In the third edition of ‘Music and the Non-Human’, we present a performance using the shō. This instrument is said to have originated from an ancient Chinese mythological goddess who imitated the cry and shape of a phoenix. It was introduced to Japan around the 8th century and has retained its form to the present day. The performer, Fabio Rambelli, teaches at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his current research focuses on the history of Gagaku philosophy.
The first half of the programme will feature classical gagaku pieces such as “Koshiden Gaku” and “Jororo”, while the second half will feature contemporary pieces such as “Hour of the Monkey” from Daryl Jamieson’s “Descant 1″, John Cage’s “One9”, and the traditional Afro-Brazilian song “Ogunde”. This will be a unique opportunity to experience the sound and range of the shō up close and personal.
Date: 2024.07.21 [Sun] 16:00 – 19:00
Venue: Recording Studio, Acoustic Research Center, Ohashi Campus, Kyushu University
Participation fee: Free of charge
※ All tickets for this event are free. All customers are asked to register via peatix.
Programme:
First part : the classical Gagaku repertory
Hyōjō no chōshi
Bairo
Taishikichō no nyūjō
Etenraku
Second part : contemporary pieces
Daryl Jamieson : ‘Hour of the Monkey’ from Descants 1 (2020)
Riccardo Vaglini : Lettera alla madre (1991)
John Cage : One9 (1991)
Traditional Afro-Brazilian song (arr. by John Coltrane) : Ogunde (1967)
Performer:
Fabio Rambelli (shō)
Fabio Rambelli is a professor of Japanese religions and cultural history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has published extensively on semiotics, materiality, and ritual systems in Esoteric Buddhism and Shinto, with special focus on the metahuman dimension in Japanese religious history. He is currently working on the intellectual history of Gagaku. He plays the shō and the u (both the classical repertory of Gagaku and contemporary music for those instruments); he has studied with Maestro Bunno Hideaki and Maestro Manabe Naoyuki. His musical CDs include Pearls (2023) with his duo Neo Archē (shō+gaku-biwa), New Heritage (with his trio ryūteki+hichiriki+shō, 2023), and The Turning Point (shō+drums, 2024), an exploration of the possibilities of the shō in a free-jazz context (all published by Edgetone Records).
Inquiries:
Daryl Jamieson, Faculty of Design, Kyushu University
Mail: jamieson★design.kyushu-u.ac.jp
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