About Yasushi Akutagawa's 'La Danse'

What stands out in Yasushi Akutagawa's works are lyrical and supple melodies, vibrant rhythms, and repetitive short motifs, or ostinatos. "La Danse," an early work by Akutagawa, already clearly exhibits his musical characteristics, foreshadowing the development of his later orchestral and film music (e.g., "Music for Symphony Orchestra," "Triptyque," and the scores for "Mount Hakkoda," "The Village of Eight Gravestones," and "The 47 Ronin").

"La Danse" was composed in 1948 (Showa 23), when Akutagawa was 23 years old. As other works from the same period were discarded by the composer, this piece bears Akutagawa's Opus 1.

At the time of composing "La Danse," Akutagawa was enrolled in the research course of the Tokyo Music School (present-day Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School). He spent World War II as a member of the Army Band and, after the war, returned to the music school to study composition professionally.

The piano suite "La Danse" consists of three short pieces: "I," "Intermezzo," and "II." All of them are characterized by resolute rhythmic structures, typical of Akutagawa, who disliked ambiguous shades or blurred outlines. "I" and "II" share the commonality of rhythmic, leaping eighth notes in the left hand and melodies imbued with a subtle melancholy entrusted to the right hand. On the other hand, while "I" features crisp motifs that frequently employ double appoggiaturas and short appoggiaturas, "II," as indicated by the instruction "Rustico," is somewhat pastoral and evokes nostalgia. The "Intermezzo," which connects the 4/4 time "I" and "II," is mostly in 3/4 time and is to be played extremely fast with very soft dynamics. Particularly, the basso ostinato, where the left hand adheres to the same motif while the right hand plays a varied melody, not only creates a vivid rhythmic effect but also recalls the composer's words: "Rhythm creates music; music that loses rhythm dies" (Akutagawa 1971:88).

The premiere of "La Danse" was given by Hiroshi Tamura in 1948 (Showa 23). The score was first included in "Japanese Piano Masterpieces II (World Grand Music Collection, Instrumental Series, Vol. 60)," published in 1960 (Showa 35), and subsequently published by Ongaku no Tomo Sha in 1967 (Showa 42). Aside from the 1960 edition having "Op. 1" printed at the beginning and the 1967 edition including an English translation of "Composer's Notes," no differences in notes or markings are observed between the two scores.