Toshirô Mayuzumi

One of the most acclaimed composers of the Japanese cinema, Toshirô Mayuzumi was born in Yokohama. He studied composition, harmony, counterpoint, orchestration, piano and conducting at the Tokyo University of Art and Music, graduating cum laude in 1951. The following year he received a scholarship from the French government to study composition further at the Conservatoire de Paris. Returning to Japan in 1952 he formed the noted trio of composers, Sannin no Kai (the "Group of Three"). Mayuzumi became interested in musique concrète and electronic music as well as traditional Japanese music forms. However, when the occasion demanded, he showed he was equally capable of composing in an impressive symphonic style. Toshirô Mayuzumi's film music career began with_ Kikyô (1950)_ as assistant to composer Hiroshi Yoshizawa who would later conduct scores for Mayuzumi. Over a 30 year period he would score over a hundred films. His most successful and popular score was probably The Bible in the Beginning... (1966) which he scored in Italy. How a Japanese composer came to score a Biblical epic in Europe is a story of some note. The film's producers tried and failed to engage classical composers Stravinsky and Petrassi to write the score, but then settled on promising newcomer Ennio Morricone. However, while Morricone was composing at the studio, director John Huston was playing gramophone records in his hotel room. Quite by chance he put Mayuzumi's "Nirvana Symphony" on the turntable and suddenly decided the style was perfect for The Bible. Mayuzumi was flown in from Japan and the now legendary Morricone, who had written and recorded about 15 minutes of music, was told he wouldn't be needed. There is substantial evidence that Toshiro Kusunoki was actually a nom-de-plume of Toshirô Mayuzumi. The 1967 International Film Guide reviewed the forthcoming The Pornographers (1966) and announced the composer as Toshirô Mayuzumi. However, when the film was released the music was credited (in English) to Toshiro Kusunoki. Speculation arose that Mayuzumi was using a pseudonym because his big film of the year was The Bible in the Beginning... (1966) and it would have been inappropriate to have another of his scores being simultaneously released in America as The Pornographers. The Japanese performing right society JASRAC have a standard membership biography of Mayuzumi, but no information on Kusunoki. And the royalties for the "Kusunoki" score were indeed sent to Mayuzumi. Furthermore, a previous film score credited to Toshiro Kusunoki (Keirin Shonin Gyojoki, directed by Shôgorô Nishimura in 1963) is also registered by JASRAC for royalty purposes to Mayuzumi, which provides a convincing argument they were the same person. Intriguingly, however, although composers often register their pseudonyms with their performing right society, JASRAC state that at no time did Mayuzumi file a registered pseudonym as "Toshiro Kusunoki." Therefore, for the moment, JASRAC are unable to firmly establish whether there were two Toshiros or one, although they do suggest one explanation is that confusion may have arisen when Mayuzumi's surname was transliterated from Japanese characters to English. Ultimately, one inescapable fact remains: "Kusunoki" royalties are going to the Mayuzumi estate. Unfortunately, Mayuzumi never explained this little enigma to his fans before his death from liver failure at the age of 68. He died in Kawasaki on 10 April 1997.