Ohzawa: Piano Concerto No. 3, 'kamikaze' / Symphony No. 3

Description

Hisato Ohzawa (1907-1953)Piano Concerto No. 3 'Kamikaze' Symphony No. 3 'Symphony of the Founding of Japan'Hisato Ohzawa was long forgotten as a composer.Although he was certainly one of the foremostcomposers in Japan, his works were completelyneglected after his sudden death in 1953, mainlybecause he was basically a self-reliant man,independent of the Japanese music world. This neglectis a great injustice which, half a century later, is to someextent reversed by the present recording of workscarefully preserved by his family.Ohzawa was born on 1st August 1907 in Kobe, oneof the biggest port cities in the western part of Japan.His father was an engineer and entrepreneur, who hadstudied steel manufacturing in England and became afounding member of Kobe Seiko (Kobe Steel Ltd.), oneof the leading companies in the Japanese steel industry.His Christian mother played a primary r??le inintroducing young Ohzawa to organ and choral music.He studied the piano with a White Russian and aSpaniard living in Kobe and after entering thedepartment of commercial science of Kansei Gakuen,became an active member of the choral and orchestralclubs and as a choral conductor, as well as continuinghis piano studies and teaching himself music theory.Already in adolescence he was well known in Kobe as astudent almost of professional standard. On hisgraduation in 1930 he went to the United States to studycomposition, harmony, counterpoint, orchestration,piano and conducting under Frederick Converse, RogerSessions, and others, at Boston University and the NewEngland Conservatory of Music. He also took lessonswith Schoenberg, who had just settled in Boston, takingrefuge from the Nazis.Ohzawa's American teachers thought highly of histalent and he received considerable assistance fromscholarships, enabling him to give recitals of his ownchamber works and songs in Boston. He alsomaintained a friendly relationship with the BostonSymphony and became the first Japanese musician toconduct the orchestra, performing his Little Symphony.In 1933 he graduated with his Piano Concerto No.1. Hisother works during his time in America include thelarge-scale Symphony No.1, which requires nearly anhour for performance, and a Double Bass Concertodedicated to Sergei Koussevitzky.After completing his studies in America in 1934,Ohzawa moved to Paris and studied with NadiaBoulanger at the Ecole Normale de Musique. He alsotook several lessons with Paul Dukas in his final yearsand made friends with Roussel, Florent Schmitt, Ibertand Tansman. In the following year, he gave the firstperformances of his Symphony No. 2 and PianoConcerto No. 2, both written in Paris, conducting thePasdeloup Orchestra with the soloist Henri Gil-Marchex. Praised and encouraged by Ibert, Honegger,Ferroud and Grechaninov, he returned to Japan in highspirits in February 1936, for the first time in six years.The years in Boston and Paris marked Ohzawa'sformative period. In fact his music had already shownearly maturity, influen