Sadao Bekku
Sadao Bekku was a Japanese classical composer. His works include five symphonies, film scores, a flute sonata, a piano concerto, choral work and art songs, and the opera, Prince Arima. His work took strong influence from jazz.
Also recorded as Bekku Sadao
Sadao Bekku

富樫康 · 『日本の作曲家』1956年4月25日 · Public domain
- Name
- Sadao Bekku
- Born
- 24 March 1922
- Birthplace
- Tokyo, Japan
- Died
- 12 January 2012
- Occupation
- composer
- Nationality
- Japan · Empire of Japan
- Fields
- music · film score
- Education
- University of Tokyo
- Honours
- Otaka prize
- Languages
- Japanese
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Documentary summary
Sadao Bekku was a Japanese classical composer. His works include five symphonies, film scores, a flute sonata, a piano concerto, choral work and art songs, and the opera, Prince Arima. His work took strong influence from jazz.
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Note VALÉORINE
Sadao Bekku (1922–2012) was a Japanese and Japanese composer. Born in Tokyo, the composer died in Mitaka.
Sadao Bekku studied at University of Tokyo. The composer worked for Chuo University. Sadao Bekku was active in film score and music.
Genres include opera and symphony. Languages used include Japanese. The composer received Otaka prize.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q3299898 · wikipedia · Sadao Bekku
In this article
Biography
Biography
His best-known works include the film score Matango (1963).
Sadao Bekku studied at University of Tokyo. The recorded working language is Japanese. The field of work recorded is music and film score. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera and symphony. Employment is recorded with Chuo University. Distinctions recorded are Otaka prize.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Sadao Bekku • Born — 24 March 1922 • Birthplace — Tokyo, Japan • Died — 12 January 2012 • Other Names — 別宮 貞雄 • Occupation — composer • Relatives — grand father:Yamagiwa Katsusaburō (pathologist)
Operas
Operas
• A Story of Three Women (Le dit des trois femmes) (1964) • 有間皇子 (Prince Arima (Arima-no Miko)) (1963–67) • Aoi-no-ue
Orchestral works
Orchestral works
• Deux mouvements pour orchestre (1946) • Suite classique (1947) • Introduction et Allegro (1954) • Deux prières (1956) • Symphonietta for String Orchestra (1959) • Symphony No. 1 (1961) • Concerto pour violon et orchestre (1969) • Concerto pour alto et orchestre (1971) • Symphony No. 2 (1977) • Concerto pour piano et orchestre (1980) • Festival Overture (1981) • Symphony No. 3 "Spring" (1984) • Memories of Pictures: Suite for Wind Band (1987/2005) • March "Be Pure, Be Fresh" for wind orchestra (1988) • Symphony No. 4 "The Summer 1945" (1989) • Concerto pour violoncelle et orchestre "Autumn" (1997) • Symphony No. 5 "Man" (1999)
Chamber works
Chamber works
• Trio d'anches for bassoon, oboe and clarinet (1953) • Sonate pour flûte et piano (1954) • Suite japonaise Nr. 1 for wind quintet (1955) • Quatuor à cordes Nr. 1 (1955–57) • 1er sonate pour violon et piano (1963–67) • Sonate pour violoncelle et piano (1974) • Aubade for flute, violin and piano (1976) • Suite "Chants de ville" for alto saxophone and piano (1981) • Petit pastoral for flute and piano (1983) • 《Hide and Seek》 and 《Tag》: Two Players for Two Marimbas (1988) • Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano (1995) • Kaleidoscope No. 2 for marimba (2002) • Autumn for violoncello and piano (2004)
Piano works
Piano works
• Sonatine (1965) • Suite "Kaleidescope" (1966) • Three Paraphrases Based on Folksongs of Southern Japan (1968) • Sonatine in Classical Style (1969) • Festa in the north: Japanese Suite No. 2 for piano by 4 hands (1989)
Vocal works
Vocal works
• Light-coloured Pictures for voice and piano (1948) • 2 Rondels for voice and piano (1951) • Three Songs Based Man-yō-shū poems (1958) • Giant's Garden for narrator, mixed choir, orchestra and electronic sound (1962) • The Four Seasons of the Mountain for mixed choir (1967)
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Tokyo.
Birth place
Mitaka.
Death place
Film music
Bekku composed about 40 film scores from 1954 to 1978. • Ghost of Hanging in Utusunomiya aka The Ceiling at Utsunomiya (怪異宇都宮釣天井 Kaii Utsunomiya tsuritenjō) (1956) • 姫君剣法 謎の紫頭巾 (1957) • 日本南極地域観測隊の記録 南極大陸 (1957) • 南極大陸 (1957) • 天下の鬼夜叉姫 (1957) • (遙かなる男 Shizukanaru otoko) (1957) literally: The Quiet Man • (太平洋戦記 Taiheiyō senki) (1958) • 密告者は誰か (1958) • 黒部侠谷 第二部 地底の凱歌 (1959) • Matango (マタンゴ) (1963) aka Attack of the Mushroom People • 恐怖の時間 (1964) • White Rose of Hong Kong (香港の白い薔薇 Honkon no shiroibara)(1965) • Key of Keys (国際秘密警察 鍵の鍵 Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi) (1965) literally: International Secret Police: Key of Keys • (国際秘密警察 絶体絶命 Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Zettai zetsumi) (1967) • (ニイタカヤマノボレ −日本帝国の崩壊− Niitakayama nobore) (1968) • (喜劇 駅前開運 Kigeki ekimae kaiun) (1968)
Reception and standing
The scholarly and documentary record stands as follows. Recorded as having received Otaka prize.
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Bekku, Sadao (opera), Oxford Music Online, 2002
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2002
- Bekku, Sadao, Oxford Music Online, 2001
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2001
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3299898: Sadao Bekku
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Sadao Bekku”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.作曲家・別宮貞雄さん死去…現代音楽振興に尽力 : 文化 : 社会 : Yomiuri Online(読売新聞).
- 2.Kanazawa, Masakata. Bekku, Sadao (Opera). 2002. 978-1-56159-263-0.
- 3.Ongaku Geijutsu Bessatsu Nihon no sakkyoku 20-seiki. Tokyo: Ongaku-no-tomo-sha, 1999.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Bekku, Sadao (opera), Oxford Music Online, 2002Crossref registry
Institutional witnessscholarly publication
Bekku, Sadao, Oxford Music Online, 2001Crossref registry
Institutional witnessInstitutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q3299898: Sadao BekkuWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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