I was privileged to attend the 35th Annual Traditional Japanese Music Recital held at the Aaron Copland School of Music. I thought the music was very authentic, unique, and I suppose, traditional. I kind of felt like I was in Japan. As I’m sure most people are aware, traditional Japanese music is very unique and not at all like the classical music that was produced by the European standards of Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and others (and certainly not American). The music is very difficult to describe in words. Nonetheless, I will make an attempt by first describing the distinctive Japanese instruments played, and afterward the content of the music.
At the recital, there were three types of instruments: a koto, which is basically a long, wooden piece of wood with strings across it that are plucked; a sangen, which looks kind of like a banjo, except it is played using an object that looks like pliars and has a unique sound to it (not shown in the picture); and the shakuhachi, which are basically Japanese flutes. In the recital, there was a Shakuhachi Ensemble for all the pieces, as well as at least one koto (sometimes two). The sangen appeared in all but one of the pieces.
Most of the musical pieces had some vocal parts to them that are Japanese poems, and the music is generally meant to accompany them. Many of the themes in the vocal parts have to do with nature, such as the Chidori (plover), a migratory shore bird whose erratic flight pattern is captured by the music of “Chidori No Kyoku” (“The Song of the Plovers”). The accompanying music is therefore erratic yet overall slow and natural. Another piece, “Shin Ukifune”, is based on the medieval Japanese story of the beautiful Ukifune who was fought over by two princes to be their lover, but in the end fled to a monastery and became a nun (sound familiar?). This piece, performed in three parts, is also slow and kind of captures the mourning of the princes and the fact that men have caused her to become chaste. For almost all of the pieces, the music was so relaxing I almost fell asleep.
The recital gave me an excellent taste of the Japanese music tradition. All the performers are licensed teachers, as oppose to students. All of them are also members of Ki-Sui-An, which has been the largest and most active shakuhachi dojo (place of learning) outside Japan for the past three decades.
