The Japanese composer Shiro Fukai allied himself firmly with French musical traditions, absorbing, in particular, the musical language of Ravel. The latter’s Bolero is echoed in the crescendo of Chantes de Java, with its repeated theme, while Ravel, Falla, Stravinsky and Roussel provide the inspiration for the Quatre mouvements parodiques. The ballet Création, an amalgam of ancient Japanese imperial dance music, vaulting rhythms and opulent orchestral sonorities, was commissioned, together with other works by Japanese and foreign composers, to celebrate the 2600th year of Japanese imperial rule.