‘Nature’ in Japanese Traditional ‘Music’
Reflections on hōgaku and Two Euro-American Concepts in Present-Day Japan
Abstract
In this essay, I want to address the question of whether there exists a relationship between ‘nature’ and today’s Japanese traditional ‘music’, hōgaku. A further point is what ‘nature’ means within the discourses of the hōgaku music-making world. In relation to the issue of nature-music, I will concentrate on two questions among the many possible ones: is ‘nature’ a central element in the material culture of hōgaku, and, is ‘nature’ expressed somehow in hōgaku languages? Holding the position that interviewing traditional music-makers is the most adequate way in which to deal with such questions, as ideas are not separable from the practice of music, my intent is to provide some tentative answers.
Submitted: May 29, 2017 | Accepted: Oct. 18, 2017 | Published Nov. 7, 2018 | Language: en
Keywords Hōgaku • Japanese Traditional Music • Ideas on music • The pratice of music • Music and Nature
Copyright © 2018 Daniele Sestili. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
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