Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies

Ma 間 e musica: il pieno e il vuoto

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Abstract

The essay examines the concept of ma, a figure of Japanese aesthetic specificity, starting from the organisation of rhythm and meter in the music of Noh theater – which, before being a literary text and a performing art, is above all music. The elusiveness and complexity in the organisation of time, so linked to the breath and the mastery of the performers in their reciprocal musical relationships during the performance, will be considered in the light of specific statements by the great fourteenth-fifteenth century Noh theorist and author Zeami Motokiyo. The magic of the art of Noh is made real through that tense and contradictory timing in the music.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: Nov. 24, 2022 | Accepted: Dec. 19, 2022 | Published April 21, 2023 | Language: it

Keywords Ma • Noh music • Japan aesthetics • Noh theater • Zeami Motokiyo

Copyright © 2023 Luciana Galliano. 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.

Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-701-2/014


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