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Fence, Flavor, and Phantasm: Balancing Japanese Musical Elements and Western Influence within an Historical and Cultural Context

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.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1157602
Date05 1900
CreatorsDesjardins, Kelly
ContributorsCorporon, Eugene, Ramsey, Darhyl S. (Darhyl Sterling), Fisher, Dennis W.
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatviii, 99 pages : illustrations, music, Text
CoverageJapan
RightsPublic, Desjardins, Kelly, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

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