Tōru Takemitsu (1930–1996) was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Though largely self-taught, Takemitsu is recognised for his skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre, drawing from a wide range of influences, including jazz, popular music, avant-garde procedures and traditional Japanese music, in a harmonic idiom largely derived from the music of Claude Debussy and Olivier Messiaen. In 1958, he received international attention for his Requiem for strings which resulted in several commissions from across the world, and settled his reputation as the leading Japanese composer of the 20th century. He was the recipient of numerous awards, commissions and honours; he composed over 100 film scores and about 130 concert works for ensembles of various sizes and combinations. He also found time to write a detective novel and appeared frequently on Japanese television as a celebrity chef. In the foreword to a selection of Takemitsu's writings in English, conductor Seiji Ozawa writes: "I am very proud of my friend Tōru Takemitsu. He is the first Japanese composer to write for a world audience and achieve international recognition."

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1431:

Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen, France, after being convicted of heresy in a politically motivated trial. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc

1815:

The East Indiaman ship Arniston was wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, present-day South Africa, with the loss of 372 lives. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arniston_%28East_Indiaman%29

1854:

The Kansas–Nebraska Act became law, establishing the U.S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas, repealing the 1920 Missouri Compromise, and allowed settlers in those territories to determine if they would allow slavery within their boundaries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas%E2%80%93Nebraska_Act

1963:

Buddhist crisis: A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination was held outside South Vietnam's National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year rule of Ngo Dinh Diem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_crisis

1967:

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu announced the establishment of Biafra, a secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria, an event that sparked the Nigerian Civil War one week later. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biafra

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

henpeck (v): (chiefly by a wife) To nag persistently http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/henpeck

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called "the People's Stick." --Mikhail Bakunin http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mikhail_Bakunin