SUBLIMINAL FESTA (SECRET RITES) for Wind Orchestra by AKIRA MIYOSHI (Japan, 1933 – 2013)
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
[#368] Aug 10, 2026
Japan | 1988 | Wind Orchestra | Grade 5 | 4'23" | Tone poem
This piece is available for purchase at Maecenas
Subliminal Festa (Secret Rites) by Japanese composer Akira Miyoshi is our Composition of the Week.
Subliminal Festa was commissioned as one of four test piece options for the 36th (1988) All Japan Band Competition. The word "festa" comes from a line in Arthur Rimbaud's poem “Une saison en enfer: ma vie était un festin" (my life was a festival). The basis of entire piece is summed up in the bassoon solo at the beginning, from that two modes and four series of degrees are derived, and form the thematic group.
“Subliminal Festa was written in 1988 for All Japan Band Competition, a work indicating the technical expertise of the Japanese band movement and its potential. In less than five minutes, Miyoshi introduces a post-Stravinsky sound world, full of the swirling energy of the opening pages of Le Sacre -- maybe it is the opening bassoon theme that suggests that to me. This is a real piece, useful as a virtuoso opening number, perhaps too short for its myriads of ideas to be developed.” Program Note by Tim Reynish
According to the editor Maecenas, Subliminal Festa is a celebration of wind color and textures packs an astonishing wealth of invention and masterly scoring into its four glittering minutes. Every section has its moment of glory. Band writing at its brilliant best and a real musical imagination evident in every bar. A little stunner.
The music has duration of almost 5 minutes, it is scored for standard wind band setting, including double bass and three percussion parts.
Miyoshi was a child prodigy on the piano, studying with Kozaburo Hirai and Tomojiro Ikenouchi. He studied French literature at the University of Tokyo, and then studied composition with Henri Challan and Raymond Gallois-Montbrun at the Paris Conservatory from 1955 to 1957. He was very influenced by Henri Dutilleux.He returned to Japan in 1957 and graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1960. In 1965, he became a professor at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. In 1996, Miyoshi was awarded the “Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” from the French Government. In 1999, he received the 31st Suntory Music Award. He received the Otaka prize six times for his compositions.
Other works for winds include:
• Sapporo Olympic Fanfare (1972)
• Stars Atlantic '96 (1990)
• Cross-By March (1991)
• Millennium Fanfare (2000)
• West Wind (timpani concerto) (2002)
