Soroku Murata

Soroku Murata (Japanese 無量塔 蔵六; real name Shōichirō Murata, Japanese 村田 昭一郎;[1] * March 4, 1927, in Tokyo, † January 30, 2020, ibidem) was the first Japanese violinmaker with a German master craftsman’s diploma.

Life

Soroku Murata was born on March 4, 1927, in Oi-machi, Ebara-gun in Tokyo.[2][3] He graduated from Dokkyō Junior High School in the 55th class.[2][3][4]

To avoid being drafted during World War II, he joined his uncle as a factory worker. On the job, he showed his talent for manual craftsmanship and was therefore assigned to metal casting.[5][6] After the war ended, he became a member of the Kyoto Opera Company Orchestra in 1947, the Shimbashi Florida Dance Hall in 1949, and of the Hospital Orchestra at the American Army Officers' Club. However, due to the professional musicians returning from the war service, he lost his employments.[2][3][7]

In 1951 he became self-taught in violin making as well as repair.[2] He learned the professional use of tools from Mitsugu Ōta, a woodworker at the time who later specialized in crafting piano soundboards.[8]

In 1955, he joined Noboru Nagasako's study group at the Tokyo Institute of Technology to study acoustics for violin making.[3] In 1962, with the support of Nagasako[3] and Alfred Leicht, a violin maker from Berlin as guarantor,[9] he enrolled in the Staatliche Musikinstrumentenbauschule Mittenwald, Bavaria. As the first Japanese, Murata passed the master craftsman violin making examination in 1963, and subsequently returned to Japan in 1964.[2][3][9]

In 1956, he became a board member of the Japan String Instrument Manufacturers Association.[2]

Murata became a member of the German Violinmakers Association (VdG) in 1968, the first Japanese to do so.[10]

In 1974, he was commissioned by the Japan Gagaku Society to restore a Kugo harp,[5] which was used at the Society's 13th public concert at the National Theater on December 17 the same year. The harp’s sound had not been heard for 1200 years.[11]

In 1976, he won the gold medal in the Violin Society of America's violin making competition on the occasion of the USA’s Bicentennial of Independence.[3]

On April 2nd 1979, Murata opened the Tokyo Violin Making School in his private home, to train his successors.[3][12]

In 1986, he was the first person from Asia to become a member of the Entente International des Luthiers et Architiers (EILA, engl.  International Society of Violin and Bow Makers Entente Internationale des Maitres Luthiers et Archetiers d'Art (EILA) ).[13]

He was a regular jury member of the Prague International Violin Making Competition (1986-1993), the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Making Competition (1986-2001), the International Tchaikovsky Competition (1986-2002), the Sofia International String Competition (1987-1996), and a jury member of the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition in 1990.[9]

In July 1998, he became an honorary member of the Japan String Instrument Makers’ Association.[9]

In March 2007, at the age of 80, he closed the violin making school in Tokyo.[9]

On January 30, 2020, he died from cancer at the age of 92. The funeral service was held on February 6 the same year.[1][14]

Trivia
  • The inspiration for his pseudonym Soroku Murata (無量塔 蔵六) comes from his great-grandfather, who was a follower of Soroku Murata (Japanese 村田蔵六, real name Masujirō Ōmura; Japanese 大村益次郎).[7]
  • Murata had a passion for motorcycles.[15]
  • Students of Murata’s violin making school received the status of German journeyman craftsmen upon successful completion of their studies, and could also qualify for the master craftsman's examination (Meisterprüfung) by working under a German master craftsman for the duration of three years.[16]

Publications

Books
  • Baiorin [The Violin]. Nihon Gakki. March 1965.
  • Vaiorin [The Violin]. Iwanami Shinsho 921. Iwanani Shoten. February 1975. ISBN 9784004140580.
  • Vaiorin wo yomu hon – Motto shiritai Vaiorin no hanashi [Violins. A book for those who want to know more.]. Soroku Murata, Hiroshi Kawabata. To-on. August 1998. ISBN 9784636208757.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

Articles
  • "Vaiorin zukuri no Oyagata, Shūgyō Jidai [Apprenticeship years of a master violin maker]". Geijutsu Shinchō. Shinchōsha. 15 (3): 130–132. March 1964.
  • "Vaiorin to Mokuzai [The Violin and the Wood]". Mokuzai Kōgyō. Nihon Mokuzai Kakō Gijutsu Kyōkai. 20 (2): 75–79. February 1965.
  • "Nihon Mokuzai Kakō Gijutsu Kyōkai". Kagaku Asahi. Asahi Shimbunsha. 26 (10): 83–86. October 1966.
  • "Vaiorin no Meiki to sono Shūhen. Vaiorin Seisakusha no Ichigen [Famous violins and their context. A word from a violin maker]". Ongaku No Tomo. Ongaku no Tomosha. 32 (7): 114–116. June 1974.
  • "Nihonjin ha Kiyō deha arimasen. Kokiyō nano desu. [Japanese are not craftsman specialists. But they are skillful generalists]". Ginō to Gijutsu. Shokugyō Nōryoku Kaihatsu Gijutsu Zasshi. Koyō Mondai Kenkyūkai. 1975 (4): 1. June 1975.
  • "Mai Supiikā wo kataru [Talking about my speakers]". Rajio Gijutsu. Aiē Shuppan, Inpuresu. 31 (2): 179–187. January 1977.
  • "Watashi no Shūgyō Jidai. Nishi Doitsu no Totei Seido [My apprenticeship years. The training system in West Germany.]". Bōsei. Tōkai Kyōiku Kenkyūjo. 8 (2): 58–65. February 1977.
  • "Shin, Vaiorin Dangi [Updated version: Sermon on the violin]". Kyōiku Ongaku. Ongaku no Tomosha. 21 (9): 26–28. September 1977.
  • "Vaiorin Seisakusha ga tsukuru Ōdio no Sekai [The acoustic universe created by a violin maker.]". Rajio Gijutsu. Aiē Shuppan, Inpuresu. 33 (2): 32–33. January 1979.
  • "Maisutā Seido no Chōsho to Nihon no Kantokusha [Advantages of the German Master System and Japanese supervisors.]". Sangyō Kunren. Nihon Sangyō Kunren Kyōkai. 25 (10): 2–17. October 1979.
  • "Murata Soroku, Chiyonobu Takashi: Taiwa. Ongaku, Ningen, Kyōiku [Murata Soroku, Chiyonobu Takash: Exchange of opinions. Music, Human Beings, Education.]". Kyōiku Ongaku. Ongaku no Tomosha. 35 (7). June 1980.
  • "Gakki no hanashi (II) Gengakki [Talks about music (II): stringed instruments]". Nihon Onkyōgaku Gakkaishi. Nihon Onkyōgaku Gakkai. 36 (8): 414–418. August 1980.
  • "Chūkohin [Used Goods]". Tashikana Me. Kokumin Seikatsu Sentā no Kurashi to Shōhin Tesuto no Jōhōshi. Kokumin Seikatsu Sentā (11): 49. November 1982.
  • "Nipponjin'83 [The Japanese in *83]". Shūkan Gendai. Kōdansha. 25 (8): 80–84. February 1983.
  • "Vaiorin [The Violin]". Konsensasu. Konsensasu Henshūbu. 1983 (9): 10–11. September 1983.
  • "Murata Soroku, Tanahashi Yūji: Shokuningei ga Geijutsu ni Shōka suru Toki (Kokoro wo kataru) [Murata Soroku, Tanahashi Yūji: When craft sublimates into art (spoken from the heart).]". Tsūsan Jānaru. Tsūshō Sangyō Chōsakai. 17 (7): 78–85. June 1984.
  • "Vaiorin ni umorete shinitai [I want to pass away buried in violins.]". Rikurūto Kyaria Gaidansu. Rikurūto. 23 (1): 60–65. January 1991.
  • "Vaiorin ni mochiirareru Sozai [Materials used for Violins]". Shinsozai. Nihon Kōgyō Shuppan. 3 (11): 50–53. November 1992.
  • "Vaiorin Seisaku Mini Gaishi [An unofficial Mini-History of Violin Making]". Kenchiku Zasshi. Nihon Kenchiku Gakkai (1341): 14. April 1993.
  • "Vaiorin wo tsukuru Zaimoku [Wood used for violins]". Bōsei. Tōkai Kyōiku Kenkyūjo. 25 (1): 24–27. January 1994.
  • "Kono Hito ni kiku "Ii Oto wo dasu Baiorin ha mitame mo Ereganto desu." [Ask this person. "A violin that sounds good also looks elegant."]". Kyōiku jihō. Tōkyōto Shinkyōiku Kenkyūkai (571): 11–14. August 1995.
  • "Gengakki no Rekiji (1) ～Tanjō (?) kara Kuremona ha no Shutsugen made [History of strings (1): from the origin (?) to the appearance of the Cremona school.]". Ongaku Gendai. Geijutsu Gendaisha. 34 (8): 87–89. August 2004.

Sources
  1. "日本人初のヴァイオリン製作マイスター、無量塔蔵六さん死去". [Japan's first master craftsman violin maker, Murata Soroku, passes away]". Yomiuri Shimbun. 2020-02-04. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  2. ""プロフィール" ["Profile"]". ヴァイオリンアトリエオカノ [Violine Studio Okano]. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  3. "師の相貌 無量塔蔵六（ヴァイオリン製作者）[Face of the master. Murata Zoroku (violin maker)". Archived from the original on 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  4. Inokuma, Takeo (2018-06-05). "名門高校の校風と人脈 291 独協高校（私立・東京都文京区）[School culture and personal networks at prestigious high schools, 291. Dokkyo High School (Private, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo)]". Ekonomisuto. Mainichi Shimbun Shuppan. 96 (22): 42–43.
  5. "「ひと 天平のハープ「くご（箜篌）」を復元した 無量塔蔵六」[Person. Soroku Murata, who restored the kugo harp from the Tenpyō period.]". Asahi Shimbun. 1974-12-16. p. 3.
  6. "西ドイツと私 職人気質も東西で違い バイオリンづくりを修行の 無量塔蔵六氏[West Germany and I: Differences in craftsmanship between East and West. Soroku Murata, trained violin maker.]". Asahi Shimbun. 1978-03-27. p. 4.
  7. "顔 1456 無量塔蔵六 バイオリン製作者 音色の風格を探る [Face 1456 Murata Soroku. Violin Maker. Explores the Character of Sound.]". Yomiuri Shimbun. 1981-07-02. p. 1.
  8. "無量塔藏六について [About Soroku Murata]". Ageishi Gengakki Kōbō. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  9. "無量塔蔵六 Profile [Profile of Soroku Murata]". 2013 Gengakki Fea. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  10. the Strad (February 17, 2020). "Obituary: Soroku Murata (1927–2020)". Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  11. "うっとり"天平のハープ" 千二百年ぶりに優雅な音色披露 [Graceful sound demonstration: tenpyo harp is heard publicly for the first time in 1200 years]". Yomiuri Shimbun. 1974-12-18. p. 19.
  12. "ひと 無量塔蔵六 2日に東京ヴァイオリン製作学校を開校「本物の職人を育てます[Person. Soroku Murata opens violin making school in Tokyo on April 2nd: "Will train real craftsmen".]". Mainichi Shimbun. 1979-04-02. p. 1.
  13. EILA Infolettre/Newsletter. "Soroku Murata". Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  14. "無量塔蔵六氏死去 バイオリン製作者". 日本経済新聞. 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  15. "バイオリン製作支えるバイクの響き 無量塔蔵六さん バイオリン製作者 [The sound of motorcycles supports violin making. Soroku Murata, Violin Maker]". Yomiuri Shimbun. 1989-01-01. p. 9.
  16. "この人と 無量塔蔵六さん バイオリン製作者② 音色の探求 29歳の教え子が親方に [Soroku Murata and me. Soroku Murata, violin maker. 2. The search for the perfect sound. A 29-year-old student becomes a master]". Mainichi Shimbun. 1991-05-08. p. 5.

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