Naozumi Yamamoto was active as a composer and a conductor in the latter part of the 20th century. His grandfather was a famous businessman, his grandmother was a sister of the famous Japanese writer, Takeo Arishima, his mother was a pianist, and his father, Naotada, was a composer and conductor. Naozumi’s wife and his elder son are moreover composers as well, and his second son is both a composer and a cellist. In other words, Yamamoto’s family is a highly musical family.
Yamamoto who was born in Tokyo on December 16 in 1932, and he learned the basics of music from his parents. He received music education in Jiyū Gakuen and studied the violin under Saburō Sumi. His teacher of conducting was Hideo Saitō and a fellow pupil and friend was Hiroyuki Iwaki. One of the younger pupils was Seiji Ozawa.
Before studying at the university, Yamamoto began to assist with compositional work under Urato Watanabe. Yamamoto entered the Department of Composition at Tokyo University of the Arts in 1952, but he transferred to the Department of Conducting during his third year and studied with Akio Watanabe.
In 1967, Yamamoto appeared on the NHK television program “Ongaku no hana hiraku (Opening the Flowers of Music)”. Yamamoto became renowned for his conducting while wearing a red tuxedo, and he subsequently appeared in a commercial which was famous for the catchphrase ‘Ōkii-koto ha yoikoto-da (A big thing is a good thing)’. in 1972, Yamamoto established a new Japanese philharmonic orchestra with Seiji Ozawa. From the same year, Yamamoto was in charge of the planning and musical direction of the TBS television program “Orchestra ga yattekita (The orchestra has come)”, and he contributed to the expansion of the range of classical music. He planned ‘Ichi-man nin no daiku concerto (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 Concert by 10.000 people)’ for the opening of the Osaka-jō Hall (Osaka Castle Hall) and continued conducting as well as his work as musical director until 1998. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Prize of the 44th Japanese Record Award.
His compositions include the entrance processional march for the Sapporo Olympic and a piece commissioned by the United Nations as well as “Ichinen-sei ni nattara (When I become the first year of elementary school)”, “Utae banban (Sing and Sing)”, and “Kobutanukitsuneko (Piglet, Racoon Dog, Fox and Cat)”. Yamamoto furthermore composed many pieces for television, such as for the historical TV drama series “Kaze to Kumo to Niji to (Wind, Clouds, and Rainbow)” and “Takeda Shingen”, and the variety program “Hachi-ji dayo Zenin Shūgō (It’s eight o’clock, gather all members)”. In film music, Yamamoto composed the title song to the film “Otoko ha tsurai yo (Life is hard on a Man)” directed by Yōji Yamada which became very popular. After his death on June 18 in 2002, the works of Yamamoto continue to be loved.
