Konoye, Hidemaro
Konoye, Hidemarō
Konoye, Hidemarō, Japanese conductor and composer; b. Tokyo, Nov. 18, 1898; d. there, June 2, 1973. A member of an aristocratic Japanese family, he received his education in Japan and in Europe. After attending classes in composition of Indy at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, he took courses with Franz Schreker and Georg Schumann at the Berlin Cons. He made his European debut as a conductor with the Berlin Phil, on Jan. 18, 1924. Returning to Japan, he was principal conductor of the New Sym. Orch. in Tokyo (1926–34), specializing in new works of Japanese, European, and American composers. He conducted in the U.S. in 1937 and 1957. He was the composer of several orch. pieces based on Japanese subjects; also orchestrated early Japanese court music for the modern Western orch.; arranged the music of Madama Butterfly for the films (inserting many Japanese folk melodies).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire