Hidemaro Konoye was born in 1898 into a high-ranking aristocratic family, the brother of the prime minister of Japan about the year 1940. He studied composition under Ksak Yamada in Tokyo and later in Europe under Vincent dIndy and Max von Schillings, with conducting under Erich Kleiber. He was not only an important conductor in Japan but also conducted orchestras in abroad, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the orchestra of La Scala, Milan and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. He conducted the first recording of Mahlers Symphony No.4 and was part of a social circle that included Furtwngler and Richard Strauss. He died in 1973. Konoye wrote original compositions, but was more deeply interested in arranging existing music, including, for example, Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition and Schuberts C major Quintet, which he orchestrated.
