Ifukube 100

Akira Ifukube was born on May 31, 1914 in Kushiro on the Japanese island of Hokkaido , the third son of a Shinto priest.  Legend has it that Ifukube decided to become a composer at the age of 14 after hearing a radio performance of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring".  Largely self-taught as a composer, Ifukube's big break came in 1935, when his first orchestral piece, "Japanese Rhapsody", won first prize in an international contest for young composers.  His first film score was for "The End of the Silver Mountains",  in 1947. Over the next fifty years, he would compose more than 250 film scores, the most famous of which was his 1954 music for Ishiro Honda's "Godzilla". Ifukube also created Godzilla's trademark roar – produced by rubbing a resin-covered leather glove along the loosened strings of a double bass – and it's footsteps, created by striking an amplifier box. Despite his financial success as a film composer, Ifukube's first love had always been his work as a classical composer. His compositions for the two genres cross-fertilized each other.  Akira Ifukube died on February 8, 2006 at the age of 91.  On this installment of A Different Nature, we'll hear examples of both Ifukube's film music and concert pieces.  host: Andy Hosch