Word: sensei
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...with delicate quarter-tone shadings. Everyone said it was the best performance of that melody in history." Yet Japanese performers, educators and critics admit that the lack of real comprehension is the greatest hindrance to Japanese musicians' acceptance in the West. Students too are often taught to emulate their sensei (teachers) rather than to think for themselves. Perhaps it is no contradiction that Saito's most flamboyant pupil is also his staunchest admirer...
That pragmatic attitude is echoed in the quality of many Japanese performances, which tend to stress technique over insight. This is largely due to the extraordinary respect, bordering on veneration, that the Japanese have for teachers, or sensei; too often students seek to imitate a teacher's style in preference to developing an individual interpretation. The innate Japanese reluctance to assert oneself in public is partly to blame, as is the strong desire to honor the sensei by reproducing their imparted wisdom. But in Western music, which prizes individuality, such cultural conditioning is a hindrance. Notes Kimura: "The principal...
...challenge facing Japanese music, then, is to deepen the understanding of an art they now share with the West. Performers, having proved themselves the equal of any technically, must now transcend their sensei and find their own, distinctly Japanese voices. -By Michael Walsh