Saburo Moroi, rather
like his exact contemporary Qunihico
Hashimoto (1904-1949), belongs to an
earlier generation of Japanese composers
mostly educated in the West; in Germany
in Moroi’s case. Their slightly younger
colleague Yasushi Akutagawa rather turned
to Russia. As a result of these foreign
influences their music displays very
few Japanese characteristics, or – at
least – traits that might be considered
as such by Western listeners. They,
for example, used very little folk material.
The three pieces heard
here were all written during World War
II, between 1942 and 1944. All three
may be described as either neo-classical
(e.g. the Sinfonietta) or post-romantic.
The Two Symphonic
Movements Op.22 are purely abstract
in a fairly traditional idiom, although
we are told that the second theme in
the Andante grandioso is based
on a pentatonic scale often used in
Kabuki and Geisha music. This must be
the only mildly exotic element in otherwise
traditional music that sometimes brings
Sibelius and other lesser post-romantic
composers to mind. However, this and
the other works display a considerable
formal and orchestral assurance, even
if they do not sound particularly modern.
The Sinfonietta
in B flat "For Children" Op.24
was written over a short period of 25
days. The composer conducted its first
performance five days after completing
it, when the ink was hardly dry. It
is less ambitious in intent than, say,
the Two Symphonic Movements,
which is probably why it is on the whole
more readily successful. In it the composer
adopts a simpler, clearer, more overtly
neo-classical idiom of great melodic
charm.
As might be expected,
the Symphony No.3 Op.25,
often considered as the finest of Moroi’s
five symphonies, is more ambitious.
Although it is not programmatic, the
music undoubtedly reflects the state
of mind of Japanese artists and intellectuals
in the last stages of the war. This
is particularly evident in the third
final movement Aspects of Death
that starkly contrasts with the more
overtly poetic and optimistic mood of
the preceding movements. The symphony
had to wait until 1950 to receive its
first performance, at a time when its
aesthetics were no longer fashionable.
The first movement opens with a solemn
introduction (A Tranquil Overture)
leading into the main part of the movement
Allegro vivace (Birth of Spirit and
its Growth) roughly cast in sonata
form. This is followed by a short Scherzo
(About Humour and Wit) that opens
light-heartedly but nevertheless ends
martial and war-like; at odds with the
apparent high spirits that its title
might suggest. The final movement (Aspects
of Death) is the emotional core.
It is an elegiac threnody in memory
of those who died during the war and
of those who will die during the last
months of the war. This is a "slow,
sad procession" with which the
dead souls bid their farewell. The heavily
treading music moves implacably through
Sibelian hymn-like passages and an eerie
fugato before dying away peacefully.
At the time he completed the Third Symphony,
the composer could not know that the
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were
still to come. The finale probably contains
some of the finest music heard in this
disc. The Third Symphony is a deeply-felt,
honest piece of music.
This is traditional
stuff that should appeal to all those
who respond to solid, warmly post-romantic
and lushly scored music. Full marks
for the players of the National Symphony
Orchestra of Ireland for playing with
admirable commitment and conviction.
Hubert Culot
see also
review by Gwyn Parry Jones
National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland/Takuo Yuasa
