Yoshihisa Taira
Yoshihisa Taira (or Taïra) was a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music primarily active in France. Grove Music Online remarks that "His treatment of time and space, sonority, poetic lyricism, silence [..] were derived from traditional Japanese music and art, and are compatible with a French modernist aesthetic".
Yoshihisa Taira

Michaud, Fernand (1929-2012). Photographe · Bibliothèque nationale de France · Public domain
- Name
- Yoshihisa Taira
- Born
- 3 March 1937
- Birthplace
- Tokyo, Japan
- Died
- 13 March 2005
- Place of death
- Paris, France
- Occupation
- Composer
- Nationality
- France
- Fields
- music
- Movements
- classical music
- Languages
- French · Japanese
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Yoshihisa Taira (or Taïra) was a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music primarily active in France. Grove Music Online remarks that "His treatment of time and space, sonority, poetic lyricism, silence [..] were derived from traditional Japanese music and art, and are compatible with a French modernist aesthetic".
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Yoshihisa Taira (1937–2005) was a composer and university teacher, of French nationality. The composer was born in Tokyo and died in 18th arrondissement of Paris.
Yoshihisa Taira worked for École Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot. Activity centred on music. Yoshihisa Taira was associated with classical music. Languages used include French and Japanese.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Yoshihisa Taira. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1370304 · wikipedia · Yoshihisa Taira
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Yoshihisa Taira • Born — 3 March 1937 • Birthplace — Tokyo, Japan • Died — 13 March 2005 • Place of death — Paris, France • Occupation — Composer
Biography
Biography
Yoshihisa Taïra was born in Tokyo on 3 March 1937. Initially, he attended the Tokyo University of the Arts, studying composition under Tomojirō Ikenouchi, and graduating in 1965. He then arrived in France to study at the Conservatoire de Paris; his teachers there included André Jolivet, Henri Dutilleux, Olivier Messiaen, Taïra also studied with Iannis Xenakis. He was a composition lecturer at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. Among his best-known students at École Normale were Chien-Hui Hung, Mansoor Hosseini and Malika Kishino. Taïra died in Paris, on 13 March 2005.
Works
Works
Source: Taira's works are partially published by Éditions Musicales Transatlantiques.
Orchestra
Orchestra
• Hiérophonie III • Stratus for flute, harp and strings ensemble • Chromophonie • Sonomorphie III • Méditations • Trans-apparence • Erosion I for flute and orchestra • Moksa, vimoksa • Tourbillon for 6 percussionists and orchestra • Polyèdre
Chamber music
Chamber music
• Hiérophonie I for 4 cellos • Hiérophonie II for 15 instruments • Fusion for 2 flutists and 3 percussionists • Stratus for harp and flute • Dioptase for three strings • Radiance for solo piano and 13 instruments • Eveil for oboe and harp • Interférences I for and cellos • Clea for 12 strings • Dimorphie for 2 percussions • Fu-mon for 4 flutes • Ressac for 13 instruments • Pénombres I for 2 guitars and 12 strings • Pénombres II for double bass and piano • Synchronie for 2 flutes or flute and shakuhachi • Pénombres III for harp and small ensemble • Pénombres V for viola and piano (1996) • Pénombres VI for alto saxophone and piano • Flautissimo for 32 flutes • Aïalos for G flute and harp • Synergie for 2 double basses
Instrumental
Instrumental
• Sonate for violin • Sonate for viola • Sonomorphie I for piano • Sublimation for harp • Hiérophonie IV for 4 flutes (one performer) • Maya for bass flute in C or alto flute in G • Convergence I for marimba • Convergence II for double bass • Convergence III for violin • Cadenza I for flute • Monodrame I for percussion • Monodrame II for bassoon • Monodrame III for guitar • Monodrame IV for vibraphone
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1937
Yoshihisa Taira was born on 1 January 1937.
2005
Yoshihisa Taira died on 13 March 2005.
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
18th arrondissement of Paris.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Yoshihisa Taira”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1370304: Yoshihisa Taira
General reference · Wikidata
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.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
- Herd, Judith. Taïra, Yoshihisa. 2001.
- Potter, Caroline. French Music Since Berlioz. Ashgate Publishing. 331–354. 2017.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Died at
1- ParisPlace
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Career and activity. Taira worked in music. His work is associated with classical music. He was employed by École Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot.
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 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,438 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Yoshi WadaPerson
- Yoshiaki HoshiPerson
- Yoshihiro IkePerson
- Yoshihisa HiranoPerson
- Yoshikazu SuoPerson
- Yoshiki FukuyamaPerson
- Yoshimi IwasakiPerson
- Yoshino AokiPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Yoshihisa Taira?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.