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One of Toho's most famous composers, Akira Ifukube
is well known for his numerous contributions
to the Godzilla series; however, his portfolio
of work spans far beyond, with his earliest
score dating as far back as 1947.
Following
the closure of the Godzilla series in 1975
with Terror
of Mechagodzilla and after completing
his score of Love
and Faith (1978), Ifukube placed himself
into "retirement" and avoided composing
soundtracks. One of the more popular requests
at the time was for Ifukube to perform live
concerts featuring music from his numerous
movie themes. Ifukube turned down these requests,
insisting that the music wouldn't work as
a stand alone experience. In 1983, Ifukube
finally caved in and created his Symphonic
Fantasia, later released as Godzilla
Fantasia, and used it during tours. In
1986, Ifukube created Ostinato, a collection
of newly updated film themes on commission
from Toho, and the music was featured in numerous
"outtake" scenes that Toho begin
to distribute with their films.
With the Godzilla
series started once again, Ifukube was being
pressured to return to score the new films,
yet he continued to turn down the offer. It
wasn't until composer Koichi Sugiyama made
a "pop culture" update of Ifukube's
Godzilla theme in Godzilla
vs. Biollante (1989) did Ifukube decide
to return to the scene. This occurred after
his daughter heard Sugiyama's score and told
her father even if he didn't agree to participate
they would use his themes anyway: "so
why don't you just do the next one yourself?"
So Ifukube returned to the Godzilla series,
after a 16 year absence, to score Toho's 60th
Anniversary film: Godzilla
vs. King Ghidorah (1991). Ifukube
would score four other films in the Godzilla
Heisei series before its closure with Godzilla
vs. Destoroyah (1995), which also
marked the end of his career as a composer.
However, Ifukube's music still persists in
films to this day, much like Ifukube's own
daughter predicted, appearing in everything
from the 2000 American film Boiler Room to Always:
Sunset on Third Street 2 (2007). |
