NTS aired an episode dedicated to the music of Yoshihisa Taïra on 6 January 2026. Yoshihisa Taïra has been played on NTS shows including True As Few w/ Mark, with Monodrame I first played on 6 January 2026.

Yoshihisa Taira (平 義久, Taira Yoshihisa?, 3 June 1937 in Tokyo – 13 March 2005 in Paris) was a Japanese-born French composer.

Biography

"Taira studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts. He arrived in France in 1966 and studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. Among his teachers were André Jolivet, Henri Dutilleux and Olivier Messiaen.

In 1971 he won the Prix Lili Boulanger, in 1974 the Grand Prix de Composition de la SACEM, in 1985 the Prix Florent Schmidt from the Académie des Beaux Arts. His works have been performed by the main institutions and festivals of contemporary music: Royan, Metz, Orleans, Strasburg, Avignon, Tokyo, New York, Darmstadt, Berlin, Amsterdam, Tanglewood and many others."[cite this quote]

He was a composition lecturer at the École Normale de Musique in Paris.

Works

Taira's works are partially published by Éditions Musicales Transatlantiques.

Orchestra

* Hiérophonie III * Stratus for flute, harp and strings ensemble * Chromophonie * Sonomorphie III * Méditations * Trans-apparence * Erosion I for flute and orchestra * Moksa, vimoksa * Tourbillon for 6 percussionists and orchestra * Polyèdre

Chamber music

* Hiérophonie I for 4 cellos * Hiérophonie II for 15 instruments * Fusion for 2 flutists and 3 percussionnists * Stratus for harp and flute * Dioptase for three strings * Radiance for solo piano and 13 instruments * Eveil for oboe and harp * Interférences I for and cellos * Clea for 12 strings * Dimorphie for 2 percussions * Fu-mon for 4 flutes * Ressac for 13 instruments * Pénombres I for 2 guitars and 12 strings * Pénombres II for double bass and piano * Synchronie for 2 flutes or flute and shakuhachi * Pénombres III for harp and small ensemble * Pénombres V for viola and piano (1996) * Pénombres VI for alto saxophone and piano * Flautissimo for 32 flutes * Aïalos for G flute and harp * Synergie for 2 double basses

Instrumental

* Sonate for violin * Sonate for viola * Sonomorphie I for piano * Sublimation for harp * Hiérophonie IV for 4 flutes (one performer) * Maya for bass flute in C or alto flute in G * Convergence I for marimba * Convergence II for double bass * Convergence III for violin * Cadenza I for flute * Monodrame I for percussion * Monodrame II for bassoon * Monodrame III for guitar

External links

* Yoshihisa Taira at Éditions Musicales Transatlantiques * (French) A biography of Yoshihisa Taira, from IRCAM's website. * Excerpts from sound archives of Yoshihisa Taira's works.