FALL 2007 HONORS COURSES

HONR 268Y Japan’s Silk Road Music: Treasured, Transformed, and Transcendent
Wednesday, 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Dr. Miyuki Yoshikami, Lecturer in University Honors

Japan is a rich source of world music. Lured by silk and exotic goods, ancient merchants traveled the perilous Silk Road from the Roman Empire, Persia, Manchuria, India, and Southeast Asia to converge in Chang’an, China. The trade route then continued eastward to Korea and Japan, where a storehouse in Nara today houses priceless possessions given to the Emperor Shomu (724-749). Less concrete, but very significant, are the introduction of Buddhist chants, gagaku and bugaku ensemble music that are treasured and played as originally composed in Japan; the music continues to be heard today like a living record of ancient sounds. Later during the 9th century, political conditions made traveling unsafe. Indigenous Japanese aesthetics prevailed upon Silk Road instruments to transform them into the refined genres of biwa, noh chants, koto, and later shamisen music of bunraku and kabuki theater. Upon these highly developed musical forms, Western music, introduced in the late 19th century, initiated experimentations to transcend Japanese music into new fusions. These novel creations, in a turnabout, now radiate back to parts of Asia and the West.

The course examines historically the introduction, adaptation, preservation, new creations, and the current melding of Japanese with Western music that now go beyond its borders. Students will listen to and recognize the major genres of music, research and discuss the content and society of the music, and analyze the changes. Course readings will consist of selected handouts, video and listening assignments, Internet explorations, and demonstrations by performers.

CORE–History or Theory of the Arts [HA] Diversity [D]