The "San Koten Honkyoku" are three ("san") traditional ("hon") compositions ("kyoku") which are distinguished and venerated for their archetypical ("koten") characteristics. Of the many "schools" ("ryu") of musicians who claim proprietorship or proprietary control of versions of these melodies, the Kinko-ryu has the strongest claim to historicity. Their medium of performance is the "shakuhachi"—a bamboo, end-blown, vertical flute—and their aesthetics is founded on Zen Buddhism. The progenitor of the shakuhachi most likely originates from the Mesopotamian civilizations of the fourth millennium B.C. After diffusion to China, the vertical flute acquired a seminal role as the aural manifestation of the Chinese fundamental pitch, "huang-chung". Some time later it became a melody instrument in the court orchestras, suffering several recondite changes in nomenclature and popularity. When it arrived in Japan as the Imperial "ch'ih pa" (Jp. shakuhachi) it was in rapid decline, but during the 16th century it re-emerged as an ignoble instrument played by Japanese mendicant Buddhists called "Komo-s5". The period between the decline of the Imperial Court's shakuhachi and the rise of the Komo-so's vertical flute is a void for historians of the instrument, but it is suggested in this thesis that an earlier group of mendicant Buddhist priests/musicians, the "Mo-s5" biwa players, may have been the source of this renaissance. By the time of the Edo Period (1600-1868), the vertical flute had passed from the hands of the Komo-so, through the merchant class who called it the "Hitoyogiri" and a samurai clan who knew it as the "Tenpuku", to a newly-emerged group comprised of "ronin" or masterless samurai who adopted the then-defunct Komo-so's way of life in a manner that suited their aristocratic background. They called themselves "Komu-so", and their colorful history ranges from clandestine malevolence to Buddhist saintliness. In the 18th century, Kurosawa Kinko and his son (Kinko II, 1741-1811) and grandson (Kinko III, 1772-1816) advanced the positive aspects of the Komu-so's activity by assembling a unified repertoire and organizing an association of lay flutists devoted to the pursuit of "Takedd"—the "Way" of the bamboo flute—a process of self-enlightenment fashioned after Zen Buddhist precepts. Today, the music theory of the Kinko-ryu Honkyoku is comprised of a basic system of rudiments tempered by complex performance practices which are only accessible through the oral/aural instruction of a sensei. His pedagogy is designed to bring the student to a unified understanding of the many aspects of melodic detail by emphasizing their role in animating the simple melodies outlined by the skeletal notation. Through a systematic analysis of the Kinko-ryu "San Koten Honkyoku", the present study has found that the theoretical principles of these compositions are clearly demonstrable. Their inherent pitches are derived from the Japanese "In" scale and exist in a hierarchy made manifest in tonal proclivities which are naturally or deceptively resolved. The hierarchies also determine the structures of the melodies by articulating their progress. The conclusion of this thesis draws together the sociology, history, melodic theory and melodic analyses of the Kinko-ryu shakuhachi and its Honkyoku by outlining their respective contributions to a unique musical expression of Zen Buddhism. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

The Best PhD Thesis in the Faculties of Architexture, Arts, Business & Economics, Education, Law and Social Sciences (University of Hong Kong), Li Ka Shing Prize, 2007-2008. / published_or_final_version / Humanities / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The Best MPhil Thesis in the Faculties of Architecture, Arts, Business & Economics, Education, Law and Social Sciences (University of Hong Kong), Li Ka Shing Prize, 2003-2005. / published_or_final_version / abstract / Music / Master / Master of Philosophy

Ceremonial music in Japan is a type of music used to celebrate special occasions in special places, e.g., to honor the Emperor on his birthday, or for other special celebrations at a shrine. In Japanese, the character for ceremonial music is written 雅楽 (pronounced Gagaku). The character 雅 (ga) means graceful, noble, or excellent. The character 楽 (gaku) means good or beautiful musical sounds. Appearing together, 雅楽 the two parts of this character mean ceremonial music, which is not performed among ordinary people. The ceremonial music is used in the Imperial Court and in shrines, although not every shrine is equipped to perform ceremonial music. During the tenth and eleventh centuries it was used also in the homes of the highest class of military leaders. The basic philosophical implication of ceremonial music in Japan is virtue (morality). In respect to form, content, and thought, the ceremonial music is synthetic in character, which means it is part of a whil in which dance as action is equally as important as the music.

The wind bands in Japan are considered by many scholars and wind band conductors to be among some of the finest ensembles in today's wind ensemble medium. The literature and repertoire of Japanese ensembles have evolved from orchestral transcriptions, patriotic music, and military marches to original compositions by European, American, and Japanese composers. British conductor Timothy Reynish states that Japanese wind band music has looked traditionally towards the United States and occasionally United Kingdom for inspiration and repertoire. This phenomenon can be attributed to the many collegiate American and the few English wind band conductors who traveled to Japan as guest conductors, and in some cases, became residents of Japan. The focus of this study is to closely examine this significant impact of American collegiate wind band conductors, their influence on Japanese programming and how that programming has affected the collegiate repertoire. This study includes surveys of repertoire, concert programs, discographies of recordings, and interviews with prominent American conductors currently conducting in Japan. This research documents the impact that American wind band conductors have had on the programming of Japanese wind bands and how their influence have altered the collegiate repertoire. Evidence of this impact is documented by Toshio Akiyama, who states that "The influence of visiting musicians from abroad must be measured as one of the most influential aspects affecting Japanese band growth. Although the effect of Japanese musicians traveling to the United States or Europe has been beneficial, the overall impact on large numbers of people has been more directly due to the visitors from abroad."

published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Given the diversity found in today's Japanese culture and the size of the country's population, it is easy to see why the understanding of Japanese wind band repertoire must be multi-faceted. Alongside Western elements, many Japanese composers have intentionally sought to maintain their cultural identity through the addition of Japanese musical elements or concepts. These added elements provide a historical and cultural context from which to frame a composition or, in some cases, a composer's compositional output. The employment of these elements serve as a means to categorize the Japanese wind band repertoire. In his studies on cultural identities found in Japanese music, Gordon Matthews suggests there are three genres found within Japanese culture. He explains these as "senses of 'Japaneseness' among Japanese musicians." They include Fence, Flavor, and Phantasm. Bringing a new perspective to the idea of Japanese influence, I trace the implementation of these facets of Japanese music through the wind band music of Japanese composers. I demonstrate that Japanese wind band genres are the result of a combination of Japanese musical elements and Western influence and argue that the varying levels of this combination, balanced with historical and cultural context, create three distinct genres within the Japanese wind band repertoire.

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The panel discussion first focuses on the obvious gap between a relatively optimistic perspective on musical globalisation, mainly in view of non-Western popular musics, as a main trend in today’s ethnomusicology and the description of intercultural musical encounter as a difficult, lengthy and self-challenging process as suggested by Hans Zender and most examples from contemporary art music. Gerd Grupe emphasizes that non-Western popular musics include both forms that even out cultural differences by following Western commercial standards and, contrarily, forms that are highly dependent on local lingual or musical codes and thus cannot be transferred to an international realm. To illustrate the »existential« approach of art music composers, Zender quotes the case of Giacinto Scelsi whose music has received a profound influence from Tibetan music. Zender emphasizes that Scelsi has created – after a long period of crisis – a »Third Way« that can be understood from neither a purely European, nor a purely Tibetan perspective. The discussion then centres on the question of which influence Western concepts of history and the dynamics of »progress« have exerted on different traditional and contemporary forms of the world’s musics and to what extent the post-colonial polarisation of a »dynamic« Western culture and »static« non-Western cultures is still virulent in the discussion of these musics today. While Christian Utz emphasizes that many non-Western traditions that were deemed to have been preserved unchanged for many centuries for example the Japanese court music gagaku – have in fact changed considerably over the centuries and have been highly influenced by political and social changes, Peter Revers traces the idea of »making history« back to Friedrich Schlegel and describes it as very influential on the dynamics of Western music history. Andreas Dorschel raises the question, if early 20th century »national« schools and in particular the music of Béla Bartók and Leoš Janá􀃿ek can be seen as forerunners of trends in non-Western contemporary music that accentuate cultural difference. Christian Utz remarks that despite the fact that the music of Bartók has been a very important model for Asian composers in the process of creating a music independent of Romanticist symphonic clichés, elements of (neo-)nationalism in Bartók’s concept of music make it hard to see it as a model for a new music free of nationalist bias. Responding to a question from the audience, Andreas Dorschel summarizes that turning to music or art of other cultures might indeed be a signal for »weak« moments within a culture, but in turn this »weakness« proves the inner strength to challenge one’s own culture’s fundamental principles whereas discrimination and xenophobia are based on a very different kind of inner weakness where one is merely unable or unwilling to confront the Other.

Sun, Lin. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 233-242). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.vi / Introduction --- p.1 / Chinese Youth Today and Japanese Popular Culture --- p.6 / Theoretical Context --- p.11 / Methodology --- p.29 / Structure of the Thesis --- p.48 / Chapter Chapter1 --- Chinese Youth Today: Choice and Constraint --- p.51 / Economic Conditions and the Only Child --- p.54 / Pervasive Japanese Popular Culture in China --- p.59 / Cultivation of National Identity: Mass Media and Schooling --- p.77 / A Proper Chinese Youth: Social Norms in Today's China --- p.89 / Summary --- p.93 / Chapter Chapter2 --- Being a Fan of Japanese Rock: Consumer Choice and Authenticity --- p.96 / Becoming a fan of Japanese Rock --- p.97 / Confirming the Japanese Rock Fan Identity: Being an Authentic Fan --- p.111 / West-Japan-the Rest of Asia: In the Eyes of Chinese Fans of J-Rock --- p.122 / Summary --- p.126 / Chapter Chapter3 --- Localizing Japanese Rock Fandom through Individual Consumption --- p.129 / "Fandom as ""a Private Religion""" --- p.130 / Fandom as Compensation for Lack of Romantic Love --- p.155 / Summary --- p.164 / Chapter Chapter4 --- Fan Community: Consuming Japanese Rock in Groups --- p.167 / Fan Community and Belonging --- p.167 / Hierarchy among Individual Fans: Glory and Pain --- p.178 / Summary --- p.185 / Chapter Chapter5 --- Japanese Rock Fan Identity Vs. National Identity --- p.187 / "The Chinese National Identity and the Japanese ""Soft Power""" --- p.187 / Becoming a Better Chinese through Japanese Rock Fandom --- p.201 / Pan-East Asianism or Cosmopolitanism? --- p.205 / Summary --- p.212 / Conclusion --- p.215 / The Real Appeal of Japanese Rock --- p.215 / Fans and Consumers of Popular Culture in Globalized China --- p.219 / Fandom: a Way of Life for Today's Urban Young Chinese --- p.224 / Appendix --- p.232 / Bibliography --- p.233