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The predominant influence on this Naxos disc is Japanese folk music. Kabuki percussion features strongly in the 1960 Rhapsody for Orchestra by Hindemith pupil Yuzo Toyama (born 1931), who incorporates the traditional songs of fishermen, miners and pack-horse drivers, plus folk music from banquets and festivals [listen -- track 1, 2:46-3:46].

Also strong are Western influences -- Prokofiev, Shostakovich and possibly Kabalevsky, who show through clearly in the allegro second movement of Music for Symphony Orchestra [listen -- track 6, 3:45-4:58] by Yasushi Akutagawa (1925-89).

Ryusuke Numajiri and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra provide first class performances. For those wanting to know more, a detailed essay by Morihide Katayarna on the music of this interesting CD is included in the notes, and the English version is available in full on the Naxos website. There's also some information about each of these composers available online in English.

For help listening to the sound extracts here, please refer to our questions & answers page.