British Forum for Ethnomusicology

Review: [untitled]
Author(s): David W. Hughes
Reviewed work(s):
Koto Music: Tadao Sawai Plays Michio Miyagi
Source: British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 6 (1997), p. 214
Published by: British Forum for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3060844
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214 British Journal of Ethnomusicology,
vol 6 (1997) 214 British Journal of Ethnomusicology,
vol 6 (1997) 214 British Journal of Ethnomusicology,
vol 6 (1997)
Despite
the
poor documentation, this is an
excellent CD if
you
want a delicious taste of
three tradtional instruments plus
vocal.
DAVID W. HUGHES
SOAS
University of
London
dh6@soas.ac.uk
Despite
the
poor documentation, this is an
excellent CD if
you
want a delicious taste of
three tradtional instruments plus
vocal.
DAVID W. HUGHES
SOAS
University of
London
dh6@soas.ac.uk
Despite
the
poor documentation, this is an
excellent CD if
you
want a delicious taste of
three tradtional instruments plus
vocal.
DAVID W. HUGHES
SOAS
University of
London
dh6@soas.ac.uk
Koto music: Tadao Sawai plays
Michio
Miyagi. CD, PlayaSound
PS 65180; 58min.;
1996. Booklet
(15p.)
in
Engl., French,
Japanese.
MIYAGI Michio (1894-1956)
was the
major
figure
in the marriage
of traditional
Japanese
chamber music with Western music. As with
many
blind
people,
he studied koto (13-string
zither) and shamisen (3-string "banjo"),
reaching
virtuoso standard. The traditional
repertoire
was
primarily pentatonic,
in 2/4
metre and monodic, but as a man of his era he
sought
new directions via Western music,
introducing heptatonic passages,
chordal (even
triadic) accompaniments
and occasional
triple
metre. In 1921,
to
expand
the
range
of the
chamber ensemble,
he invented the
17-string
bass koto,
heard to
good
effect on "Seoto". All
of this
represents
incremental evolution: this is
still clearly Japanese
music rather than a
pastiche
of Western elements.
The four works
presented here,
from the
more traditional end of
Miyagi's oeuvre, were
composed
between 1909-his maiden master-
piece
"Mizu no hentai"-and 1947-an
arrangement
of the old
piece
"Onoe no matsu",
traditional in
style
to silence critics of his
modernisms. (His
most famous
composition,
"Haru no umi",
is not included;
nor are the
more innovative and
impressionistic "Rainy
night
in London" and
"Changing
of the Guard",
inspired by
a 1953 visit to London.)
This CD
presents
a
pleasing variety
of mood,
instru-
mentation and
style.
The
appropriately
virtuosic
performances by
SAWAI Tadao and
SAWAI Kazue are well recorded, and excellent
(albeit unattributed)
liner notes introduce
Miyagi,
the
performers
and the four
pieces.
Warning:
the notes on the
pieces
are in a
different order from the
recordings.
DAVID W. HUGHES
SOAS
University of
London
dh6@soas.ac.uk
Koto music: Tadao Sawai plays
Michio
Miyagi. CD, PlayaSound
PS 65180; 58min.;
1996. Booklet
(15p.)
in
Engl., French,
Japanese.
MIYAGI Michio (1894-1956)
was the
major
figure
in the marriage
of traditional
Japanese
chamber music with Western music. As with
many
blind
people,
he studied koto (13-string
zither) and shamisen (3-string "banjo"),
reaching
virtuoso standard. The traditional
repertoire
was
primarily pentatonic,
in 2/4
metre and monodic, but as a man of his era he
sought
new directions via Western music,
introducing heptatonic passages,
chordal (even
triadic) accompaniments
and occasional
triple
metre. In 1921,
to
expand
the
range
of the
chamber ensemble,
he invented the
17-string
bass koto,
heard to
good
effect on "Seoto". All
of this
represents
incremental evolution: this is
still clearly Japanese
music rather than a
pastiche
of Western elements.
The four works
presented here,
from the
more traditional end of
Miyagi's oeuvre, were
composed
between 1909-his maiden master-
piece
"Mizu no hentai"-and 1947-an
arrangement
of the old
piece
"Onoe no matsu",
traditional in
style
to silence critics of his
modernisms. (His
most famous
composition,
"Haru no umi",
is not included;
nor are the
more innovative and
impressionistic "Rainy
night
in London" and
"Changing
of the Guard",
inspired by
a 1953 visit to London.)
This CD
presents
a
pleasing variety
of mood,
instru-
mentation and
style.
The
appropriately
virtuosic
performances by
SAWAI Tadao and
SAWAI Kazue are well recorded, and excellent
(albeit unattributed)
liner notes introduce
Miyagi,
the
performers
and the four
pieces.
Warning:
the notes on the
pieces
are in a
different order from the
recordings.
DAVID W. HUGHES
SOAS
University of
London
dh6@soas.ac.uk
Koto music: Tadao Sawai plays
Michio
Miyagi. CD, PlayaSound
PS 65180; 58min.;
1996. Booklet
(15p.)
in
Engl., French,
Japanese.
MIYAGI Michio (1894-1956)
was the
major
figure
in the marriage
of traditional
Japanese
chamber music with Western music. As with
many
blind
people,
he studied koto (13-string
zither) and shamisen (3-string "banjo"),
reaching
virtuoso standard. The traditional
repertoire
was
primarily pentatonic,
in 2/4
metre and monodic, but as a man of his era he
sought
new directions via Western music,
introducing heptatonic passages,
chordal (even
triadic) accompaniments
and occasional
triple
metre. In 1921,
to
expand
the
range
of the
chamber ensemble,
he invented the
17-string
bass koto,
heard to
good
effect on "Seoto". All
of this
represents
incremental evolution: this is
still clearly Japanese
music rather than a
pastiche
of Western elements.
The four works
presented here,
from the
more traditional end of
Miyagi's oeuvre, were
composed
between 1909-his maiden master-
piece
"Mizu no hentai"-and 1947-an
arrangement
of the old
piece
"Onoe no matsu",
traditional in
style
to silence critics of his
modernisms. (His
most famous
composition,
"Haru no umi",
is not included;
nor are the
more innovative and
impressionistic "Rainy
night
in London" and
"Changing
of the Guard",
inspired by
a 1953 visit to London.)
This CD
presents
a
pleasing variety
of mood,
instru-
mentation and
style.
The
appropriately
virtuosic
performances by
SAWAI Tadao and
SAWAI Kazue are well recorded, and excellent
(albeit unattributed)
liner notes introduce
Miyagi,
the
performers
and the four
pieces.
Warning:
the notes on the
pieces
are in a
different order from the
recordings.
DAVID W. HUGHES
SOAS
University of
London
dh6@soas.ac.uk
Ouganda:
ensembles
villageois
du
Busoga/
Uganda: village
ensembles
of Busoga.
19xx.
CD, VDE-Gallo, VDE CD-925
=
AIMP 50.
Recordings,
notes and
photos by
Peter Cooke.
This is a
delightful
selection of recordings by
Peter Cooke, who demonstrates how well
qualified
he is to
put together
collections like
this for
Uganda.
Some of the
recordings
date back to 1987,
and
you might
wish
you
had been able to hear
them before now: the difficulty
has
apparently
been in
finding
a
willing producer.
All too often
producers
choose to do the
recording
them-
selves, instead of
employing
someone
really
familiar with the music. Several other CDs of
Ugandan
traditional music that have been
released in recent
years
have been
disappoint-
ing, relying heavily
on
groups
based in
Kampala: although
some excellent musicians
have been included, these CDs have been
poorly representative
of the true wealth of
traditional music still
flourishing
in
Uganda.
They
seem to have been hastily
recorded
by
people
with little intimate
knowledge
of the
music and, perhaps
in
consequence,
were
supported by poorly
researched if not
downright
misleading
documentation.
In
happy
contrast, Cooke has undoubtedly
taken care to seek out some of the best music,
travelling
to rural
villages
in
Busoga
to make
recordings
of
locally
famous
performers.
Moreover,
the disc notes are well researched,
informative and a
pleasure
to read, placing
the
music in
geographical, political,
historical and
cultural context. The details of the occasion are
carefully recorded, instrument
playing
tech-
niques
described,
and a fine
playable transcrip-
tion
provided
at the end, giving
a clear visual
representation
of the
way
one of the
songs
is
composed.
It seems rather unfortunate that the
information visible to
potential buyers
on the
back of the
unopened
CD box consists only
of a
list of the
song
titles in
Lusoga language,
without even the
performing groups' names;
there is no indication, for
example,
of the
wonderful diversity
of instruments featured on
the disc.
The selection is
fairly representative
of
instruments to be found in
Busoga. Although
all
the recordings, including
those of the scarce
gourd-trumpets (tracks 3-4),
are from the
district of
Iganga,
this is
by
far the
largest
of the
three districts in
Busoga.
Two instruments
mentioned in the notes, ntongooli lyre
and
kimasa
harp,
are absent: it
may
be that
they
are
Ouganda:
ensembles
villageois
du
Busoga/
Uganda: village
ensembles
of Busoga.
19xx.
CD, VDE-Gallo, VDE CD-925
=
AIMP 50.
Recordings,
notes and
photos by
Peter Cooke.
This is a
delightful
selection of recordings by
Peter Cooke, who demonstrates how well
qualified
he is to
put together
collections like
this for
Uganda.
Some of the
recordings
date back to 1987,
and
you might
wish
you
had been able to hear
them before now: the difficulty
has
apparently
been in
finding
a
willing producer.
All too often
producers
choose to do the
recording
them-
selves, instead of
employing
someone
really
familiar with the music. Several other CDs of
Ugandan
traditional music that have been
released in recent
years
have been
disappoint-
ing, relying heavily
on
groups
based in
Kampala: although
some excellent musicians
have been included, these CDs have been
poorly representative
of the true wealth of
traditional music still
flourishing
in
Uganda.
They
seem to have been hastily
recorded
by
people
with little intimate
knowledge
of the
music and, perhaps
in
consequence,
were
supported by poorly
researched if not
downright
misleading
documentation.
In
happy
contrast, Cooke has undoubtedly
taken care to seek out some of the best music,
travelling
to rural
villages
in
Busoga
to make
recordings
of
locally
famous
performers.
Moreover,
the disc notes are well researched,
informative and a
pleasure
to read, placing
the
music in
geographical, political,
historical and
cultural context. The details of the occasion are
carefully recorded, instrument
playing
tech-
niques
described,
and a fine
playable transcrip-
tion
provided
at the end, giving
a clear visual
representation
of the
way
one of the
songs
is
composed.
It seems rather unfortunate that the
information visible to
potential buyers
on the
back of the
unopened
CD box consists only
of a
list of the
song
titles in
Lusoga language,
without even the
performing groups' names;
there is no indication, for
example,
of the
wonderful diversity
of instruments featured on
the disc.
The selection is
fairly representative
of
instruments to be found in
Busoga. Although
all
the recordings, including
those of the scarce
gourd-trumpets (tracks 3-4),
are from the
district of
Iganga,
this is
by
far the
largest
of the
three districts in
Busoga.
Two instruments
mentioned in the notes, ntongooli lyre
and
kimasa
harp,
are absent: it
may
be that
they
are
Ouganda:
ensembles
villageois
du
Busoga/
Uganda: village
ensembles
of Busoga.
19xx.
CD, VDE-Gallo, VDE CD-925
=
AIMP 50.
Recordings,
notes and
photos by
Peter Cooke.
This is a
delightful
selection of recordings by
Peter Cooke, who demonstrates how well
qualified
he is to
put together
collections like
this for
Uganda.
Some of the
recordings
date back to 1987,
and
you might
wish
you
had been able to hear
them before now: the difficulty
has
apparently
been in
finding
a
willing producer.
All too often
producers
choose to do the
recording
them-
selves, instead of
employing
someone
really
familiar with the music. Several other CDs of
Ugandan
traditional music that have been
released in recent
years
have been
disappoint-
ing, relying heavily
on
groups
based in
Kampala: although
some excellent musicians
have been included, these CDs have been
poorly representative
of the true wealth of
traditional music still
flourishing
in
Uganda.
They
seem to have been hastily
recorded
by
people
with little intimate
knowledge
of the
music and, perhaps
in
consequence,
were
supported by poorly
researched if not
downright
misleading
documentation.
In
happy
contrast, Cooke has undoubtedly
taken care to seek out some of the best music,
travelling
to rural
villages
in
Busoga
to make
recordings
of
locally
famous
performers.
Moreover,
the disc notes are well researched,
informative and a
pleasure
to read, placing
the
music in
geographical, political,
historical and
cultural context. The details of the occasion are
carefully recorded, instrument
playing
tech-
niques
described,
and a fine
playable transcrip-
tion
provided
at the end, giving
a clear visual
representation
of the
way
one of the
songs
is
composed.
It seems rather unfortunate that the
information visible to
potential buyers
on the
back of the
unopened
CD box consists only
of a
list of the
song
titles in
Lusoga language,
without even the
performing groups' names;
there is no indication, for
example,
of the
wonderful diversity
of instruments featured on
the disc.
The selection is
fairly representative
of
instruments to be found in
Busoga. Although
all
the recordings, including
those of the scarce
gourd-trumpets (tracks 3-4),
are from the
district of
Iganga,
this is
by
far the
largest
of the
three districts in
Busoga.
Two instruments
mentioned in the notes, ntongooli lyre
and
kimasa
harp,
are absent: it
may
be that
they
are