Shimizu Osamu
清水 脩
11/4/1911 - 10/29/1986
Composer & Singer
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Shimizu Osamu was a Japanese composer. He was the former president of Kawai Music (now Kawai Publishing Co., Ltd.). Born in Tennoji-ku, Osaka. After graduating from the French department of the Osaka School of Foreign Languages (the predecessor of the new Osaka University of Foreign Languages, now the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Osaka University), he entered the Tokyo School of Music (now Tokyo University of the Arts) in 1938, where he studied composition under Hashimoto Kunihiko and theory under Hosokawa Midori, among others. In 1939, "Hana ni yose taru butoh suite" was selected as the first prize winner in the composition section of the 8th Music Competition. He contributed to the world of contemporary Japanese music after World War II and left remarkable achievements. Born in a Shinshu Otani school temple, where his father performed bugaku, he showed an active interest in Japanese music and left many works for Japanese instruments. He also devoted himself to opera and choral music. Shimizu left behind 15 operas and operettas, more than 400 choral pieces, and several Buddhist hymns, including "Rennyo" and "Jukashita Tsannin. In particular, his opera "Shuzenji Monogatari" has become a standard repertoire, and was performed at the New National Theatre, Tokyo in 2009. In the field of choral music, he not only composed, published (see below), and conducted choral music, but also promoted the welfare music movement and was involved in the establishment of the All Japan Choral Union. While a student at the Osaka School of Foreign Languages, he was a member of the glee club. His part at that time was baritone, but his own voice range was bass. He once instructed the Tokai Mail Choir in Nagoya, Japan, and was able to vocalize the low D2 notes with ease. While active as a composer, he was also involved in the publishing business from early on. He joined Ongaku-no-tomo-sha shortly after its establishment and was involved in the editing of Ongaku-no-tomo. During his time at Kawai Scores, he was actively involved in the publication of choral works. His own choral works are entitled "Shimizu Osamu Chorus Music Selection" series. After the bankruptcy of Kawai, Ongaku-no-tomo-sha took over the copyright of his works and published them in 21 volumes from 1975 to 1982 as "Shimizu Osamu: Choral Music Collection" (many of his works are not included in this collection). Fluent in French, he translated Berlioz's "Memoirs" as well as theoretical works. His students include Tada Takehiko.
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Composed or Arranged
| Koto Compositions | |||
| Title | Kanji | Year | Alternate Title |
| Trois Esquises | 三つのエスキス |