滝　廉太郎

Taki, Rentaro

1879 - 1903 　日本

Taki’s most famous pieces include “Hatopoppo (Pigeon)”, “Oshōgatsu (New Year)”, “Kōjō no Tsuki (Moon at a desolate Castle)”, “Hakone Hachiri (Hakone 32 kilometers)”, and “Shiki (Four seasons)”. “Hato-poppo” and “Oshōgatsu” consist both of poems written by Kume Higashi set to music as well as songs included in the ‘Yōchien-shōka (Kindergarten songs)’ published in 1901. “Hakone Hachiri” and “Kōjō no Tsuki” was printed in the ‘Chūgakushōka ( Junior high school songs)’ which was compiled by Tokyo Academy of Music in the same year. As for “Kōjō no Tsuki,” it is known that the score written by Taki did not have any instrumental accompaniment and Kōsaku Yamada therefore composed this accompaniment later, adding an accidental to one sound of the melody. ‘Hana (Flower)’, the opening lyrics of which is ‘Haru no urara no’, is a well-known song loved by many Japanese people today and represents one of the pieces in “Shiki”. In the score of “Shiki” published in 1900, Taki tried to get out of the imitation of Western music and to draw people’s attention to an awareness of ‘art song’ created by a Japanese composer.