Donald Keene Center - Toru Takemitsu Commemoration

Columbia Honors Noted Composer at Convocation The world renowned Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, whose music was an enlivening element in many Kôbô Abé works on film and stage, was honored posthumously by Columbia Thursday. President Rupp the honorary Doctor of Music degree at a ceremony commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture, held in Low Rotunda. (Photograph: Peter Grilli, executive director of the Donald Keene Center; Maki Takemitsu; President Rupp and Ambassador Yoshio Karita, consul general of Japan in New York. Photo Credit: Joe Pineiro.) The degree was accepted by his daughter, Maki Takemitsu. Among those speaking at the dinner, which served as the official opening of the Kôbô Abé Commemorative Symposium at Columbia, were Professor Haruo Shirane, director of the Center; Rupp; Ambassador Yoshio Karita, consul general of Japan in New York; Professor Carol Gluck, president of the Association of Asian Studies; Professor Barbara Ruch, founding director of the Center; Muneharu Kusaba, executive vice president of the Japan Foundation, Tokyo; Peter Grilli, executive director of the Center; Seiji Tsutsumi, chairman of the Saison Corp., and Professor Donald Keene, Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature and University Professor Emeritus. Takemitsu had accepted Columbia's invitation to receive the degree before his death of cancer Feb. 20 in Tokyo. A longtime friend of the Center, he had planned to be on hand to help celebrate its tenth anniversary and to attend the Abé Commemoration at Columbia, held last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. His music was represented in a concert titled "Music of Kôbô Abé and His Friends," presented Saturday evening in the Kathryn Bache Miller Theater by the new music ensemble Continuum. The citation follows: "Small of height, great of heart, giant among twentieth-century composers, Toru Takemitsu enriched the concert halls of the world. Through an era of noise, he championed the quiet beauty and strength of phrases that reflected on the human condition with gentleness and power. "In the words of one appreciative musician, he heard 'the water dreaming.' With masterpieces like November Steps and Fantasma/Cantos, he built a great bridge linking the cultural traditions of East and West, bringing the world closer together, awakening sensitive listeners to a transcendent cultural unity. "As a man, Toru Takemitsu was generous of friendship, keen of wit and intelligence, all-embracing in his warmth. "We miss the extraordinary presence especially on this day, when Columbia would have honored him in person. But the greatness of his music, the radiance of his spirit, live on. With sadness and with affection and profound gratitude for the joy he has brought us, Columbia University is privileged to award Toru Takemitsu the Degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa."   Columbia University Record —April 26, 1996— Vol. 21, No. 25