The prospect of attending a Japanese concert gives me goose bumps. It is an experience worth relishing every minute, and Sunday the 17th of November, was not an exception. I arrived early in the concert hall. Soon the audience started tripping in followed by the VIP who took their seats at a separate front section with an incredible view to the stage. The stage had already been set and a clamor of gripping sounds filled the stage as the audience settled. I was overwhelmed by an ethereal of placidity. The ambience was tranquil. I was ready to experience the Japanese culture through their incredible taste in music. The audience would be entertained by works of Hyo-shin Na, Japanese artists and a few from international artists.
We were treated to resounding conflicts of sounds from the chamber orchestra. Piano lines frequently featured throughout the performance ornamenting the sounds. The first opus which lasted an incredible nine minutes was totally unnerving. The pure talent emanating from the orchestra kept me on the edge of my seat. In particular, the pianist delivered an outstanding performance. Her delivery was characterized with clashing chords. This was when the solo oboe struggled to maintain the continuity of the ensemble. The Japanese content was heavily integrated with the contemporary international style of music. This was possible by featuring a few episodes of traditional Japanese music as a personal signature and pentatonics. The beginning was epic as it featured the wilting meltdown of Na’s own signature performance-soft strings. The music was rhythmic with repetitive tones which were done in asymmetric five-beat phases. The rhythm gave the piece a folk-like character. There were three soloists for the significant performance. The one on the piano was Thomas, Shoko Hikaye on the koto, and Narae Kwon on the kayageum. There were a number of assertive bits and a few lows. Ernest Bloch No. 1 of the 19th century, Concerto Grosso the best performance of the night. He was a talented Swiss national who was not only a teacher at the S.F Conservatory of music, but was also one of the most influential directors who lived during that epoch. His works have been acknowledged by critics as a masterpiece throughout the world. Performing his works before an audience cannot only be full of frequent interruptions, but also deliberately unsettling. He has received international love and respect.
The orchestra was playing amazingly well, giving us an interesting Japanese experience. The performance definitely had required more than enough times for rehearsal. It called for all sorts of percussion: tam-tam, vibraphone, bells, glockenspiel, cymbals, cowbell, gong, marimba and xylophone among others. The ambience changed to almost a misty evening. Then it was gradually deepened and broadened by the quality sounds to the geniality of bells. This soon graduated to become the ping-pangs of mallet instruments filling the hall with a variety of sounds tantamount to the heavenly. Soon enough the hall was filled by an uproar of sounds. The transition to a calm and quiet ambience was smooth and uninterrupted.
The next performance was Hyo-shin Na’s own “Piano Study 3”. This was the most demanding piece in terms of instrumentalist that whole evening. It had melodic passages which were conjunct and tinged with pentatonicism. It gives the audience some kind of thrill making others seem dreamy. It was very repetitive, but charming none the less, specializing in a more significantly pentatonic mode which demonstrated the richness of the culture from Japan. It is inherently short, lasting only eight minutes, leaving the audience yearning for the repetitive sounds that continue to echo within one’s ears. The piece’s texture was thin and its tempo slow. What was more fascinating is how two melodic lines converged on a single minor second. This made the Near and Dear to end on the smallest intervals which in fact preserved the melodies independence.
During the better part of the performance, the pianist was not exposed at all. This was essential in order to prevent any cases where he would be deprived of the orchestral support. This would have made him vulnerable to making mistakes by threatening the delicate musical line that had been designed to offer him the requisite support. Fortunately, this did not happen within the few minutes that he was left exposed. Furthermore, the pianist demonstrated exemplary control not only during the uncovered notes, but also throughout the performance.
The whole performance of the orchestra was fascinating and impressive. This is without mentioning that the 53-year old Hyo-Shin Na has already cemented her place in history. I felt elated leaving the concert hall. Attending a Japanese Concert had been an incredible experience yet again. The audience was entertained by Gagaku, Shinto and Nogaku music styles from the Japanese culture. Moreover, I had a chance not only to listen to some of Hyo-shin Na’s masterpieces, but also Miyoshi’s pieces, who died in Tokyo recently at the age of 80. With grace and elegance, the orchestra had brought joy and delicacy to the lives of the audience. I left as melodies sang and rang between my ears. Indeed, the cadenza to the three bass kotos was handled with polish that I had never seen or heard before. The commissioning of the koto solo was done quietly and intimately. It provided a quasi-unison piece. The kayageum played the music in triple meter whereas the koto played in a duple rhythm. The orchestra provided us with a complete package. I felt it was more than I had bargained for the evening. I commend the conductor and the orchestra for complementing each other and providing its audience with an evening to remember.
Works Cited
Howell, Matthew C. A Conductor's Introduction to the Performance of Modern Japanese Choral Music. New York: ProQuest,, 2008.
Lande, Liv . Innovating Musical Tradition in Japan: Negotiating Transmission, Identity, and Creativity in the Sawai Koto School. New York: ProQuest, 2007.
Park, Jeong-Hwa . Analytical Description of Four Piano Compositions by Hyo-shin Na: Variations, "Rain Study," Piano Study 3, and "Walking, Walking". New York: ProQuest, 2008.
Stevens, Carolyn . Japanese Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity and Power. New York: Routledge, 2012.
Tokita, Alison and David W Hughes. The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music. Tokyo: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 2008.
Wade, Bonnie C. Music in Japán: experiencing music, expressing culture, Volume 1. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
