Takahashi transforms traditional music<\/p>\n
By Y. Bintang Prakarsa<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Many Asian musicians have preoccupied themselves
\nwith the question of how to transform traditional music. In Java,
\nmany innovations have concentrated on exploring new sounds
\nthrough new instruments or new ways of playing the gamelan.<\/p>\n
At concerts for the Yogyakarta Gamelan Festival many groups of
\nmusicians could be heard playing an amazing variety of
\nimaginative contraptions. It seemed that they were trying to
\nextend the meaning of gamelan in every direction imaginable.<\/p>\n
Often, innovations like that are hailed as exciting and
\noriginal, when in fact they have no significant impact on the
\nmusical structure of traditional gamelan itself. Tradition
\nremains untouched and untransformed.<\/p>\n
Japanese composer Yuji Takahashi, whose visit to Indonesia was
\nsupported by the Japan Foundation on the occasion of the Third
\nArt Summit Indonesia 2001 International Festival on Performing
\nContemporary Arts, explores a different style.<\/p>\n
He attempts to transform traditional music from within. He
\nuses its basic premise to create entirely new music with a new
\nphilosophy.<\/p>\n
His music still sounds very Japanese, though his use of the
\ntraditional melody (Zen?) is infrequent, and the way he mixes
\nmusic and speech, even the simultaneous narration of different
\ntexts or sentences, is obviously non-traditional. It's
\nsurprising, then, to hear from the composer himself that his
\nunderstanding of music has nothing to do with Zen Buddhism.<\/p>\n
While many Westerners seek inspiration and enlightenment by
\nstudying Zen philosophy, he choose a different path. Lately he
\nhas come into contact with meditational practices of Theravada
\nBuddhism, a branch of Buddhism that prospers in South and
\nSoutheast Asia.<\/p>\n
This, in turn, has influenced his musical practice. Music is
\nnot a fixed object, but changes in relation with the environment.
\nEverything that happens outside -- the movements of the hands,
\nthe sounds, etc. -- is drawn inside, while the player looks
\ninward in constant observation.<\/p>\n
When observing, one tries to relate what is inside with what
\nis outside, and makes continuous adjustment.<\/p>\n
The first session of Yuji Takahashi's concert with his group
\nSora (Sky) at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta on Sept. 16 and Sept. 17
\nwas a concert of mainly traditional instruments: sangen or
\nshamisen (lute), koto (zither) and flutes (the percussion were
\nmore or less mixed). From the traditional, he takes the
\ntechniques (such as fingering patterns of koto or flute playing
\ntechniques) and fills them with new music.<\/p>\n
His compositions for traditional instruments performed at the
\nconcerts are based on this principle. The notation has to be
\nrealized with improvisations. Therefore, no two performances are
\nalike, because in every performance players have to make
\ndifferent sound utterances in concert with his or her colleagues'
\nmoves.<\/p>\n
He also expands the possibilities by incorporating foreign
\ntechniques and patterns into his music. In the first piece,
\nSangen, played by Kazuko Takada, there is even melodic fragments
\nresembling Arabic music and sounds taken from a Malaysian jaw's
\nharp.<\/p>\n
The second session featured mixed media, including a slide
\nshow. Here, the music is more outward-looking and
\nstraightforward, and more appealing for those unfamiliar with the
\ntraditional Japanese idioms. Illuminated with projected artwork
\nby Taeko Tomiyama, the two works speak more direct and
\nimmediately stir emotions.<\/p>\n
The Prayer in Memory: Kwangju, May 1980 was a succinct, moving
\ninterpretation of the people's uprising at Kwangju, South Korea,
\nagainst the U.S.-backed military following the assassination of
\nthe authoritarian president Park Chung-hee.<\/p>\n
Tomiyama's mostly black-and-white woodcuts and quotations from
\nKorean folk songs and student protest songs enhance the poignancy
\nof the music, played on piano by Takahashi with Yukihiko
\nNishizawa playing flute.<\/p>\n
One of the songs is a children's song about the peasant revolt
\nat the end of the 19th century. A song of hope for those who were
\ndefeated.<\/p>\n
The Fox Story: Illusion by the Cherry Blossoms and
\nChrysanthemums is another story about Japan in the 20th century.
\nHere, the paintings are more exuberant, with foxes marching to
\nwar and defeat, and the rise of prosperity that in turn attracts
\nprotests by Asian countries.<\/p>\n
The music is also for piano and flute, and full of musical
\nborrowings, quotations and allusions.<\/p>\n
A passage including a Western military horn call and Japanese
\npentatonic song (while the slides show the march of foxes waving
\nJapanese flags) is quite obvious symbolism.<\/p>\n
Others, like the Korean songs or the Burmese harp techniques
\ntransformed for the piano, are presented more subtly. This is not
\nmusic of victory.<\/p>\n
The hero is a young village boy who joined the army and was
\nkilled during World War II. Becoming a ghost, he sees how Japan
\nprospers. He also sees a boat carrying people from Asian
\ncountries, protesting and bringing new winds of change to Japan.<\/p>\n
Takahashi, who was born in Tokyo in 1938 and learned both
\nWestern (with Iannis Xenakis among others) and traditional
\nJapanese music, says that what he does is only open doors that
\nhave been closed for centuries. Back in ancient times, musical
\ncultures were more open and prepared for cross-cultural
\ninfluences. Then each tradition closed itself and developed
\nalong narrow paths.<\/p>\n
\"If we can step back a little to learn about musical cross-
\nfertilization in ancient times, then we will be able to enrich
\nour music with many musical traditions that are available,\"
\nTakahashi said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/takahashi-transforms-traditional-music-1447893297",
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