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Hideo Saito was born in downtown Tokyo in
1902, son of Shuzaburo Saito, a noted authority of English-American
literature whose outstanding achievements have had great
influence on Japanese academic circles even up to the present.
Shuzaburo had eight children, among whom Hideo being the
only one who took up music as a career. Hideo, as he later
admitted, did not think he would become a musician when
he first began his musical studies. As a junior high school
student, he expressed interest in the mandolin and enjoyed
playing it in small ensembles. It was at this time that
he had an opportunity to conduct a well-known mandolin orchestra,
allowing his talent as a promising young conductor to reveal
itself even at this early stage in his musical beginnings. |
Hideo started to study cello formally at the age of 20. Prior
to this, however, he
had already begun to play the instrument when he was 16 under
the tutorage of a musician of the Japanese Ancient Court Music
Ensemble affiliated with the Agency Imperial Household. While
yet a student at Gyosei Junior High School, he had already determined
that he would go to Germany to further his music study, and thus
decided to attend Jochi University to master German knowing the
university's high reputation for its foreign language courses.
Even as a child, Hideo would often set goals for himself and work
hard to achieve them. In 1922, he left university to accompany
Hidemaro Konoe's trip to Germany. After spending six months in
Berlin with the famous Japanese composer and conductor, he went
to Leipzig by himself to study under Professor Julius Klengel
at the Royal School of Music.
Hideo Saito received instruction from Professor Klengel twice
a week at school and once a week at home. His way of teaching
was very strict and at the same time very warm and humane. One
day, Hideo was in the professor's studio preparing to study the
Bach Cello Suite No.6. As Klengel saw Hideo practicing with his
own edition of the work, he said to Hideo ”As far as the
finger work is concerned, Casals edition is much better than mine.
I was listening to his performance while observing his fingering
from my seat in the first row of the auditorium. Can you imagine
how deeply moved I was?“ He then wrote Casal's fingering
over his own in Hideo's music. Recalling this incident, Hideo
wrote in the March 1929 edition of the Philharmony that he had
been deeply impressed by the professor's humility.
Having finished his studies at the Royal School of Music in Leipzig,
Hideo returned to Japan in 1927 and was offered position of the
principal cellist in the New Symphony Orchestra, which had been
established the previous year by Hidemaro Konoe and others. He
started a new life as an orchestral musician, but his quest for
music had only begun to deepen. He realized that there still remained
so many unanswered questions regarding the nature of music and
its performance. So, while keeping his post in the orchestra,
he left Japan once again for Berlin, where he was fortunate enough
to study under Emanuel Feuermann, who was regarded as the master
of the cello. Feuermann was not only kind enough to arrange to
study at the Music Hochschule, but also to accept him as his pupil.
Hideo's performance did not equal that of many of the other students
but it did not dampen Feuermann's enthusiasm in teaching this
young student from JAPAN. Feuermann never turned the students
away just because they showed less promise. He always gave his
best to each student, providing them with every possible means
of instruction. Many years later, recalling Feuermann's lessons,
Hideo said, ”I earnestly endeavor to provide even those
students with lesser abilities the best I have to offer, and this
is what I learned from Professor Feuermann.” He remembered
when he was practicing with any available edition, the teacher
told him to use an original edition and to begin studying the
music from ”reading” the score. That piece of advice
was to have a tremendous influence on Saito's later life as a
musician.
 Hideo
Saito returned to Japan after two years of intensive study in
Germany and resumed his work as principal of the cello section
of the New Symphony Orchestra in 1932. This time he assumed more
of a leadership role in the orchestra, focusing more attention
in his talent. In 1935, the New Symphony Orchestra underwent some
drastic reforms as a result of mounting antipathy among the musicians
towards the orchestra's conductor Hidemaro Konoe and the orchestra
manager Zen-ichiro Hara. For a year the orchestra was run by eager
musicians and had difficulties in finding conductors. Gradually
it earned itself a reputation strong enough to attract such prominent
conductors as Pringsheim, Kosaku Yamada, Pollack, Moghilevsky,
Comelli, Koichi Kishi, Herbert, and Rebner. Hideo Saito himself
conducted the orchestra for their 162nd subscription concert in
December, 1935, and again for the 168th subscription concert in
June, 1936. On both occasions he presented a program compiled
from a broad expanse of repertoires.
In September, 1936 Joseph Rosenstock was appointed the permanent
conductor of the New Symphony Orchestra. Emanuel Feuermann, on
his visit to Japan the previous year, commented about Rosenstock
saying, “A great master of music like Rosenstock would be
the last to come to Japan.” In spite of this rather negative
criticism that was apparently directed at the quality of music
found in Japan in the 1930's, Feuermann nevertheless spoke very
highly of the quality of the New Symphony Orchestra. This then
encouraged the orchestra to make every possible effort to invite
Rosenstock. This appointment was to have quite an impact on Saito's
musical life. Saito later confessed that he learned so many things
both directly and indirectly from Rosenstock.
Hideo, recalling the days the orchestra sat under Maestro Rosenstock,
said, “The musicians of the New Symphony Orchestra in those
times were lacking in technique. To make matters worse, they would
attend a rehearsal without having even glanced at the score beforehand.
This lack of concern for music as a profession disappointed Maestro
Rosenstock to the extent that he suffered a nervous breakdown.
I tried to encourage and bolster his spirits by accompanying him
on skiing trips and the like. At the same time I worked hard to
improve the orchestra's overall musicianship so that they would
meet Maestro's expectations. He advised that the musicians discipline
themselves by setting and following strict rules, such as arranging
a prerehearsal so that the string players would not come to rehearse
with Maestro without having worked out the requisite uniform bowing
beforehand”(“Philharmony” June, 1951) That was
a half century ago and Japanese orchestras in those years had
a difficult time realizing the most basic truths of symphonic
performance.
Hideo continued,”While making efforts for improvement, I
realized one day that Maestro Rosenstock was truly an invaluable
inspiration for all of us, and that he had shown us clear answers
to our questions about interpretation of notes, musical expression,
and many other things that had been left unanswered for many years.
With his profound knowledge and understanding of music, he provided
valuable instruction to many Japanese musicians including not
only conductors, but also composers, singers, pianists, and other
instrumentalists. Therefore, it would be no exaggeration to say
that almost all the present Japanese musicians are his pupils…
We of the New Symphony Orchestra followed this great mentor in
unswerving allegience because we were fully assured that he was
guiding us down the path that would take us directly into the
art of music itself. How fortunate we were to have such a great
leader!"
 Saito's
characteristics as a musician were quite different in nature from
those of Rosenstock's. Nevertheless, as a conductor and a teacher,
Saito was tremendously influenced by Rosenstock's stern attitudes,
and that fact is supported by many episodes from his later life.
For example, as a teacher and conductor of the orchestra of Toho
Gakuen School of Music, he demanded the students to be punctual
for a rehearsal. What he intended to accomplish by doing so was
not just to have all the members present when a rehearsal started
but to make them think on what condition an orchestra could start
to rehearse and what each member could do to achieve it. That
was exactly what he learned from Rosenstock in the early years
of the New Symphony Orchestra. Another episode goes something
like this, Saito handed each orchestra member a musical part in
advance of the first rehearsal, demanding that they have practiced
their own part thoroughly before they attended the rehearsal.
In doing so, he tried to make the students understand that the
basic rule of ensemble performance was that each member should
attend a rehearsal fully prepared.
Hideo played an important role as a central figure in assisting
the development of Japanese orchestras from their feeble beginnings
as fledgling ensembles to achieving full stature as orchestras
in their own right. During that period, he was an active solo
and ensemble player and was on his way to establishing a conducting
career. In spite of his busy performing activities, he also managed
to give lessons to his colleagues and students. Some musicians
who are now regarded as the fathers of Japanese musicians, like
the famed cellists Tsunesada Tachibana and the late Yoritoyo Inoue,
were once taught by Saito. He was the first in the world to take
a logical approach in teaching conducting.
Hideo Saito left the New Symphony Orchestra in 1941 to devote
himself entirely to conducting. With his orchestral background,
he was ready to embark full scale on the conducting stage. He
took a conducting position with several professional orchestras,
but was unable to hold any of these posts for an extended period
of time. Perhaps the time was not yet right. Japan was in the
throes of the Second World War, experiencing tragedy and defeat.
But the antipathy he had provoked among many orchestra members
must have been due to something else. He, being a young Japanese
conductor (only 40 years old at the time), appeared to be, as
an orchestra member once described him,”overly strict just
for nothing.” The more enthusiastic he became in his efforts
to improve the orchestra, the less favorable the response he received
from the musicians. There indeed were some ardent admirers, however
few their number may have been. But their support did not have
enough influence to break this vicious cycle. Nevertheless, he
enjoyed a high reputation for his outstanding talent and he continued
to be one of the most sought-after conductors on the orchestral
circle up to the time of his death.
During the war, Hideo Saito performed in an ensemble together
with flutist Tadashi Mori, and conducting student of his as well
as an assistant conductor, and violinist Mari Iwamoto in hopes
of promoting chamber music in Japan. Following the end of the
war, they organized the Tokyo Chamber Music Association in 1946
and started to promote chamber music in earnest. An ensemble was
formed with Saito as the leader and other prominent artists, including
Mari Iwamoto, Akeo Watanabe, Shuntatsu Kono, Tsunesada Tachibana
and Tadashi Mori. They performed regularly as a part of the Mitsukoshi
Chamber Music Concerts. This concert series was a boon to Japanese
musicians and audiences alike who had suffered great mental and
physical duress from the shock and fatigue of war. They realized
how important music was for their continued subsistence for it
gave them hope in a land ravaged by the war. This single gesture
of benevolence made by Saito eloquently portrays him as a treasure
the music circles in Japan could not very well do without.
Chance led me to work for the Mitsukoshi Chamber Music Concert.
That was when Hideo Saito realized the necessity of reforming
the Japanese concept of musical education from its basis in order
to raise the level of music in Japan. Under the then educational
system, once a student reached a certain age he or she could enter
music school for formal training. This would be equivalent to
our present college or university age requirements. Saito was
afraid that time spent at a special school was too short for a
student to be able to acquire any real technical foundation, let
alone any sense or understanding of music. The graduates, with
very few exception would then end up having learned nothing of
lasting value. He felt that they needed to be taught the fundamentals
of music, including how to read a score from the very outset,
otherwise none of them would make successful instrumentalists.
Those fears and ideas were what he had garnered from his long
musical experiences, and I sympathized with him. We often had
heated discussions about early musical education after our preparatory
meetings for the Mitsukoshi Chamber Music Concerts. He suggested
we ask the pianist Motonari Iguchi for his cooperation and I readily
agreed with him. I then recommended the vocalist Takeo Ito.”Reading
music with perfect precision, full understanding and with clarity
of tone are the very basic requirements of a fine musician”.
That was the fundamental idea for Saito's “Music School”.
To my great regret, I had to retreat to my hometown due to an
illness, having to charge Shigeo Kimura with the task of looking
after the Mitsukoshi Chamber Music Concerts, and Kazuyuki Toyama
with the care of the music school plan. Thus I lost any connections
with these two meaningful projects.
In 1948, the Music School for Children was started in simple classrooms
rented from Kasei Gakuin School (Academy of Domestic Science)
in Ichigaya, Tokyo. Hideo Saito, Motonari Iguchi, Takeo Ito and
Hidekazu Yoshida, all of whom were representative figures of Japanese
musical circles, taught the children in an intimate atmosphere.
As a natural consequence, the children gradually came to understand
the meaning of music.
What Hideo Saito was aiming at was to make all his students master
at least the minimum requirements expected of a musician. Saito
strongly believed that there was a limit in what a teacher could
teach his students. But the minimum standards required of a professional
musician could be taught in the classroom. Once a student has
acquired those abilities, the rest was up to him. What he did
with his talent by way of careful study and effort would determine
his future expectancy as a musician. Education should focus on
teaching the minimum standards required for attaining proficiency,
and the teacher must make every effort to see that each student
should maintain his or her achieved level of proficiency.
The Music School for Children produced practical results much
earlier than expected. Journalism created favorable or unfavorable
sensation out of this “early emphasis on producing special
talent from promising children”. There was no doubt it was
education intended for the young, but its purpose was not to exclusively
accommodate talented children or to produce special talents, but
also to teach what it takes to make a real musician. Some people
criticized the school for putting too much emphasis on teaching
technique. However, most of this criticism was intended just to
create criticism aimed at the school.
 The
Music School for Children was faced with a difficult problem at
the time of its first graduates. The teachers had thought their
graduates would do well in the existing educational institutes
so long as they had mastered the fundamentals of musical study
through the lessons they received at the Music School. But they
found that was not the case. They realized the necessity to provide
the graduates with the next step, i.e., a music high school. Kasei
Gakuin had, up to that point, always been cooperative with Saito
and his fellow teachers, but was unable to be as generous in allotting
additional space for their proposed music high school. Being musicians,
they had no financial resources and had to find an existing school
which would agree to add a music course fit for their own philosophy.
Their requests were turned down one after the other until the
last possibility left open was with Toho Girl's High School in
Sengawa, Chofu City, Tokyo. There was one minor problem, how ever.
The school was an establishment for girls. What Saito was planning
was a co-ed school. But the teachers and the P.T.A. of Toho Girls'
Hight School were strongly against the idea of allowing boys into
their “girls' sanctuary”. They were also strongly
opposed to Saito's rejection of the use of any school uniforms
for the music course students because they were afraid that sharing
the same campus with non-uniformed students would have a bad influence
over the students in the regular courses. Despite this negative
atmosphere, the enthusiasm of Saito and the other musicians gradually
gained supporters until a co-ed music course finally opened at
Toho Girls' High School in 1952. In the early days of the music
course a lot of funny incidents happened, especially to the male
students. One day a male student wanted to see a movie. Presenting
his I.D. card, he demanded a student ticket, and was flatly rejected
on the grounds that a boy could not be a student of a girls' high
school. The Music School for Children joined the Sengawa campus
later. Saito's legendary conducting classes, which produced many
outstanding conductors, were held in Sengawa, too.
Three years had elapsed since the opening of the high school music
course, and the same problem that had occurred three years before
surfaced once again. The founders of the music course simply thought
they would be able to pass their students to existing music colleges
following the completion of the course. However, the students
and their parents were not satisfied. In 1955 Toho Gakuen College
(two-year college) was established. Saito became a professor of
this college and, having been in charge of the string department
at the Music School for Children from its inception, as well as
his long experiences of training orchestras, he accepted the post
of chairman of the string and conducting departments. At the same
time, he led the Toho Gakuen Orchestra with renewed energy. He
was appointed acting president of the college from 1958 to 1960,
replacing President Motonari Iguchi during his trip abroad. This
opportunity gave him the chance to supervise the overall education
of the college. In 1961, Toho Gakuen School of Music (four-year
college) was established to further its quest for broader possibilities
in musical education.
The enthusiasm and vigor that poured out of Hideo Saito's teaching,
both in his conducting and cello classes, were terrifyingly immense.
But they were not the only students who enjoyed this privilege.
Piano, violin and other instrumental students alike were recipients
of this devoted teaching. All were able to benefit from his insights
into the performance of music and the understanding of its essence.
Saito remembered the importance of “teaching” that
his mentors, Feuermann and Rosenstock, had demonstrated to him.
He always labored to put their principle into practice, making
the occasional changes that would provide a more adaptable approach
to the musical setting in Japan. In teaching the Toho Gakuen Orchestra
his enthusiasm seemed to be without limit. He taught the members
what functions they served as an integral part of an orchestral
body.
He strongly demanded that each member of the orchestra memorize
and get a thorough understanding of his/her part with 100% accuracy
and perfection. As a result the orchestra came to be of supreme
quality which was incredibly precise, vivid and full of vitality.
The enthusiasm Saito generated in this orchestra was beyond imagination.
In his later years when his health was on the decline, he worried
about the future of the orchestra after his death. This worry
grew ever greater and on one summerday, in spite of his ill health,
he forced himself to observe the orchestra's practice session
during their summer camp rehearsal. While he was observing the
practice, he unintentionally picked up a baton and began conducting
the orchestra for the Mozart Divertimento K.136. His conducting
was so magnificent and full of spirit that the orchestra produced
a superb performance which made all those present at the scence,
including the musicians, cry. This was less than a month before
he passed away. His last performance was a demonstration of what
music ought to be. No one can tell how many of the musicians really
grasped the meaning of this important lesson or whether they will
realize it in their music. In Saito's own words, there is a limit
in what a teacher can teach, and it is up to the student himself
to develop what he has learned. Though realizing the limits of
teaching, Saito devoted the latter half of his life to this end,
and therein lies his greatness.
31 years have passed since he left us and when we think about
the fact that many of those musicians leading the Japanese music
world, and also those Japanese musicians performing actively all
around world, were inspired and nurtured by him, it is inevitable
that we feel again the integrity of Saito as a great educator.
Haruo Teranishi
Born on March 20, 1920, in Kobe, Japan; graduated from Keio University’s
Department of Economics in 1944.
Mr. Teranishi started his career as a music critic while attending
Keio University. After spending several years as an instructor
at Ferris University College of Music, he joined Toho Gakuen School
of Music upon its inauguration and contributed to the growth and
development of the school. After his appointment as a professor
in 1961, he served the school for over 30 years teaching music
history and other subjects, then became professor emeritus in
1993. During his teaching career, he also wrote numerous articles
and books, and held important positions at various music organizations.
Mr. Teranishi passed away on June 22, 2003, at the age of 83.
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