Music has no borders. Such is often said.
Originally, music, with or without lyrics, should basically be called "nonverbal expression. This is because it expresses itself through "sound," an abstract means that itself has no linguistic meaning.
Furthermore, the Internet now provides easy access to a wide variety of music from all over the world. For both creators and recipients of music, the phrase "music has no borders" seems to be becoming more and more real.
But is this really the case? Have borders disappeared from music?
A long time ago, there was an article in the newspaper that questioned the meaning of Oriental people performing Western music. In answer to this question, the conductor Seiji Ozawa said, "It does not matter what country a performer is from when performing music.
However, the answer of a prominent Japanese conductor who was also active in Europe at the time was different from Ozawa's.
I think they (Westerners) don't want us (Orientals) to do it. "To tell you the truth, they (Westerners) don't want us (Orientals) to do it," he said. Even the Japanese don't want to see Kabuki performed by Westerners, do they?
At the time I read this article, I recall feeling rather sympathetic to the latter opinion. Of course, Ozawa's opinion that "the country has nothing to do with music" is probably correct in a sense.
However, musicians are human beings. It is impossible for a musician to create music without being influenced by the culture of the country where he or she was born and raised. It is natural to think so.
I recall pianist Mitsuko Uchida also pointing out that the music a person makes is greatly influenced by the language he or she normally uses.
Indeed, a musician who grew up speaking French and a musician who grew up speaking German are likely to differ in the character of the sound of their voices or instruments.
Speaking of the relationship between musicians and nationality, violinist Midori Goto had this to say.
Hazuki Saisou, "Absolute Sound Sense" (Shogakukan)1998This is an episode from the book, "The Goto Family," published in 2006. The author visited the Goto family and interviewed Midori and her mother, Setsu. Let me quote from it as follows284from (e.g. time, place, numerical value, etc.)285(page).
How about something like this, for example, the verse asks.
If you had ten violinists playing side by side behind a curtain, would you be able to tell which country the girl was from?"
I think I can tell. Japanese, Korean, Russian, male or female. Maybe I can tell more when I play the piano."
How do you know?
'The way they play, their musicality. But the Russians have been out of the country recently, so they may have less character. And with orchestras, you can tell which orchestra it is by listening to the first bar or two of the strings."
."NHKMaybe it's because the symphony orchestra has so many men, but the sound is so round.PMFThe orchestra is just kind of a mixed bag."
'Men have a rounder sound. Women have fire."
Midori is like an Oriental woman who knows the colors of America. The same is true of Chung Kyung-wha. Akiko Suwanai gives me the feeling of a Japanese woman.
I'm sure you'll understand, too, if you listen and compare," laughed Setsuna.
How about that? I think this is a conversation that would make any music fan groan. When I listen to music without any prior knowledge of the music, it is impossible for me to guess the nationality of the performer.
Of course, even a novice like me can identify some musicians, such as Glenn Gould and Keith Jarrett, who have unique tones and playing styles, without prior knowledge of the performer, just by listening to the beginning of the performance.
However, I was surprised to learn that, like Midori Goto, she can tell the difference between Asians and Westerners, and even between men and women. Once again, this episode reminds us of the amazing ears of classical musicians (or should I say Midori Goto's ears?).
Although the conversation here mentions not only the nationality of the performers, but also their gender, it seems safe to assume that there are differences in musicality based on nationality (at least, as far as the book is concerned).1990(in the 1950s).
Nevertheless, Midori Goto's comment, "Men have a rounder sound. Women have fire." Midori Goto's words made me think, "Was I right? I had not paid much attention to this until I read this book. I suggest that from now on, you too should listen to music with an ear for such things.
This is a bit off topic, but for example1950Since the s.60When listening to jazz from the 1950s, it is sometimes relatively easy to tell whether a performer is white or black. The most obvious example is the 'Kind of Blue / Miles Davis'The first is.
Bill Evans is the piano player on that famous album. When I first heard the album, the first track, 'So What'is over, and the second song, 'Freddie Freeloader'.indicates such things as location of person or thing, location of short-term action, etc.advancedWhen I was asked, "What's going on? Did the pianist change?" I thought.
The credits showed that Wynton Kelly played the piano on this track. Even I, who was not a deep jazz listener, could tell the difference at first listen. My guess that it would be a black pianist was also correct.
However, when one first hears jazz recorded today, it is probably much more difficult to tell whether the performer is white or black than it used to be.
Nationality, gender, race, and other such attributes no longer have such a strong influence on the tone and musicality of a musician. Perhaps this is the era we live in today.
Old story, but before,TBSTV's "NEWS23In a program titled "The Music of the World," Tetsuya Chikushi was interviewing conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim. Barenboim had this to say.
I believe that a high degree of nationalism can exist in the arts."
Come to think of it, Prince also said something like this during his lifetime (when it is safe to say that he had already retired from the forefront).
."1980In the 1950s, there was such a thing as diversity. But now everyone has gone in one direction."
Barenboim and Prince. Although the genres of music they are doing are quite different, the fact that musicians are now making the above statements may mean that diversity is waning in the world's music.
Nowadays, many people seem to say that if you are a good musician, it does not matter what your nationality, gender (sexual orientation), race or ethnicity is. However, whether one is good or not, it is rather enjoyable that one's musicality exudes different flavors depending on one's country of upbringing, gender, race, or ethnicity.
But if in fact, classical music, jazz, rock,R&BEven if there has been a slight loss of diversity within each genre, such as in the following, the world is still full of various kinds of "good music" as ever. In such a time as this, we can make up for it by "expanding the genres of music that I enjoy.
Today, especially through the use of the Internet, it is easier than it would have been a few decades ago to access a wide variety of music genres that would have been completely unthinkable.
The wonderful music created in the past, which should be called a great achievement of mankind, and the new music that will be created in the future. And new music that will be born in the future. Never before has there been an age in which we can enjoy both in such abundance as we do today.
This is what I like to call a revolution. Sometimes I even think that I might have been born 20 years earlier.
It's a long story, so I'll conclude.
As long as mankind exists in this world, the glorious joy brought by music will continue. Let music be eternal.
* All statements made by the musician in this article are from my memory, except for the quote from "Absolute Tone". There is no doubt that he was speaking as such for the purpose of this article. However, please note that not word for word is exactly as I saw or heard it.