Music Group 2024-02-15

Japenese Music

Submitted by Lewis. I learned of this traditional Japanese piece in approximately 1978 when I took a world music course.

25 Japanese Instruments

Submitted by Myndall. Here is a weird video of the 25 Japanese musical instruments. Some are played traditionally, but most are not. It’s disconcerting and hilarious hearing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons played between clips.

Mei (1962) by Kazuo Fukushima

Submitted by Lewis. Performed by Nozomi Kanda. A piece for western flute composed using Japanese idioms.

Akaihirume Voice Performance February 2021

Submitted by Liz, who writes: Listen to about the first three minutes. Akaihirumi (the performer) comes to the Other Minds festival on occasion. I think it's interesting and it does sound vaguely Asian to me. Though it's possible that I'm responding more to the the setting and to the bird sounds in the background, but, whatever.

Haru No Umi

Submitted by Mike. From the Youtube description: Haru No Umi is probably the most renowned and exquisite duet for koto and shakuhachi. It is is a Shin Nihon Ongaku ('New Japanese Music') piece composed in 1929 by Michio Miyagi.He is the founder of a school of koto playing and is considered possibly the most famous koto composer and performer. You can almost feel the tranquility of the waves, the fishing boats coming and going in spring, and the cries of the sea gulls.

Why I chose this piece:

This is the only performance online that I could find of Kyoko Okamoto playing the koto. Mrs. Okamoto is the koto instructor at the University of Maryland and is the president of the Washington (D.C.) Toho Koto Society.

Ran

Submitted by Scott. Score by Toru Takemitsu (1985) from the Akira Kurosawa movie Ran (Jap. for Chaos or Tumult)". Regarded by some to be one of the greatest movies ever made, the music is integral to Kurosawa's cinematic expression. Kurosawa turned to the preeminent modern Japanese composer, Toru Takemitsu. In his younger years, Takemitsu eschewed traditional Japanese music, first inspired by Debussy and Messiaen, then later joining the European avant garde ranks of Boulez, Stockhausen, and Cage. Self-taught, he was a master of subtle changes of musical timbre. Later in his career he embraced and blended the Western with traditional Japanese musical idioms.

first selection

Play the first2 to 3 minutes. Listen to the opening title and first 2-3 minutes to hear the Japanese instruments and influence, foreshadowing the menace and dread to unfold in the movie.

second selection

Play the first5 minutes.The music masterfully underscores the senseless carnage of the "Hell's Picture Scroll" scene, in which the movie's protagonist is helpless to stop and ultimately drives him into madness. Quentin Tarantino clearly (and admittedly) was inspired by the hyper-intense colors and contrast for his "Kill Bill" movies. The music is intended to be Mahlerian in scale and emotion (5 mins).