Musicatlas
Music
Opera
- Genji-Monogatari [The Tale of Genji] (1990–93)
- Uji-jujo [The ten Chapters of Uji] (1998)
Orchestral
- Pastorale (1935)
- Tema e variazioni sul tema di Etenraku per pianoforte e orchestra (1951)
- Figures sonores (1956)
- U-mai (1957)
- Sa-mai (1958)
- Suite di danze nelle stile dell’antico "Bugaku" giapponese (1959)
- Sinfonietta (1961)
- Bugaku per orchestra da camera (1962)
- Tre movimenti per pianoforte e orchestra (1962)
- Danza rituale e finale (1963)
- Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra (1964)
- Concerto da camera per clavicembalo, arpa e strumenti (1964)
- Prelude (1965–66)
- Dialogo coreografico (1966)
- Mouvements circulatoires (1971)
- Portrait C per orchestra da camera (1977)
- Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra n. 2 (1979–80)
- Concertino per pianoforte e orchestra (1988)
- Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra n. 3 (2001)
Chamber/Instrumental
- Souvenirs d’enfance pour piano (1928–30)
- Prélude en ré pour piano (1934)
- Sonatine pour flûte et piano (1940)
- Prélude en sol pour piano (1940)
- Sonatine pour flûte et clarinette (1940)
- Sonata per violoncello e pianoforte (1942)
- Six danses rustiques pour piano (1939–45)
- Sonatine pour piano (1948)
- Sonata per violino e pianoforte (1948)
- Pianoforte trio per pianoforte, violino e violoncello (1948)
- Sonata per pianoforte (1949)
- Quartetto d’archi n. 1 (1949)
- Quartetto d’archi n. 2 (1951)
- Somaksah per flauto solo (1961)
- Serenata per flauto e strumenti (1962)
- Portrait per due pianoforti (1968)
- Dodici pezzi facile per pianoforte (1968–69)
- Portrait B per due pianoforti e due percussionisti (1969)
- Pièces de piano pour les enfants par les chansons des enfants et populaires (1969)
- Pièces de piano pour les enfants par les chansons de enfants (1970)
- Etudes pour piano d’apres modes japonais (1970)
- Le beau Japon pour piano (1970)
- Somaksah per arpa o pianoforte (1970)
- Somaksah per oboe (1970)
- Somaksah per percussione (1970)
- Sonatine pour guitare (197?)
- 6 Préludes pour piano en forme de thème et variations (1975)
- Concerto per gagaku (1975)
- 6 diapason per pianoforte e arpa (1978)
- Rapsodia per 10 strumenti (1983)
- Tema e variazioni sul tema di Etenraku per pianoforte (1983)
Vocal
- Chansons populaires de Nanbu I (1928–30)
- Chansons populaires de Nanbu II (1938)
- Metamorfosi per soprano e strumenti (1953)
- Koromogae per voce e strumenti (1954)
- Katsura pour chant avec flûte, clavecin, harpe, guitar et percussions (1959)
- Roei jisei per voce e strumenti (1966)
- 3 Airs du Genji-Monogatari (1990)
- 3 Airs du Genji-Monogatari No.2 (1992)
- Ka-ryo-bin per soprano e orchestra (1996)
Life
On his father’s side a descendant of the Tokugawa Shogun family, who ruled over Japan from the17th to the 19th century, and on his mother’s from the Fujiwara family, who were the most powerful Japanese court nobility from the 7th to the12th century, Yoritsune Matsudaira became one of the greatest Japanese composers of the 20th century, by developing a distinctive style of his own, based on Gagaku, Japanese court music from a tradition of over a thousand years, in which various musical elements from ancient Japan, China and Korea are brought together. His work Theme and Variations combines Gagaku with the neo-classical methods of Ravel, Poulenc and Tansman, while his later works, including Sacred Dances, seek to integrate Gagaku with the total serialism of Stockhausen and Boulez. His music, a synthesis of the ancient Orient and the modern Occident, won the respect of Messiaen and Takemitsu, and has been performed in Europe by many distinguished musicians, including Karajan, Rosbaud, Boulez, Maderna, Gielen, Loriod and Gazzelloni.
(source: Naxos website)