Moroi, Saburo 1903 - 1977
Author: Sudoh, Eiko
Last updated：April 19, 2018
Author: Sudoh, Eiko
Born in Tokyo in 1903. He became familiar with the piano from an early age and attempted to compose on his own during elementary school. Around junior high school, he was deeply impressed by Beethoven's piano works at the homecoming recital of pianist Sueko Ogura, who had returned from studying in Berlin, and thereafter seriously pursued composition.
In 1927, while enrolled in the Department of Aesthetics and Art History at Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo), he formed the "Surya Orchestra" with literary figures such as Kenzo Nakajima. They held seven concerts to present their works, including piano sonatas and piano concertos. Their activities, which focused on instrumental works emphasizing form, were pioneering in the Japanese composition world of the time, where lieder and opera were mainstream. While at university, he studied piano under Willi Bardas and Leonid Kochanski. His graduation thesis was titled "Principles of Musical Form."
In 1932, at the age of 29, he traveled to Germany with the aim of mastering German academism. At the Berlin University of the Arts (Hochschule für Musik Berlin), he studied composition under Leo Schrattenholz, Max Trapp, and Walter Gmeindl. He diligently pursued his studies for two years and returned to Japan in 1934. Subsequently, he successively published major works supported by a solid European formal aesthetic, such as Symphony No. 2 (1938), Violin Concerto (1939), String Sextet (1939), Piano Sonata No. 2 (1939), Symphonic Two Movements (1942), and Symphony No. 3 (1944).
After the war, he dedicated himself to social activities. He served successively as Inspector of Social Education for the Ministry of Education, Director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and Dean of the Faculty of Music at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music. At the same time, he worked to disseminate logical and constructive composition through his writings and education. His writings include Functional Harmony and Studies in Musical Form (5 volumes), and his disciples included Yoshiro Irino, Akio Yashiro, Ikuma Dan, and Minao Shibata. Although his compositional activities waned, he continued to show a strong desire for creation until the end, using Russian musical material in Symphony No. 4 (1951) and attempting 12-tone technique in his late work Piano Concerto No. 2 (1977). He passed away in 1977 at the age of 73.
Author : Sudoh, Eiko
Last Updated: April 19, 2018
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Author : Sudoh, Eiko
Author : Sugiura, Nanako
Last Updated: July 12, 2021
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Author : Sugiura, Nanako
Works(34)
Concerto (2)
concerto (3)
Piano Solo (8)
sonata (10)
fantasy (3)
variation (4)
Various works (7)