At 86, Saburo Takata may be the oldest working composer of classical music in the world. Not that he feels like it.

"I have never felt like I am getting older," he said. "Every day holds some new discovery. I enjoy myself constantly."

He devotes several hours a day to composing new works or improving old pieces. In May, Takata released an elaborate compilation, "Liturgical Hymns for Mixed Voices," which includes "Ave Maria," "St. Francis' Prayer for Peace" and more than 100 psalms.

The compilation includes songs recorded over a period of more than 30 years.

Takata was born in Nagoya, and his home was always full of music. While his parents practiced traditional Japanese music as a hobby, the young Takata took delight in singing popular songs in chorus with his brother and sister.

He said his destiny was made clear at age 15 when he heard "a mysterious voice that said, 'Why not compose music?' "

He twice failed the entrance examination for Tokyo Music School, the predecessor of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

But he never gave up hope, eventually graduating from Tokyo Music School in an advanced composition course at age 28. "I never got bored with my 10 years studying music. I was so excited in discovering the secrets of ageless works by Beethoven, Bach and Debussy."

Almost 60 years have passed since his debut composition, an orchestral piece titled "A Ballad Based on Folk Songs in Yamagata Prefecture" -- his 1941 thesis for the advanced composition course.

In 1993, the Education Ministry designated the work as teaching material for junior high schools. Around the same time, a newly recorded compact disc of the orchestral piece was released.

Yasushi Akutagawa, a well-known composer who died in 1989 at age 64, once told Takata, "I can clearly detect the orchestral music innovation in this work when I listen to Japanese composers' orchestral works in chronological order."

"All my works have a long life span," Takata says. "I am not a born musician like Mozart. I never followed the fashion of the day. I compose music carefully, examining every note one at a time. I often spend more than a week writing one phrase."

He spent eight years writing the cantata "Voiceless Lamentation" (1964), based on a series of five poems written by Kenji Miyazawa while mourning his sister's death. Several years ago, an English score of the cantata was published.

His musical achievements cover a variety of genres -- chamber music, organ works, solos, choral music, cantatas and operas.

In Europe, Takata, who converted to Catholicism shortly after World War II, has been credited for his role in reviving liturgical music.

An Italian music scholar was quoted as saying, "(the music of) Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina revived church music, following the 16th century Trent Council. It was Takata who revitalized liturgical music following the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council." The two councils of bishops of the whole church are regarded as having revitalized the Catholic Church.

Many European music experts regard Takata's works highly, saying his newer pieces transcend the limits of Western culture by integrating Asian spirituality.

Takata was awarded an order by Pope John Paul II in recognition of his contribution to liturgical reformation.

One of his career highlights was the 1972 performance of "An Epic on the Stage: Aoi Okami" (Blue Wolf), portraying the life of Ghenghis Khan. Based on a novel by Yasushi Inoue, it is the only known grand opera by a Japanese composer.

From 1963 to 1968 and 1979 to 1984, he served as chairman of the Japanese Society for Contemporary Music, which has played a key role in the advancement of classical music in postwar Japan.

In late May, eight leading amateur choirs from throughout the country performed a 41/2 hour concert of Takata's major works at a packed Tokyo Metropolitan Festival Hall to celebrate his longevity.

"In a sense, I think I am happier than Schubert or Beethoven, whose works were not appreciated by many people during their lives," Takata said.

In concluding the gala concert, a 600-member ensemble of the eight choirs presented his most popular choral suite, "The Soul of Water."

This is a collaborative work incorporating five poems by Kikuo Takano, 73, a retired high school teacher. The poems question the way we lead our lives by comparing life to the water cycle -- from raindrops to a puddle, from puddles to a river, and from a river to the sea.

The piece's score became a record best seller in Japan. It sold 400,000 copies, the equivalent of selling 4 million printed books, according to music industry sources.

"The Soul of Water" has also been performed in Italy and the United States with the poems translated into English and Italian.

Takano's poetry in the piece impressed its Italian audience so greatly that two books of the writer's poems were published in Italian by a major Italian publishing house.

"The Italian people apparently welcomed Takano's metaphysical poems, which contain Japanese spirituality," Takata said. An Italian version of "The Soul of Water" is currently planned to be released.

"The point is, you see, the Italian version is really singable. Both Japanese and Italian are pitch-accent languages," Takata said. "The two languages also have many vowels. Because of these similarities, we are able to produce the singable Italian score with the cooperation of Japanese people who are well-versed in Italian.

"On the other hand, it is difficult to sing the Japanese songs in a stress-accent language such as English or German."

If an Italian version of "The Soul of Water" is published, Takata will open another new page in the history of Japanese music.

Takata meanwhile continues to work on new pieces. In world music history, Giuseppe Verdi composed the opera "Falstaff" at age 80. Takata is apparently superseding a record in the world of music.