Moroi, Saburo

Moroi, Saburo, Japanese composer, teacher, and writer on music, father of Makoto Moroi; b. Tokyo, Aug. 7, 1903; d. there, March 24, 1977. He studied literature at the Univ. of Tokyo (1926–28), and later took lessons in composition with Max Trapp, orchestration with Gmeindl, and piano with Robert Schmidt at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin (1932–34). Upon returning to Japan, he was active as a music teacher; was inspector of music and adult education for the Ministry of Culture (1946–64) and director of Tokyo’s Gakuen Academy of Music (1967–77); among his students, in addition to his son, were Dan and Irino. Among his numerous publications are Junsui tai i ho(Strict Counterpoint; Tokyo, 1949) and Gakushiki no kenkyü(Historical Research on Musical Forms; 5 vols., Tokyo, 1957–67).

Works

orch.: 2 piano concertos (1933,1977); 5 syms.: No. 1 (Berlin, Oct. 2, 1934), No. 2 (Tokyo, Oct. 12, 1938), No. 3 for Organ and Orch. (Tokyo, May 26, 1950), No. 4 (Tokyo, March 26,1951), and No. 5 (Tokyo, 1971); Cello Concerto (1936); Bassoon Concerto (1937); Violin Concerto (1939); 2 Symphonic Movements (1942); Sinfonietta (1943); Allegro for Piano and Orch. (1947). chamber: Violin Sonata (1930); String Quartet (1933); Piano Quartet (1935); Viola Sonata (1935); Flute Sonata (1937); String Sextet (1939); String Trio (1940). piano: 2 sonatas (1933, 1940); Preludio ed Allegro giocoso(1971). vocal: 2 Songs for Soprano and Orch. (1935); A Visit of the Sun, fantasy-oratorio (Tokyo, June 30, 1969).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire