''Sinfonietta for Children'' (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: こどものための小交響曲 ''Kodomo no tame no shō-kōkyōkyoku'') in B, Op. 24 (1943) is an orchestral composition by

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese composer

Saburō Moroi was a Japanese composer. Life Moroi was self-taught in composition while studying at the Tokyo Imperial University before moving in 1932 to Germany to study in the Berlin Musikhochschule under Leo Schrattenholz and Walter Gmeindl. While Moro ...

. Written throughout October 1943 in the midst of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the work was premiered by the Tokyo Broadcast Orchestra with Moroi conducting on 5 November 1943, just five days after the completion.

Instrumentation and Movements

Scored for double winds, brass, timpani and strings, the Sinfonietta is a neoclassical triptych consisting of a

sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...

opening, a

minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually written in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form tha ...

and a mournful finale, marked: # '' Allegro grazioso'' # ''Andantino quasi allegretto'' # ''Lento affabile''

Recordings

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO; previously known as Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra) is the largest professional orchestra in Ireland. Housed at the National Concert Hall, D ...

—

Takuo Yuasa is a Japanese conductor. Early life Takuo Yuasa was born in Osaka, Japan, where he studied piano, cello, flute, and clarinet. At age 18, he received a scholarship to study in the US at the University of Cincinnati, eventually completing a bache ...

, 2002.

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...

Reception

Gwin Parry-Jones from Musicweb International gave a positive review of the work following Naxos' release, highlighting the elegiac finale (''haunting, moving music'') as its most appealing movement while praising the charm, inventiveness and orchestration of the Allegro grazioso. Hubert Culot from the same website wrote a more lukewarm review while highlighting the work's melodic charm. Victor Carr Jr. from Classics Today, praising Moroi's music as ''stimulating and often very beautiful'', relates the composition to 19th-century French music with its ''tuneful melodies, light textures, breezy flow, and lush orchestral palette''.

References

;Notes ;Sources * * * * Compositions by Saburō Moroi 1943 compositions Moroi {{symphony-stub