Yoshinao Nakada

Nakada, Yoshinao (b Tokyo, 1 Aug 1923 - 2000). Japanese composer. Son of an organist, he began to play the piano and to compose in his boyhood.

He studied the piano with Nobori Kaneko and later with Noboru Toyomasu at the Tokyo Music School (1940–43). After a short period in the army at the end of World War II he became active as a composer, joining the group Shinsei Kai in 1946. In 1948 he made his début as a pianist, playing his own pieces, and in 1949 his Piano Sonata won second prize at the National Music Competition. A period of concentration on piano music and songs was followed by an extensive output of choral works, children’s songs and incidental scores for radio and television. His music follows the tradition of the Romantic lied and mélodie, making no use of later developments. The lyricism of his songs and his successful handling in them of Japanese texts have brought them great popularity within Japan. A director of the JASRAC (the Japanese performing rights society), he was also a professor at Ferris Women’s College, Yokohama (1964–93), and has published Jitsuyō wasei gaku (‘Keyboard harmony’, Tokyo, 1957).