Hidemaro Konoye

Hidemaro Konoye was a Japanese conductor and composer, born in Tokyo on November 18, 1898. He was the younger brother of Fumimaro Konoye and a member of the Japan Art Academy. In 1922, he graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he studied violin, composition, and music theory under Kosaku Yamada. Between 1922 and 1924, he furthered his studies in Paris under Vincent d'Indy and in Berlin under Franz Schreker and Georg Schumann. He also served as an assistant to Erich Kleiber and Karl Muck.

Upon returning to Japan in 1925, Konoye co-founded the Japan Symphonic Association and established the New Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo (later the NHK Symphony Orchestra), which he directed until 1935. During the 1930s, he toured extensively across Europe, particularly in Germany, and the United States, though the outbreak of World War II interrupted his international activities. He resumed touring Europe in 1957 and 1960, including a visit to the USSR in 1960. In 1945, he founded the Institute for Musical Research in Tokyo.

Konoye was active as an arranger and orchestrator, known for his versions of Etenraku and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. For the film adaptation of Madame Butterfly, based on Puccini's opera, he incorporated Japanese folk melodies into the score. As a composer, he primarily focused on orchestral pieces that utilized elements of national folklore.

Connections

This figure has 1 connection in the art history graph.