Description
Book SynopsisWhat does freedom sound like in the context of traditional Japanese theater? Where is the space for innovation, and where can this kind of innovation be located in the rigid instrumentation of the Noh drama? In Piercing the Structure of Tradition, Mariko Anno investigates flute performance as a space to explore the relationship between tradition and innovation. This first English-language monograph traces the characteristics of the Noh flute (nohkan), its music, and transmission methods and considers the instrument's potential for development in the modern world. Anno examines the musical structure and nohkan melodic patterns of five traditional Noh plays and assesses the degree to which Issō School nohkan players maintain to this day the continuity of their musical traditions in three contemporary Noh plays influenced by Yeats. Her ethnographic approach draws on interviews with performers and case studies, as well as her personal reflection as a nohkan performer and disciple under the tutelage of Noh masters. She argues that traditions of musical style and usage remain influential in shaping contemporary Noh composition and performance practice, and the existing freedom within fixed patterns can be understood through a firm foundation in Noh tradition.
Trade ReviewAnno's writing is clear and engaging, and her enthusiasm for the subject is contagious[.]This book will become essential reading for anyone interested in East Asian music or theatre, and many of themes discussed here should be of broad interest to ethnomusicologists, performers, music educators, and music theorists.
* Ethnomusicology Forum *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. History and Construction of the Nohkan
2. The Nohkan and Oral Transmission: Transcription in Western Staff Notation
3. The Role and Melodic Patterns of the Nohkan in Relation to Structural Principles
4. The Nohkan's Part in Atsumori as Planned, Prepared, and Per for med
5. The Continuity of Tradition Today: The Nohkan's Part in Adaptations of W. B. Yeats's At the Hawk's Well
Reflections and Directions
