Yasushi Akutagawa was born in Tokyo in 1925 as the third son of a great writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa. He loved to listen to the records of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird” and “Petrushka” which belonged to his father who committed suicide when Akutagawa was two years old. From a very young age, he set his heart on becoming a composer. In 1943, he entered Tokyo Music School (currently named Tokyo National University of Arts), and studied composition with Kunihiko Hashimoto during the war and with Akira Ifukube after the war.
Akutagawa completed Tokyo Music School in 1949. During the following year, his “Music for Symphony Orchestra” won the Special Prize for Orchestral Works by NHK Celebrating Its 25th Anniversary, and he gained a lot of attention. In 1953, “Triptyque for String Orchestra” was premiered at Carnegie Hall and received the Warsaw Music Award. In the same year, he formed “Sannin no kai (Group of Three)” with Ikuma Dan and Toshirō Mayuzumi. The group actively had concerts, mainly for orchestral works, and became the motive power for the Japanese music world after the war. In 1954, Akutagawa visited Dmitri Shostakovich and other composers in the Soviet Union which he had yearned to do.
Akutagawa founded the amateur orchestra “New Symphony Orchestra” in 1956 from his idea that “music is for everyone”. He supported its activities as a conductor over 30 years. After 1977, he was devoted to spreading music as a host of TV programs such as NHK “Music Plaza” and “NHK Symphony Orchestra Hour”. In 1981 he took the post of president of Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers, and struggled with the copyright advocacy movement. In 1982, he formed “Antinuclear / Japanese Musicians” and hold antinuclear concerts. As above, he made a great contribution to the development of the Japanese music world through many social activities.
Akutagawa’s initial style was characterized by an urbanized and stylish expression like his teacher Hashimoto, and by a wild rhythmic ostinato like Ifukube, as seen in the piano piece “La Dance” (1948). From the late ’50s to the ’60s, he released avantgarde works such as “Ellora Symphony” (1958) and the Opera “Orpheus in Hiroshima” (1967). After that, he regained original softness, lightness, and vital ostinato while taking advantage of avant-garde techniques as seen in “Concerto Ostinato for Cello and Orchestra” (1969) and “Rhapsody” (1971). In the piano music collection for children “24 Preludes” (1979), you can see these musical charms a lot. He also wrote diverse works, such as film music, children’s songs, musicals, ballet music, choral music, etc.
Akutagawa received a Tori Music Award, and a Medal with Purple Ribbon. He died at the age of 63, in 1989. In the following year, “Akutagawa Composition Award” was founded to honor his achievements.