Author, Researcher and Lecturer with a Passion for History, Music and Japan
Even after finishing Not by Love Alone, I still wonder at the rapid spread of Western music in 19th– and early 20th-century Japan. Like others writing about the history of Western music in Japan, I made much of the Japanese pioneers who studied in the West or had Western teachers….
Last year, I was lucky to attend two Gramophone record concerts organized by Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai). The first concert was held in conjunction with the exhibition, “Double Impact” featuring art from the Meiji period. The concert was in 3 parts: 1. Traditional Japanese music (nagauta and kouta, songs…
TÔGI Yûji 東儀祐二 (1928–1985) on 11 May ÔNO Tadasuke 多 忠亮 (1895-1930) on 3 May Both of this month’s violinists come from traditional gagaku families. Gagaku (court orchestra music) originally came to Japan from China and is closely associated with the imperial court. So it is hardly surprising that it was reorganized soon…