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Article: Toru Takemitsu's world of music
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- October 23, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1994 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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It was a French popular song that led to Toru Takemitsu's
becoming Japan's leading composer.
During the last days of World War II, the teen-age Takemitsu was
working in a forced-labor camp, building an army base. Access to
foreign music was strictly forbidden at that time, but a young
officer had a 78 record of the French chanteuse Lucienne Boyer
singing "Parlez-moi d'amour" and, against orders, played the record
for the teen-age workers -- using a needle they had fashioned out of
bamboo.
"I was so impressed," said Takemitsu recently, "and so moved. I
did not know there was such beautiful music in the world. And I made
the decision that if the war ever ended, I would become a musician."
In ...