TOKYO

Composer: Isao Koizumi

Isao Koizumi (b. 1907; d. 1992) graduated from the Osaka University of Commerce in 1932. For the next ten years he taught at that school, was an organist in Tokyo, and then went on to work in the import-export business. He has served as the conductor of the Tokyo Choral Society and edited various hymnals, including The Hymnal 1954 for the United Church of Christ in Japan, The Sunday School Hymnal (1954), and Hymns of Praise (1967 edition). A writer and translator of books and articles on church music, Koizumi has also composed and arranged hymn tunes. He is considered a leading figure in modern Japanese hymnody. Bert Polman Go to person page >

Tune Information

Title: TOKYO
Composer: Isao Koizumi (1958)
Meter: 7.5.7.5 D
Incipit: 65356 16565 35611
Key: C Major
Copyright: Music by Isao Koizumi, used by permission of JASRAC, license no. 8211927

Notes

The tune TOKYO is based on the ancient Japanese Gagaku mode of musical composition. Gagaku is the name for all traditional Japanese court music, much of it dating back to the eighth century, with previous roots in Chinese music. Composed by Isao Koizumi (b. 1907; d. Tokyo, Japan, 1992) for Yamaguchi's text, TOKYO was first published in the English-language Japanese hymnal Hymns of the Church (1963).

Koizumi graduated from the Osaka University of Commerce in 1932. For the next ten years he taught at that school, was an organist in Tokyo, and then went on to work in the import-export business. He has served as the conductor of the Tokyo Choral Society and edited various hymnals, including The Hymnal 1954 for the United Church of Christ in Japan, The Sunday School Hymnal (1954), and Hymns of Praise (1967 edition). A writer and translator of books and articles on church music, Koizumi has also composed and arranged hymn tunes. He is considered a leading figure in modern Japanese hymnody.

Like much Asian music, TOKYO consists of only five pitches and is meant for unison singing. I-to-Loh, editor of Hymns from the Four Winds (1983), a collection of Asian American hymns, suggests that "ethnic instruments may be employed to double the melody or to accompany the piece." For this hymn he suggests an oboe, plucked lute, or zither, commenting that "an experienced accompanist may be able to simplify or improvise the accompaniment within the appropriate style after the congregation feels comfortable in singing the hymn." In any case, a keyboard accompaniment should be light, with no filling in of (Western) thirds in this open-fifth style.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988

Timeline

Arrangements

Harmonizations, Introductions, Descants, Intonations

  • Introductions and Alternate Accompaniments for Organ Volume 5: Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Hymns 503 - 573
    Composer/Editors Norma Aamodt-Nelson; Marissa Bauck; David Christiansen
    Published By: Augsburg Fortress (2008) pp. 530
  • Introductions and Alternate Accompaniments for Piano Volume 5: Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Hymns 503 - 573
    Composer/Editors Norma Aamodt-Nelson; Marissa Bauck; Anne Krentz Organ
    Published By: Augsburg Fortress (2008) pp. 530
  • As Though the Whole Creation Cried: Fifty Hymn Harmonizations for Organ
    Composer/Editor Michael A. Burkhardt
    Published By: MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc. (2001) pp. 72

Organ Solo

  • Eight Improvisations on 20th Century Hymn Tunes Set 2
    Composer/Editor Michael A. Burkhardt
    Published By: MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc. (1999) pp. 36

Instances

Instances (1 - 21 of 21)

Baptist Hymnal 1991 #179

Chalice Hymnal #278

Common Praise (1998) #534

Evangelical Lutheran Worship #530

Text InfoAudio

Glory to God #311

Text InfoAudio

Glory to God #813

Hymnal #7

Hymns from the Four Winds #37

Audio

Lift Up Your Hearts #319

Psalms for All Seasons #71B

Text InfoTune InfoScoreAudio

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #251

Sound the Bamboo #242

The New Century Hymnal #72

The Presbyterian Hymnal #465

Audio

The United Methodist Hymnal #552

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #333

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement II #178

Voices United #362

Wonder, Love, and Praise #793

Worship and Rejoice #597

찬송과 예배 = Chansong gwa yebae = Come, Let Us Worship #251

Include 2 pre-1979 instances
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