About the Society
The world of contemporary music
suffered a grave loss on February 20th, 1996, with the untimely death of
the greatest Japanese composer, Toru Takemitsu. In the year following his
death, a group of musicians and scholars based in London decided that
something should be done to preserve the memory of this unique composer,
and promote understanding both of his own music and that of other
contemporary Japanese musicians. Thus it was that The Takemitsu Society
came into being, the inaugural meeting being held on the 23rd.
November, 1997.
The Society is still very much in its infancy, and the modest size of its
membership base has meant that so far its activities have been somewhat
circumscribed. Nevertheless, so far we have been able to offer our members
the following:
THE TAKEMITSU SOCIETY NEWSLETTER - published quarterly, this has to
date mainly comprised updates on what is happening in the Society,
together with other items of news of interest to our members, book and
CD reviews, etc. However, we believe it has the potential to become an
important medium for the exchange of ideas amongst the community of
scholars working in this area of study, and we welcome any contributions
of hitherto unpublished material dealing with our general subject area of
modern Japanese music.
REGULAR MEETINGS - For geographical reasons, this option has to date
rather been limited to those within easy reach of London, England! Thanks to the
generosity of the Daiwa Foundation, we have been able to hold regular
meetings at Daiwa Foundation Japan House, 11/13 Cornwall Terrace, London
NW1. Recently, members have been able to enjoy feature films with
music by Takemitsu such as
Kwaidan, Ran, Woman of the Dunes, and The Empty Table, as
well as films about the music of Takemitsu, talks on his music, and live
instrumental recitals.
If you would like to find out how to join the Society, please
click on this link.
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