, who studied Italian at Tokyo College of Language, was a member of the court of Emperor

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

. After studying in Italy and discovering the

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

and guitar, he returned to Japan and in 1915 established what would become the ''Sinfonia Mandolini Orchestra'', a

mandolin orchestra A mandolin orchestra is an orchestra consisting primarily of instruments from the mandolin family of instruments, such as the mandolin, mandola, mandocello and mandobass or mandolone. Some mandolin orchestras use guitars and double-basses instead ...

. The orchestra would continue (with breaks) through 1949, when he died. He became a composer, with 114 compositions for mandolin and guitar. World War II affected music in Japan, through the

National Mobilization Law was legislated in the Diet of Japan by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 24 March 1938 to put the national economy of the Empire of Japan on war-time footing after the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The National Mobilization Law had fifty ...

of 1938. One of the effects of the law was to allow the government to assert control of music, banning western music and instruments, including the electric guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

and

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

. In spite of this, Takei was able to maintain his mandolin-guitar orchestra until 1943. His orchestra, named the ''Orchestra Sinfonica Takei'' in 1923, was temporarily renamed ''Takei-Gakudan'' (shedding non-Japanese words in its name), December 1941. After the war, he rose higher in the imperial court. He continued the work of promoting the mandolin and guitar, giving a concert with his orchestra November 6, 1949. He fell ill at a rehearsal, however, on December 12 and died two days later.

Fate of Takei's mandolin orchestra

The mandolin orchestra, founded by Morishige Takei is still in existence. After Takei's death, the Orquestra Sinfonica Takei (OST) was dissolved in December 1958, but then started up again in December 1959 under the name Murao Sugita Symphony Orchestra. After Mural Sugita passed away in July 1986, it was newly organized as Sugita Mura Yuu Memorial Regular Concert Organization. In May 1987 it was renamed Orquestra Sinfonica Tokyo (OST), which it remains today.

Works

Mandolin orchestra

* ''Twilight'', Op. 6 (1921) * ''Morning Prelude'', Op. 10 (1925) (co-produced with Akira Onuma and Akira Sugawara "From the Friend's Three Friends") * ''Small Flowers Dancing'', Op. 14 (1925) * ''Late Spring'', Op. 15 (1925) * ''To a Dead Young Man'', Op. 18 (1925) * ''Fantasia "Impression of Korea"'', Op. 20 (1926) * ''Small March "Louise"'', Op. 21 (1926) * ''Spring Nostalgia'', Op. 22 (1927) * ''Remembering Carlle'', Op. 23 (1927) * ''Song of Early Autumn'', Op. 26 (1927) * ''Futaba of Album'', Op. 30 (1929) * ''Summer's Suite'', Op. 31 (1928) * ''Spring Festival Night'', Op. 34 (1930) * ''Hypocritical'', Op.35 (1930) * ''Flow'', Op. 36 (1931) * ''Evening Rain Shower'', Op. 38 (1931) * ''Dusk'', Op. 41 (1931) * ''Improvisation Song'', Op. 42 (1932) * ''Yellowling Flower'', Op. 43 (1932) * ''Big'', Op. 45 (1939) * ''Spring Sailing'', Op. 46 (1940) * ''Standing in Front of the House of the Martyrdom Chapel'', Op. 47 (1940) * ''Rain and Cosmos'', Op. 49 (1941) * ''Festival Town Corner'', Op. 50 (1941) * ''Akane'', Op. 63 (1942) * ''March March "Going through the Sky"'', Op. 64 (1942) * ''Dew Small Diameter'', Op. 68 (1942) * ''Algae'', Op. 69 (1942) * ''The Fruit Jumps Off'', Op. 70 (1942) * ''Sonko'', Op. 74 (1943) * ''Insect Dance'', Op. 80 (1943) * ''Life Autumn'', Op. 81 (1943) * ''Breeze'', Op. 108 (1947) * ''Suite "Festival of Fruits"'', Op. 111 (1948)

Guitar Ensemble

* ''For the Morning Mist'', Op. 76 (1943)

Mandolin solo piece

* ''Spring to Go'', Op. 29 (1928)

Guitar solo

* ''Memories of Childhood'', Op. 1 (1919) * ''Field Walking'', Op. 2 (1919) * ''Harmonic Minuet'', Op. 5 (1921) – arrangement for mandolin orchestra * ''Song Dedicated to Tárrega'', Op. 7 (1921) * ''Improvisation Song'', Op. 8 (1924) * ''Today's Joy'', Op. 9 (1924) – arrangement for mandolin orchestra (1925) * ''A Visit to the Autumn Rain'', Op. 11 (1924) – arrangement for mandolin orchestra (1925) * ''Small Dances'', Op. 12 (1924) – arrangement for guitar ensemble * ''Fallen Leaf'', Op. 27 (1927) – arrangement for mandolin orchestra (1928) * ''Petals'', Op. 28 (1928) * ''Hill of Late Days'', Op. 51 (1941) * ''Along the Flow'', Op. 52 (1941) * ''Thinking About my Invisible Dream'', Op. 53 (1941) * ''Arrangement'', Op. 54 (1941) – arrangement for mandolin orchestra (1941) * ''Romanza'', Op. 55 (1941) * ''Scherzo'', Op. 56 (1941) * ''Capri Chetth No. 1'', Op. 57 (1941) * ''Four Preludes'', Op. 58 (1941) * ''Snow is Also Good'', Op. 62 (1942) * ''There is a Lotus'', Op. 65 (1942) * ''Izumi'', Op. 66 (1942) * ''Window of Rain'', Op. 67 (1942) * ''Akumo'', Op. 71 (1942) * ''Painting a Girl'', Op. 72 (1942) * ''Silent Verse'', Op. 73 (1943) * ''Under the Spring Light'' Op. 75 (1943) – arrangement for mandolin orchestra (1947) * ''Wooden car'', Op. 78 (1943) * ''Cutting by lower three strings'', Op. 79 (1943) * ''Otone'', Op. 82 (1944) * ''Odori'', Op. 83 (1944) * ''Memorial'', Op. 84 (1944) * ''Clear morning'', Op. 85 (1944) * ''Dusky'', Op. 86 (1944) * ''Shō'', Op. 87 (1944) * ''Shibaki'', Op. 88 (1944) * ''Autumn's Fantasy'', Op. 89 (1944) * ''Variations on the Theme "The Moon in Wild Archeology"'', Op. 90 (1944) * ''Fleas'', Op. 92 (1945) * ''Osmanthus'', Op. 93 (1945) – arrangement for mandolin orchestra (1947) * ''Winter Street Trees'', Op. 94 (1945) * ''A Woman Carrying Threads'', Op. 95 (1945) – arrangement for mandolin orchestra (1947) * ''Furnace Edge'', Op. 96 (1946) * ''Infant'', Op. 97 (1946) * ''Ukifune Cloud'', Op. 98 (1946) * ''Toshikanoka'', Op. 99 (1946) * ''Two Preludes'', Op. 101 (1946) * ''Memories of Torino'', Op. 102 (1946) * ''Torn Glass Door'', Op. 103 (1946) * ''Wine Alcohol'', Op. 104 (1946) * ''Butterflies Fell in the Water'', Op. 105 (1947) * ''One Night'', Op. 106 (1947) * ''Capri Chett No. 2'', Op. 107 (1947) * ''Yellow Flower'', Op. 109 (1947) * ''Easy Album'', Op. 110 (1948) * ''See the Stars'', Op. 112 (1948) * ''Album for Children'', Op. 114 (1949)

Songs

* ''Fall color'', Op. 60 (1941, Takada Mikuni ) – voice and guitar * ''Fairy Phrase'', Op. 100 (1946, Takada Mikuni) – voice and guitar

Choral

* ''Fall Three Themes'', Op. 113 (1948, Takada triple noun) – chorus and mandolin orchestra

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Takei, Morishige 1890 births 1949 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century guitarists 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century Japanese male musicians Composers for the classical guitar Japanese classical composers Japanese classical guitarists Japanese classical mandolinists Japanese male classical composers Musicians from Tottori Prefecture Japanese expatriates in Italy