Works Of Akira Ifukube For 25-string Koto

Akira Ifukube studied forestry in college and worked for ten years as a forest engineer. In 1935, his Japanese Rhapsody won the Alexander Tcherepnin Prize in Paris and in 1936, it was performed in Boston. He then studied briefly with Tcherepnin who was responsible for the premiere of his first ballet. This was performed in Vienna in 1938, the same year as he had a piano suite performed at the ISCM Festival Venezia. During his career as a forest ranger he studied the music of the Ainu, the indigenous people of Northern Japan. 

In 1974 he joined the faculty of the Tokyo College of Music, becoming its president in 1976. Pipa Xing and Chant de la Serinde were both commissioned and first performed by Keiko Nosaka. Kugo-Ka was originally written for guitar and first performed in Paris in 1969. It can be played with equal result on the 25-stringed koto as it is done in this recording.