon" was later made into a solo piece by Yamada Kosaku under the title "Autumn Moon." The Tokyo Music School's compilation of Junior High School Songs contains 38 songs intended for junior high school boys, and at the time of its compilation Rentaro submitted "Kojo no Tsuki," "Toyotaiko," and "Hakone Hachiri," all three of which were adopted. The E sharp in the second measure of the original song "Kojo no Tsuki" is now sung as an E, and the eighth notes are now sung as quarter notes, with a slower tempo. This is likely due to Yamada Kosaku's arrangement. "Kindergarten Songs" (20 songs including "New Year's Day," "Snow is Coming," and "Hato Poppo"), which he planned, composed, and compiled with lyricist Azuma Kume and Suzuki Takeichi, was the first collection of songs written in colloquial language that was easy for young children to understand, and even included simple musical accompaniment. Other excellent works include the mixed four-part chorus piece "Song of Farewell" and the solo piece "Rough Sea." Rentaro's style is thought to have been influenced by German Romantic music, and it is amazing that Romantic music was orthodoxly accepted in Japan, where Western musical traditions and ideas were still shallow, and that he opened up a unique realm that was unmatched by others. At the time, it was Taki Rentaro who was essentially able to create modern Western songs in Japan, and he is a milestone in Japanese song. <References> Konaga Hisako, "Taki Rentaro"

(Konaga Hisako)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：明治36.6.29(1903)
生年：明治12.8.24(1879)
明治の作曲家。「荒城の月」「花」で知られている。吉弘,正子の長男として東京で生まれ,父の転勤にともない横浜,富山,東京,大分へと移り住む。竹田で高等小学校を卒業,上京して明治27(1894)年,東京音楽学校(東京芸大音楽学部)に入学する。同31年,卒業後研究科に入学,翌年から同校嘱託となり後進の指導に当たる。同34年,文部省留学生第1号としてドイツに渡り,ライプチヒ音楽院(フェリックス・メンデルスゾーン音楽院)に入学した。しかし風邪がもとで胸を病み,すぐに大学病院(カール・マルクス大学病院)に入院,3年間ドイツに滞在する予定だったが,渡独後1年3カ月で帰国のやむなきに至る。帰国後大分で静養したが,遂に満23歳10カ月の若さで死去する。大分市金池町万寿寺に葬られている。作品には日本最初のピアノ曲「メヌエット」,「憾」(絶筆),そしてまた,日本でこれまで芸術的な歌曲といえばみな西欧の旋律に日本語の歌詞をあてはめていた時代,廉太郎が大きな抱負をもって世に送った「四季」(花,納涼,月,雪)の四部作(納涼を除いては合唱曲)がある。「月」は「秋の月」と題してのちに山田耕筰により独唱曲にもなっている。東京音楽学校編『中学唱歌』には男子中学生にあてる目的の38曲が収められているが,編纂の際,廉太郎は「荒城の月」「豊太閤」「箱根八里」を応募,3曲とも採用された。原曲「荒城の月」第2小節の嬰ホ音はホ音に,8分音符も4分音符にテンポも緩やかに歌われるようになった。山田耕筰の編曲によるものであろう。作詞者東くめ,鈴木毅一と企画・作曲・編纂した『幼稚園唱歌』(「お正月」「雪やこんこん」「鳩ぽっぽ」など20曲)は,はじめて幼児にわかりやすい口語体で書かれた唱歌集で,簡単な伴奏までつけられている。他に混声四部合唱曲「別れの歌」,独唱曲「荒磯」など優れた作品もある。廉太郎の作風はドイツロマン派音楽の影響を受けているとみられ,ロマン派音楽が西洋音楽的伝統や思潮の浅い日本において正統的に受け入れられ,他の追随を許さない独自の境地を開いたことは驚異である。当時,日本で西洋音楽の近代歌曲を本質的に創作し得たのは滝廉太郎であり,日本歌曲のひとつの道標である。<参考文献>小長久子『滝廉太郎』

(小長久子)

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