Word: gagaku
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...length of the instrument, deftly depressing the vibrating strings in order to vary tones and lend the tinge of melancholy that is the unique trait of the koto. The opening melody, sketched against a background of moaning strings and sudden percussive bursts, followed the austere style of the ancient gagaku court music of Japan, then shifted in the second movement to a distinctly Western hymnal theme. In the final movement, strains of East and West were interlaced in a rapid rhythmic pattern between the koto, flute and harp. Though sometimes lost in the thicket of strings, the high-strung koto...
...Middle Eastern treatment of the theme from Fiddler on the Roof, a brooding interpretation of a classical piano piece writ ten in 1888 by French Composer Erik Satie. Mann also introduced a new gimmick: he played a flute improvisation against a tape recording of eerily exotic, centuries-old gagaku music, played by the royal musicians of Japan's imperi al court, a memento picked up when Mann played with the gagaku musicians during a tour of Japan three months...
...highly stylized mixture of musical drama and myth that the Imperial Dancers brought with them is known as Gagaku, meaning "noble and elegant music." Imported to Japan from China in the 8th century A.D., Gagaku was confined to the court in the 17th century, has been seen by the general public only since the end of World War II. No longer supported by the court, the troupe still uses the resplendent gold-and-silk costumes privately owned by the Emperor; a Pinkerton man is guarding them during the troupe's 16 Manhattan performances. (The troupe will also...
...Gagaku's dances unfold stories of childlike simplicity in a context of barbaric splendor: a Mongol wanders the forest seeking a golden snake, finds it coiled at his feet, crouches in his stiffly encrusted robes to eat it, performs an angular dance of joy; four dancers in court dress, with cherry blossoms in their headgear, unfold with caressing steps from a circle, suggesting the blossoms in the imperial garden opening under the May sun. Even without masks, the dancers' faces are as unwaveringly expressionless as carvings in jade. The body movements are slow, solemn, almost architectural, with...
...Western audience the dance fragments with their muted accompaniment of drums, flute or plucked strings may at first seem too contained to be powerfully stirring. But once the spectator grows accustomed to Gagaku's own laws of time and space, the dance becomes an unforgettable illustration of the unsuspected beauties of repose, the high drama that can be compressed in small-scale patterns...