WEBVTT 00:01.520 --> 00:17.250 align:start >> From the Library of Congress in Washington DC. 00:17.250 --> 00:18.210 align:start >> Good afternoon! 00:18.210 --> 00:21.110 align:start I'm Sue Vita, the Chief of the Music Division. 00:21.110 --> 00:23.890 align:start It's my great pleasure to welcome you to this lecture, 00:23.890 --> 00:26.440 align:start which is the sixth in a series, 00:26.440 --> 00:30.670 align:start cosponsored with the American Musicological Society. 00:30.670 --> 00:36.910 align:start We began these talks in 2008 with a lecture on Ruth Crawford Seeger. 00:36.910 --> 00:41.950 align:start Subsequent programs have highlighted Irving Berlin, Arnold Schoenberg, 00:41.950 --> 00:43.720 align:start William Schuman, and even one 00:43.720 --> 00:48.740 align:start of my predecessors former Music Division Chief Harold Spivacke. 00:48.740 --> 00:52.810 align:start Both the music division and the society are pleased 00:52.810 --> 00:55.160 align:start with the success of this series. 00:55.160 --> 01:00.080 align:start Statistics demonstrate that the library's web casts 01:00.080 --> 01:04.130 align:start of these talks have a worldwide virtual audience 01:04.130 --> 01:07.680 align:start and are even used in University curricula. 01:07.680 --> 01:10.350 align:start Not only do they demonstrate the robust scholarship 01:10.350 --> 01:14.460 align:start in American Musicology but they offer an enticing glimpse 01:14.460 --> 01:19.240 align:start into the riches of the music division's unique holdings. 01:19.240 --> 01:24.310 align:start We invite AMS scholars to present their work twice a year, 01:24.310 --> 01:28.090 align:start here in our historic Coolidge Auditorium. 01:28.090 --> 01:32.640 align:start But also through these talks, we invite young scholars 01:32.640 --> 01:37.310 align:start to consider investigating our collections for, I assure you, 01:37.310 --> 01:43.530 align:start they still hold myriad untapped treasures and research topics. 01:43.530 --> 01:47.310 align:start This afternoon's talk by Anthony Sheppard highlights an intriguing 01:47.310 --> 01:53.060 align:start link in works by American modernist composers whose compositions are 01:53.060 --> 01:56.730 align:start housed at the Library and the influence of Japan 01:56.730 --> 02:00.270 align:start on their musical expression. Before introducing Anthony, however, 02:03.620 --> 02:06.130 align:start I would like to introduce a frequent visitor 02:06.130 --> 02:09.500 align:start to the performing arts reading room Professor Laura Youens 02:09.500 --> 02:13.920 align:start of the Department of Music at the George Washington University, 02:13.920 --> 02:17.360 align:start who brings greetings from the American Musicological Society. 02:17.360 --> 02:18.510 align:start Laura. [ Applause ] 02:27.140 --> 02:28.620 align:start >> Laura Youens: Good afternoon! 02:28.620 --> 02:32.750 align:start I am honored to represent the American Musicological Society 02:32.750 --> 02:36.420 align:start in what it rightfully regards as an important research initiative 02:36.420 --> 02:38.640 align:start with the Library of Congress. 02:38.640 --> 02:42.960 align:start As a long time resident of this area, I have had ample opportunity 02:42.960 --> 02:46.010 align:start to enjoy the wonderful resources of this library 02:46.010 --> 02:50.560 align:start as has today's speaker Dr. Anthony Sheppard. 02:50.560 --> 02:54.850 align:start He earned his BA degree at Amherst College and both MFA 02:54.850 --> 02:58.720 align:start and PhD degrees from Princeton. 02:58.720 --> 03:03.610 align:start Since 1996, he has taught at Williams College in Williamstown, 03:03.610 --> 03:08.030 align:start Massachusetts where he is currently Professor of Music. 03:08.030 --> 03:10.110 align:start He has received numerous grants 03:10.110 --> 03:14.310 align:start and awards including an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award 03:14.310 --> 03:16.730 align:start and Alfred Einstein Award, 03:16.730 --> 03:19.970 align:start an American Philosophical Society Fellowship, 03:19.970 --> 03:23.400 align:start and the Kurt Weill Book Prize among others. 03:23.400 --> 03:27.290 align:start His book Revealing Masks: Exotic Influences 03:27.290 --> 03:28.850 align:start and Ritualized Performance 03:28.850 --> 03:32.820 align:start in Modernist Music Theater was published by the University 03:32.820 --> 03:37.990 align:start of California Press in 2001. 03:37.990 --> 03:42.870 align:start In numerous articles, papers, and public lectures, he has addressed 03:42.870 --> 03:47.810 align:start such topic as Tan Dun's The First Emperor, Harry Partch, 03:47.810 --> 03:54.420 align:start various aspects of Japonisme, Philip Glass, Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus, 03:54.420 --> 03:58.600 align:start and representations of Japan in Hollywood films. 03:58.600 --> 04:01.720 align:start By the research he has carried out here, 04:01.720 --> 04:06.050 align:start he will soon publish another book Extreme Exoticism: 04:06.050 --> 04:09.370 align:start Japan in the American Musical Imagination. 04:09.370 --> 04:12.510 align:start Please join me in welcoming Tony Sheppard. 04:12.510 --> 04:22.040 align:start [ Applause ] 04:22.040 --> 04:24.050 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: Thank you for that introduction. 04:24.050 --> 04:26.840 align:start I'm honored to represent the many members 04:26.840 --> 04:30.780 align:start of the American Musicological Society who have pursued research 04:30.780 --> 04:34.040 align:start in the Music Division of the Library of Congress. 04:34.040 --> 04:38.120 align:start I am also grateful for this opportunity to thank the librarians 04:38.120 --> 04:40.400 align:start who have made our work possible. 04:40.400 --> 04:44.540 align:start Many of my research projects over the years have led me to the library 04:44.540 --> 04:45.820 align:start for this is the place 04:45.820 --> 04:49.600 align:start where countless projects are launched and culminated. 04:49.600 --> 04:53.720 align:start It is also the place that sparks ideas leading us to travel 04:53.720 --> 04:57.430 align:start to other archives across the nation and the world. 04:57.430 --> 05:01.390 align:start The vastness of the music division's collections sets the stage 05:01.390 --> 05:05.050 align:start for dramatic moments of scholarly serendipity. 05:05.050 --> 05:09.130 align:start During several research trips to the library over the past 15 years, 05:09.130 --> 05:11.830 align:start I found myself encountering new topics 05:11.830 --> 05:14.690 align:start that I had been unaware of before my visit. 05:14.690 --> 05:18.300 align:start In fact, on a trip to canvas the music division's collection 05:18.300 --> 05:23.540 align:start of Tin Pan Alley era sheet music for songs with Japan as their subject, 05:23.540 --> 05:27.020 align:start I stumbled upon an opera entitled Sakura, 05:27.020 --> 05:29.470 align:start which you will hear about later on. 05:29.470 --> 05:33.190 align:start I am currently completing a historical study of the relationship 05:33.190 --> 05:38.060 align:start between Japan and the United States as echoed and shaped by music. 05:38.060 --> 05:42.020 align:start A good deal of this book is devoted to the impact of Japanese music 05:42.020 --> 05:46.630 align:start and culture on the careers of specific American composers. 05:46.630 --> 05:49.510 align:start The profound Japanese influence on the development 05:49.510 --> 05:53.950 align:start of American modern architecture, painting, theater, design, 05:53.950 --> 05:58.220 align:start gardening, and literature, has long been documented and celebrated 05:58.220 --> 06:01.540 align:start in numerous publications and exhibitions. 06:01.540 --> 06:05.570 align:start Less well known is the impact of Japanese traditional music 06:05.570 --> 06:08.800 align:start in shaping American musical modernism. 06:08.800 --> 06:12.730 align:start As early as 1882, the celebrated zoologist 06:12.730 --> 06:17.470 align:start and japanophile Edward Sylvester Morse went into Japanese music 06:17.470 --> 06:20.990 align:start as offering ideas that could take the 'Power 06:20.990 --> 06:23.420 align:start of music in a new direction'. Morse's statement proved prophetic 06:25.830 --> 06:30.130 align:start for numerous American composers have turned to Japan for inspiration 06:30.130 --> 06:35.520 align:start as they sought to make music new over the past hundred years. 06:35.520 --> 06:39.660 align:start The history of this cross-cultural musical interaction is documented 06:39.660 --> 06:43.540 align:start in unpublished and published scores, manuscripts, photographs, 06:43.540 --> 06:47.800 align:start and correspondence held often uniquely in the Music Division 06:47.800 --> 06:49.730 align:start of the Library of Congress. 06:49.730 --> 06:54.240 align:start Numerous American composers have responded in their music to the art 06:54.240 --> 06:59.850 align:start and poetry of Japan as well as to the timbres, rhythms, and forms of, 06:59.850 --> 07:04.170 align:start for example, the Japanese shakuhachi flute and Gagaku - 07:04.170 --> 07:07.090 align:start the Ancient Court Ensemble Music. 07:07.090 --> 07:10.300 align:start The works of these composers have repeatedly spurred me 07:10.300 --> 07:14.990 align:start to investigate the relationship between cross-cultural influence 07:14.990 --> 07:17.510 align:start and exotic representations. 07:17.510 --> 07:21.580 align:start This music likewise challenges us to reconsider our understanding 07:21.580 --> 07:26.270 align:start of modernism and to ask which styles and techniques might qualify 07:26.270 --> 07:31.840 align:start in different periods as forms of modern American music. 07:31.840 --> 07:36.220 align:start Today, I will focus on but four composers representing divergent 07:36.220 --> 07:40.730 align:start periods, styles, and artistic outlooks who each traveled to Japan 07:40.730 --> 07:43.880 align:start and whose approaches to creating modern music were shaped 07:43.880 --> 07:45.840 align:start by this experience. 07:45.840 --> 07:51.010 align:start The first, Henry Eichheim was one of the earliest American composers 07:51.010 --> 07:56.810 align:start to pursue Asian music studies and was active in the teens and 1920's. 07:56.810 --> 07:59.380 align:start The career of the prolific jazz band arranger 07:59.380 --> 08:03.430 align:start and songwriter Claude Lapham was redirected toward Japan 08:03.430 --> 08:07.880 align:start through one specific commission in 1933. 08:07.880 --> 08:09.500 align:start The major American composer 08:09.500 --> 08:13.960 align:start and educator Henry Cowell heard Japanese folk music as a child early 08:13.960 --> 08:16.350 align:start in the century and travelled to Japan 08:16.350 --> 08:20.240 align:start as a Cold War Cultural Ambassador later in life. 08:20.240 --> 08:26.020 align:start And finally, Roger Reynolds lived in Japan between 1966 and 1969 08:26.020 --> 08:30.360 align:start and has maintained a deep personal connection to Japan ever since, 08:30.360 --> 08:33.760 align:start collaborating with Japanese artistes and writing about the music 08:33.760 --> 08:36.650 align:start of modern Japanese composers. 08:36.650 --> 08:40.770 align:start These four American composers of the same gender and race, 08:40.770 --> 08:44.580 align:start but from very different backgrounds one a classical violinist, 08:44.580 --> 08:46.790 align:start the second a jazz band arranger, 08:46.790 --> 08:50.760 align:start the third a home-schooled musical protg, and the fourth, 08:50.760 --> 08:54.230 align:start initially trained as an engineer were each based 08:54.230 --> 08:58.360 align:start in California during formative periods in their careers. 08:58.360 --> 09:02.070 align:start Each of these composers is also well represented in the collections 09:02.070 --> 09:05.570 align:start of the Library of Congress, which include the recent deposit 09:05.570 --> 09:08.700 align:start of the Reynolds Collection offering a timely opportunity 09:08.700 --> 09:13.480 align:start to explore the impact of Japan and Japanese culture on the work 09:13.480 --> 09:16.110 align:start and musical thought of this major contemporary figure. 09:16.110 --> 09:19.610 align:start I will consider each of these composers in turn 09:19.610 --> 09:26.770 align:start and will offer some comparative reflections in the end. 09:26.770 --> 09:31.390 align:start Following 21 years as a violinist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, 09:31.390 --> 09:35.190 align:start Henry Eichheim retired in 1912 to devote himself 09:35.190 --> 09:37.600 align:start to composition and travel. 09:37.600 --> 09:40.970 align:start During his second trip to East Asia in 1920, 09:40.970 --> 09:44.800 align:start in a letter to his friend Carl Engel, who was then Chief 09:44.800 --> 09:48.380 align:start of the Music Division of the Library of Congress and later served 09:48.380 --> 09:51.590 align:start as President of the American Musicological Society, 09:51.590 --> 09:56.160 align:start Eichheim declared that Japan 'has a mysterious charm, 09:56.160 --> 10:00.170 align:start a poetry no other country seems to posses for me.' 10:00.170 --> 10:03.210 align:start Eichheim appears to have enjoyed the pretense 10:03.210 --> 10:07.970 align:start of temporarily collapsing the space between self and exotic other. 10:07.970 --> 10:12.800 align:start In a 1928 letter, from Japan to Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, 10:12.800 --> 10:16.510 align:start the great music patron and donor of this very auditorium, 10:16.510 --> 10:19.720 align:start Eichheim relates that he is staying in a mountain resort 10:19.720 --> 10:24.440 align:start and living 'in a semi-Japanese manner, so that I eat raw fish 10:24.440 --> 10:27.730 align:start with chopsticks and do many other Japanese things all 10:27.730 --> 10:30.320 align:start for the sake of local color.' 10:30.320 --> 10:34.650 align:start Musically, he believed that he had strayed far from the domestic, 10:34.650 --> 10:36.770 align:start 'Can you imagine the amount and kinds 10:36.770 --> 10:39.170 align:start of music I shall hear during this time? 10:39.170 --> 10:41.720 align:start I am sure a plain C major triad will sound 10:41.720 --> 10:45.320 align:start like a strange exotic thing to me when I return.' 10:45.320 --> 10:49.610 align:start Eichheim journeyed to Japan and other East Asian nations repeatedly 10:49.610 --> 10:55.350 align:start between 1915 and 1937 and approached these trips as a collector, 10:55.350 --> 10:59.400 align:start amassing an impressive set of musical instruments, 10:59.400 --> 11:01.850 align:start taking numerous photographs of performers, 11:01.850 --> 11:05.200 align:start and transcribing over two thousand tunes. 11:05.200 --> 11:07.070 align:start Eichheim's ultimate goal was 11:07.070 --> 11:11.510 align:start to present these exotic cultural artifacts to American audiences. 11:11.510 --> 11:16.080 align:start Writing from Japan to Coolidge, Eichheim is explicit, 11:16.080 --> 11:20.130 align:start 'We hope to hear some of the music that will be used at the Coronation 11:20.130 --> 11:24.800 align:start of the Japanese Emperor, and as this is chiefly for small orchestra, 11:24.800 --> 11:28.860 align:start I hope to find some priceless old imperial music that I may use 11:28.860 --> 11:32.220 align:start in a piece I hope I may write for you.' 11:32.220 --> 11:36.050 align:start In addressing her as Lady Coolidge in this hopeful letter, 11:36.050 --> 11:40.270 align:start Eichheim appears to be assuming the role of an imperial explorer 11:40.270 --> 11:44.780 align:start in the age of discovery or perhaps is serving as her art collector, 11:44.780 --> 11:47.670 align:start playing the part of a musical Bernard Berenson 11:47.670 --> 11:51.240 align:start to her Isabella Stewart Gardner. 11:51.240 --> 11:54.830 align:start In addition to offering a mysterious charm, 11:54.830 --> 11:59.580 align:start Eichheim felt that Japanese music could help direct Euro-American art 11:59.580 --> 12:04.420 align:start music out of what he perceived to be its late romantic impasse. 12:04.420 --> 12:09.990 align:start In 1923, Eichheim complained that he could no longer work with the 'stiff 12:09.990 --> 12:14.320 align:start and antiquated patterns of European forms' and he predicted 12:14.320 --> 12:18.520 align:start that the music of the Orient 'will make our music ever more free 12:18.520 --> 12:20.570 align:start and flexible in expression.' 12:20.570 --> 12:26.260 align:start Claiming in 1928 that 'the future of European music can be enhanced 12:26.260 --> 12:29.860 align:start and enriched by the finer sense of line and proportion 12:29.860 --> 12:34.530 align:start and greater rhythmic scope of some of the music of the Orient.' 12:34.530 --> 12:38.740 align:start More immediately, he hoped that his own study of Asian music would help 12:38.740 --> 12:42.200 align:start to separate his music from the conservative strand 12:42.200 --> 12:44.650 align:start of current American composition. 12:44.650 --> 12:49.000 align:start Writing again to Carl Engel, Eichheim enthused, 12:49.000 --> 12:53.050 align:start 'Japanese church festivals are fertile fields for strange sights 12:53.050 --> 12:57.870 align:start and sounds, crowded streets, costumes and floats, always designed 12:57.870 --> 13:01.920 align:start from traditional subjects, and the rhythms of the drums, Oh my, 13:01.920 --> 13:04.840 align:start how you would enjoy these broken china effects 13:04.840 --> 13:09.710 align:start that make the wildest ragtime sound like the safe and respectable 4-4 13:09.710 --> 13:12.540 align:start so dear to the heart of Arthur Foote.' 13:12.540 --> 13:15.300 align:start For Eichheim, Japan's strange sights 13:15.300 --> 13:20.530 align:start and sounds offered a promising path toward modern music. 13:20.530 --> 13:24.640 align:start Eichheim's reputation as a composer rests a large part on a set 13:24.640 --> 13:27.660 align:start of short pieces, each inspired by his travels 13:27.660 --> 13:30.450 align:start to a specific East-Asian nation. 13:30.450 --> 13:34.330 align:start The movements of Oriental Sketches including Japanese Sketch 13:34.330 --> 13:39.120 align:start and Japanese Nocturne were arranged by Eichheim for chamber orchestra 13:39.120 --> 13:43.040 align:start in 1921 as Oriental Impressions. 13:43.040 --> 13:47.690 align:start The manuscript copy of the piano version of Japanese sketch as well 13:47.690 --> 13:50.900 align:start as the manuscript copies of the chamber versions of Japanese Sketch 13:50.900 --> 13:54.310 align:start and Japanese Nocturne commissioned by Coolidge are held here 13:54.310 --> 13:56.340 align:start at the Library of Congress. 13:56.340 --> 13:58.640 align:start In each of these pieces, Eichheim attempted 13:58.640 --> 14:02.010 align:start to evoke the sound of being there. In the Japanese sketch of 1918, 14:04.330 --> 14:09.190 align:start Eichheim presented four exotic finds: The boom of the big bell 14:09.190 --> 14:13.790 align:start at the Chion-in Temple in Kyoto, the chant of a Buddhist priest, 14:13.790 --> 14:17.210 align:start a Shakuhachi tune, and a country boy's song. 14:17.210 --> 14:19.800 align:start They are presented with the utmost clarity 14:19.800 --> 14:23.260 align:start with even greater melodic profile than heard, for example, 14:23.260 --> 14:27.740 align:start in Stravinsky's treatment of Russian folk songs in Petrushka. 14:27.740 --> 14:31.630 align:start Unlike Stravinsky, Eichheim most always identified his borrowed 14:31.630 --> 14:34.420 align:start material in his scores and program notes. 14:34.420 --> 14:38.450 align:start The implication of this score is that we are hearing a collage 14:38.450 --> 14:42.810 align:start of the actual sounds of Japan one formed of juxtapositions 14:42.810 --> 14:45.400 align:start that we might encounter if we could but travel 14:45.400 --> 14:48.550 align:start to the exotic land ourselves. 14:48.550 --> 14:52.550 align:start Eichheim came closest to transporting his audience to Japan 14:52.550 --> 14:57.230 align:start in his orchestral version of Japanese nocturne 1922. 14:57.230 --> 15:01.590 align:start Here the cherished sounds of Japan heard from his bedroom window, 15:01.590 --> 15:05.550 align:start the shrill piping of food vendors, the plucking of a koto, 15:05.550 --> 15:10.080 align:start and the chanted prayer of an old man beating a wooden bell float 15:10.080 --> 15:14.050 align:start through a non-harmonic drone of tolling octaves and fifths 15:14.050 --> 15:18.540 align:start and a lulling pulse of arpeggiated triplets befitting a nocturne. 15:18.540 --> 15:22.380 align:start The most striking feature of this piece occurs near the end 15:22.380 --> 15:26.640 align:start as the old man's prayer played by the oboe is accompanied 15:26.640 --> 15:31.260 align:start by his constant beating of a Japanese fish-head wooden slit drum 15:31.260 --> 15:34.270 align:start or temple block a mokugyo. 15:34.270 --> 15:38.560 align:start The instrument specified by Eiccheimian score. 15:38.560 --> 15:41.960 align:start Eichheim's historical significance is credited largely 15:41.960 --> 15:43.830 align:start to his early incorporation 15:43.830 --> 15:48.670 align:start of numerous East-Asian percussion instruments in his orchestral works. 15:48.670 --> 15:53.230 align:start Many of which he made available from his own collection for performances. 15:53.230 --> 15:57.760 align:start At the moment the fish-head drum enters, the representational system 15:57.760 --> 16:00.240 align:start of the piece has been breached, 16:00.240 --> 16:04.670 align:start rather than translating the old man's drum, Eichheim purports 16:04.670 --> 16:09.350 align:start to place the actual exotic musical object before his audience. 16:09.350 --> 16:13.650 align:start Of course such bids for authenticity often prove difficult to realize 16:13.650 --> 16:17.310 align:start in performance and Eichheim allowed for exotic substitutes 16:17.310 --> 16:21.790 align:start in his manuscript score, 'If no fish-head drum, 16:21.790 --> 16:24.760 align:start a smaller Japanese wood bell or drum used 16:24.760 --> 16:27.270 align:start in Buddhist prayers is available, 16:27.270 --> 16:32.650 align:start kindly use a small Chinese woodblock made by Deegan in Chicago.' 16:32.650 --> 16:37.400 align:start Here is the conclusion of Japanese Nocturne in a 1929 recording 16:37.400 --> 16:40.510 align:start by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. 16:40.510 --> 17:26.400 align:start [ Music ] 17:26.400 --> 17:29.100 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: In assessing, cross-cultural influence, 17:29.100 --> 17:32.970 align:start it may seem natural to search for evidence of integration 17:32.970 --> 17:35.840 align:start and a deeper engagement with the fundamental elements 17:35.840 --> 17:38.230 align:start of exotic artistic traditions 17:38.230 --> 17:42.270 align:start of true influence rather than mere imitation. 17:42.270 --> 17:46.880 align:start The evidence for such engagement in Eichheim's works is relatively slim, 17:46.880 --> 17:50.710 align:start which perhaps partly explains his current obscurity. 17:50.710 --> 17:54.530 align:start Eichheim appears to have been most struck by the floating pulse 17:54.530 --> 17:58.770 align:start and ambiguous meter of some forms of Japanese traditional music 17:58.770 --> 18:01.390 align:start and this interest is manifested in several 18:01.390 --> 18:05.120 align:start of his Japanese inspired works, not to mention in remarks 18:05.120 --> 18:07.590 align:start such as the sarcastic reference to safe 18:07.590 --> 18:10.460 align:start and respectable meters I quoted earlier. 18:10.460 --> 18:14.810 align:start A note pasted on to the second page of the manuscript score 18:14.810 --> 18:19.320 align:start of Japanese Sketch that he presented to Coolidge states that, 18:19.320 --> 18:22.970 align:start 'Extreme legato is to be observed throughout the piece. 18:22.970 --> 18:26.750 align:start I would like it to sound as if there were no bar lines.' 18:26.750 --> 18:30.430 align:start In the score of the original piano version of Japanese Nocturne, 18:30.430 --> 18:34.750 align:start Eichheim went one step further by abandoning bar lines altogether 18:34.750 --> 18:38.670 align:start for the final melody and noting that 'The left hand 18:38.670 --> 18:42.800 align:start and the right hand are to be played without time relation.' 18:42.800 --> 18:44.610 align:start An even more striking feature 18:44.610 --> 18:49.040 align:start in these pieces is the occasional occurrence of pitch clusters, 18:49.040 --> 18:53.670 align:start for example, in measure 19 of the Japanese Sketch, 18:53.670 --> 18:58.510 align:start we hear the following isolated seven pitch cluster lasting two beats. 18:58.510 --> 19:05.060 align:start [ Music ] 19:05.060 --> 19:07.140 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: In the Japanese Nocturne, 19:07.140 --> 19:09.390 align:start a five-pitch cluster sustained 19:09.390 --> 19:12.510 align:start for several measures near the opening of the piece. 19:12.510 --> 19:18.040 align:start [ Music ] 19:18.040 --> 19:22.200 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: And other clusters appeared later in that work. 19:22.200 --> 19:26.520 align:start I tend to assume that any pitch cluster 19:26.520 --> 19:30.480 align:start in a Japanese inspired work is a sign of the composer's knowledge 19:30.480 --> 19:35.740 align:start of the Japanese sho - a mouth organ that sustains clusters of five 19:35.740 --> 19:41.200 align:start to six pitches used in Gagaku - the Ancient Court Orchestral Music. 19:41.200 --> 19:45.310 align:start In Eichheim's case, such knowledge is a real possibility and some 19:45.310 --> 19:47.820 align:start of his clusters resemble sho clusters 19:47.820 --> 19:50.400 align:start in interval content quite closely 19:50.400 --> 19:54.060 align:start and since he was likely the first Euro-American composer 19:54.060 --> 19:59.130 align:start to hear Gagaku, as we will see, he certainly was not the last. 19:59.130 --> 20:03.290 align:start In a response typical of modernists after encountering ancient material, 20:03.290 --> 20:08.000 align:start Eichheim and numerous other later composers looked upon the elite 20:08.000 --> 20:12.450 align:start Gagaku as an ideal source for the creation of modern music. 20:12.450 --> 20:15.060 align:start In fact, Gagaku itself could be claimed 20:15.060 --> 20:18.780 align:start for the modernist flag according to Eichheim. 20:18.780 --> 20:23.300 align:start 'Here we have music fourteen hundred years old and yet so modern 20:23.300 --> 20:25.500 align:start that if I had been told that the composition was 20:25.500 --> 20:30.370 align:start by a radical ultramodern European, I would have believed it.' 20:30.370 --> 20:33.320 align:start Eichheim's influence on later American composers 20:33.320 --> 20:35.000 align:start and on other artists interested 20:35.000 --> 20:38.300 align:start in non-western cultures has been underestimated. 20:38.300 --> 20:41.640 align:start He served as a persuasive proselytizer for Asian music 20:41.640 --> 20:46.500 align:start in the US through his letters, concerts, recitals, and articles. 20:46.500 --> 20:50.440 align:start For example, in a 1928 letter held in the Library of Congress 20:50.440 --> 20:54.110 align:start to the eminent conductor Serge Koussevitzky, Eichheim reported 20:54.110 --> 20:58.300 align:start that he had heard Gagaku 'In Tokyo, 20:58.300 --> 21:02.250 align:start I heard the Emperor's Orchestra play the ancient music that was used 21:02.250 --> 21:05.260 align:start at yesterday's coronation and found it very noble. 21:05.260 --> 21:08.880 align:start I have written an article for a Japanese magazine about it 21:08.880 --> 21:11.540 align:start which you shall have when it is printed.' 21:11.540 --> 21:15.230 align:start His extensive collection of exotic instruments attracted significant 21:15.230 --> 21:17.830 align:start attention throughout his career. 21:17.830 --> 21:22.680 align:start Here we see Eichheim with Martha Graham and he frequently lectured 21:22.680 --> 21:27.810 align:start on Asian music often in conjunction with performances of this works. 21:27.810 --> 21:32.040 align:start In addition to highlighting the didactic motivation behind these 21:32.040 --> 21:35.990 align:start pieces, Eichheim's lectures shaped his audiences aural experiences 21:35.990 --> 21:37.990 align:start and responses. His wife performed the Piano Version 21:40.240 --> 21:44.040 align:start of Oriental Sketches throughout Asia and the United States. 21:44.040 --> 21:47.120 align:start The Chamber Version of these pieces was first performed just 21:47.120 --> 21:51.130 align:start down the road from Williams College at Coolidge's Berkshire festival 21:51.130 --> 21:56.040 align:start in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1921 and the full orchestral version 21:56.040 --> 21:57.880 align:start of three of the movements was performed 21:57.880 --> 22:01.690 align:start by multiple leading orchestras in the US and Europe. 22:01.690 --> 22:05.300 align:start The chamber version was also performed in a recital sponsored 22:05.300 --> 22:11.030 align:start by Coolidge and the Library of Congress held in February 1924 just 22:11.030 --> 22:15.150 align:start down the National Mall from here at the Freer Gallery. 22:15.150 --> 22:19.600 align:start Eichheim's travels to Japan and musical travelogues set the stage 22:19.600 --> 22:25.040 align:start for a century of American composers embarking on such exotic journeys. 22:28.370 --> 22:33.900 align:start On June 24, 1933 far from this auditorium, 22:33.900 --> 22:37.300 align:start over ten thousand spectators witnessed some two thousand 22:37.300 --> 22:42.030 align:start performers in the premiere of Sakura - a Japanese opera-pageant 22:42.030 --> 22:45.230 align:start at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. 22:45.230 --> 22:48.850 align:start This production was likely the most significant musical event 22:48.850 --> 22:51.670 align:start for the Los Angeles Japanese-American community 22:51.670 --> 22:54.340 align:start in the decade before World War II. 22:54.340 --> 22:57.000 align:start Hundreds of children from all the Japanese schools 22:57.000 --> 22:58.630 align:start in the area participated 22:58.630 --> 23:02.960 align:start and the Japanese-American newspaper Rafu Shimpo covered the production 23:02.960 --> 23:05.090 align:start in intense detail. 23:05.090 --> 23:08.780 align:start Both US and Japanese government officials proclaimed their support 23:08.780 --> 23:12.840 align:start for this even and even President Roosevelt expressed interest 23:12.840 --> 23:14.780 align:start in Sakura. The Japanese Chamber of Commerce 23:16.260 --> 23:20.760 align:start of Southern California had sponsored the production intending 'To promote 23:20.760 --> 23:24.060 align:start a better understanding between Japanese and other racial groups 23:24.060 --> 23:28.550 align:start in Los Angeles and surrounding communities' a timely intervention 23:28.550 --> 23:33.180 align:start given the rampant anti-Japanese sentiment of the day. 23:33.180 --> 23:36.920 align:start Although Sakura has vanished from the history of American music, 23:36.920 --> 23:42.160 align:start the work was revived in LA in August 1933, was performed four times 23:42.160 --> 23:46.430 align:start in June 1936 in Portland, Oregon and was apparently scheduled 23:46.430 --> 23:48.430 align:start for production in San Francisco. An editor of the Rafu Shimpo, 23:50.990 --> 23:54.230 align:start Gamitsu Tzukamaki [Phonetic] wrote the Japanese libretto, 23:54.230 --> 23:55.550 align:start which perhaps explains 23:55.550 --> 23:59.350 align:start that publication's incessant promotion of the production. 23:59.350 --> 24:01.320 align:start The plot of the opera might call to mind 24:01.320 --> 24:03.680 align:start that of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoore, 24:03.680 --> 24:07.230 align:start a tragic heroine Sakura, also the name 24:07.230 --> 24:09.420 align:start of Japan's most famous folksong, 24:09.420 --> 24:13.950 align:start is in love with a young priest named Zen, believe it or not, 24:13.950 --> 24:16.880 align:start but their love meets with her father's disapproval. 24:16.880 --> 24:20.380 align:start The father owes money to an uncouth lender who demands 24:20.380 --> 24:23.680 align:start that heroine's hand in marriage as compensation 24:23.680 --> 24:26.430 align:start when the father is unable to repay. 24:26.430 --> 24:29.950 align:start The young priest and the moneylender later struggle violently 24:29.950 --> 24:32.270 align:start and the priest is stabbed to death. 24:32.270 --> 24:36.270 align:start The heroine goes mad and in the final scene murders the moneylender 24:36.270 --> 24:40.030 align:start and then wanders off alone into the forest. 24:40.030 --> 24:43.910 align:start Attending Sakura at the Hollywood Bowl, the general public was able 24:43.910 --> 24:48.030 align:start to experience something of the same sensation of being transported 24:48.030 --> 24:52.930 align:start to old Japan that some wealthier Angelino's achieved daily 24:52.930 --> 24:56.360 align:start in their domestic Japanese style gardens. 24:56.360 --> 25:00.330 align:start The set, which extended to the back of the shell and spread to the sides 25:00.330 --> 25:03.840 align:start and in front, featured a large statue of Buddha, 25:03.840 --> 25:09.160 align:start a waterfall with a viewing bridge, a small pavilion, and a Torii Gate. 25:09.160 --> 25:12.310 align:start While the model of the set displayed on the screen is held 25:12.310 --> 25:14.680 align:start at the Japanese American National Museum in LA, 25:14.680 --> 25:18.020 align:start the only surviving copy of the score that I have been able 25:18.020 --> 25:21.540 align:start to locate is here at the Library of Congress. 25:21.540 --> 25:24.170 align:start The composer commissioned to write the score 25:24.170 --> 25:28.560 align:start for this Japanese-American extravaganza was a prolific white 25:28.560 --> 25:34.260 align:start jazz band arranger and songwriter Claude Lapham. 25:34.260 --> 25:37.330 align:start Despite appearing 'in native costume' 25:37.330 --> 25:42.300 align:start in this later publicity photo from Japan, Lapham was an unlikely figure 25:42.300 --> 25:46.550 align:start to be tapped for the composition of a work trumpeted inaccurately 25:46.550 --> 25:51.650 align:start by both the composer and the press as the world's first Japanese opera. 25:51.650 --> 25:53.460 align:start Born in Fort Scott, Kansas, 25:53.460 --> 25:57.150 align:start Lapham attended both Washington University and Juilliard. 25:57.150 --> 26:01.030 align:start He served as an arranger for Irving Berlin and Paul Whiteman, 26:01.030 --> 26:04.320 align:start as a silent film organist, as a music staff member 26:04.320 --> 26:08.550 align:start for Hollywood Studios, and as a conductor for Broadway reviews. 26:08.550 --> 26:12.920 align:start He was a virtuosic pianist, who apparently was the first soloist 26:12.920 --> 26:16.680 align:start to perform Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue on the radio. 26:16.680 --> 26:21.440 align:start Lapham also published some 250 works including popular songs, 26:21.440 --> 26:23.090 align:start collections of dance music, 26:23.090 --> 26:26.260 align:start and a book on scoring for dance orchestras. 26:26.260 --> 26:30.530 align:start Prior to his work on Sakura, Lapham appears to have had no experience 26:30.530 --> 26:33.370 align:start of Japanese traditional music. 26:33.370 --> 26:37.310 align:start The Los Angeles Times declared Lapham's score for Sakura 26:37.310 --> 26:40.850 align:start to be 'The first notable amalgamation of the two races 26:40.850 --> 26:43.890 align:start in an art' and reported that in preparation 26:43.890 --> 26:48.860 align:start for this work Lapham had 'made an extensive study of Japanese music 26:48.860 --> 26:50.800 align:start and customs in the Japanese homes 26:50.800 --> 26:54.580 align:start in Los Angeles during a six-month period.' 26:54.580 --> 26:57.450 align:start General reviews of the premiere were quite positive 26:57.450 --> 27:01.510 align:start with a more mixed response to Lapham's strange score. 27:01.510 --> 27:05.450 align:start Sakura calls for a range of Japanese traditional instruments including 27:05.450 --> 27:07.700 align:start the shamisen - a stringed instrument somewhat 27:07.700 --> 27:11.600 align:start like the banjo and tsutsumi a drum. 27:11.600 --> 27:14.750 align:start Lapham employed several Japanese folk tunes that he labeled 27:14.750 --> 27:17.870 align:start in his score, thereby suggesting that his other folk 27:17.870 --> 27:20.690 align:start like melodies were original. 27:20.690 --> 27:25.340 align:start At several points, instrumental lines mimic the gradual achererandos 27:25.340 --> 27:29.560 align:start speeding up of the kakkos drum rolls in Gagaku court music 27:29.560 --> 27:33.010 align:start or the hyoshigi hyoshigi clappers of Kabuki Theater. 27:33.010 --> 27:36.640 align:start The vocal lines remain almost entirely syllabic and try 27:36.640 --> 27:40.600 align:start to in the intervals frequently appear for dramatic expression. 27:40.600 --> 27:44.970 align:start At several points, the accompanying harmony is marked by pitch clusters 27:44.970 --> 27:47.110 align:start that likely were inspired by the clusters 27:47.110 --> 27:50.130 align:start of the sho, the Japanese mouthorgan. 27:50.130 --> 27:53.440 align:start In the press coverage and in his later writings, Lapham claimed 27:53.440 --> 27:56.320 align:start to enjoy the challenges posed by the commission. 27:56.320 --> 27:59.080 align:start In fact, Sakura marked only the beginning 27:59.080 --> 28:04.110 align:start of Lapham's extensive engagement with Japan and Japanese music. 28:04.110 --> 28:08.900 align:start Lapham became devoted to Japanese music following his work on Sakura 28:08.900 --> 28:11.550 align:start and his career focus changed dramatically 28:11.550 --> 28:14.860 align:start as he followed Henry Eichheim's example by traveling to Japan 28:14.860 --> 28:17.920 align:start and becoming a proselytizer back in the US 28:17.920 --> 28:20.800 align:start for this exotic musical culture. 28:20.800 --> 28:23.040 align:start Seven months after the premiere of Sakura, 28:23.040 --> 28:27.080 align:start Lapham accepted an invitation from the Columbia Record Company to work 28:27.080 --> 28:29.380 align:start in Japan on jazz recordings. 28:29.380 --> 28:31.600 align:start He remained in Japan for a couple of years 28:31.600 --> 28:36.220 align:start and his compositional output accelerated markedly. 28:36.220 --> 28:39.780 align:start During this period, he composed numerous Japanese influenced works 28:39.780 --> 28:42.820 align:start including Mihara Yama, a Japanese tone poem 28:42.820 --> 28:45.900 align:start for Grand Orchestra premiered by the Tokyo Symphony 28:45.900 --> 28:50.040 align:start and the Japanese Concerto in C minor for piano and orchestra, 28:50.040 --> 28:53.520 align:start which was commissioned by the Victor Record Company of Japan premiered 28:53.520 --> 28:57.290 align:start in Tokyo by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra with Lapham as soloist 28:57.290 --> 29:01.070 align:start and awarded a silver medal by the Takarazuka Film Company. 29:01.070 --> 29:02.810 align:start The scores of both of these works 29:02.810 --> 29:06.930 align:start from 1935 are held here at the Library. 29:06.930 --> 29:10.870 align:start Lapham's Japanese inspired works range broadly in their relation 29:10.870 --> 29:13.180 align:start to Japanese traditional music. 29:13.180 --> 29:16.400 align:start His six-minute tone poem Mihara Yama is devoid 29:16.400 --> 29:19.050 align:start of any Japanese musical influence 29:19.050 --> 29:22.640 align:start and features instead a rather generic dramatic style 29:22.640 --> 29:25.570 align:start that would not seem out of place as the main title music 29:25.570 --> 29:27.770 align:start for Hollywood gangster movie. 29:27.770 --> 29:30.880 align:start One of the work's major themes recalls a tune 29:30.880 --> 29:33.090 align:start from the New World Symphony of Dvorak. 29:33.090 --> 29:38.890 align:start The most substantial of Lapham's Japanese influenced works following 29:38.890 --> 29:42.280 align:start Sakura was his Japanese Piano Concerto. 29:42.280 --> 29:46.490 align:start Lapham's Concerto was extraordinary and extends the style and materials 29:46.490 --> 29:49.320 align:start of his earlier Japanese inspired works. 29:49.320 --> 29:53.810 align:start In this piece, Lapham includes a banjo part in shamisen style 29:53.810 --> 29:56.060 align:start and calls for tsutsumi and taiko drums 29:56.060 --> 29:59.500 align:start and a brass bowl imitating a small metal gong. 29:59.500 --> 30:02.880 align:start The Concerto lunges through stylistic shifts recalling 30:02.880 --> 30:06.090 align:start in turn the music of Rachmaninoff and Gershwin 30:06.090 --> 30:08.360 align:start and the interlocking percussive rhythms 30:08.360 --> 30:12.810 align:start of Japanese Matsuri Bayashi the street religious celebrations 30:12.810 --> 30:15.430 align:start featuring flute and percussion as well 30:15.430 --> 30:19.730 align:start as European musical evocations of the gypsy. 30:19.730 --> 30:22.610 align:start In an attempt to capture the essence of this piece, 30:22.610 --> 30:26.680 align:start I will offer an extended montage of excerpts from the three movements 30:26.680 --> 30:29.510 align:start in a performance with Lapham at the piano. 30:29.510 --> 33:02.760 align:start [ Music ] 33:02.760 --> 33:05.510 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: Bid from movement two. 33:05.510 --> 33:40.990 align:start [ Music ] 33:40.990 --> 33:43.510 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: And part of the third one there. 33:43.510 --> 34:18.330 align:start [ Music ] 34:18.330 --> 34:22.540 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: Between 1937 and 1940, Lapham gave a series 34:22.540 --> 34:24.960 align:start of lecture recitals on Japanese music 34:24.960 --> 34:28.010 align:start that featured his Japanese inspired works at such venues 34:28.010 --> 34:31.920 align:start as the Hotel Astor and the Ritz-Carlton in New York City. 34:31.920 --> 34:34.970 align:start Typical of these events is one in July 1936 34:34.970 --> 34:37.690 align:start at the International House in Chicago. 34:37.690 --> 34:41.300 align:start The Chicago Daily Tribune announcement referred to Lapham 34:41.300 --> 34:45.390 align:start as 'An authority on Japanese music and a pioneer in the efforts 34:45.390 --> 34:48.670 align:start to adapt something of its peculiar idiom to the demands 34:48.670 --> 34:50.840 align:start of accepted western forms, 34:50.840 --> 34:54.970 align:start thus forgetting its own native son Henry Eichheim. 34:54.970 --> 34:58.730 align:start Lapham's presentation in Japan, in, excuse me, in Chicago, 34:58.730 --> 35:00.910 align:start included excerpts from Sakura, 35:00.910 --> 35:04.340 align:start the Japanese Piano Concerto, and Mihara Yama. 35:04.340 --> 35:08.510 align:start Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Lapham, not surprisingly, 35:08.510 --> 35:12.370 align:start ceased his Japanese musicales and instead delivered lectures 35:12.370 --> 35:16.510 align:start on Balinese music and composed works such as Iphigenia and Torres 35:16.510 --> 35:20.520 align:start and the Opera Montezuma both in 1942. 35:20.520 --> 35:25.170 align:start Following the war, Lapham along with multiple other American composers, 35:25.170 --> 35:27.690 align:start resumed his focus on Japan. 35:27.690 --> 35:31.210 align:start Lapham's extraordinary career illustrates how suddenly 35:31.210 --> 35:34.960 align:start and thoroughly a composer may change direction through an encounter 35:34.960 --> 35:37.600 align:start with an exotic musical tradition. 35:37.600 --> 35:41.010 align:start Lapham also wrote on Japanese music and its history. 35:41.010 --> 35:46.530 align:start In 1936, he declared that Japan was 'an endless source of inspiration 35:46.530 --> 35:51.570 align:start for him' and that 'Japanese music is not easy to understand, in fact, 35:51.570 --> 35:56.090 align:start it is subtle, complex, elusive but withal extremely colorful 35:56.090 --> 35:58.690 align:start and exciting to a serious student.' 35:58.690 --> 36:02.480 align:start In his works, he 'sought to blend the two viewpoints' 36:02.480 --> 36:06.790 align:start by producing a new type of musical idiom in which at least 75% 36:06.790 --> 36:10.520 align:start of the music would be of Japanese texture with the remainder European. 36:10.520 --> 36:15.360 align:start In 1941, he stated that Oriental music loses much 36:15.360 --> 36:19.330 align:start of its original flavor when transcribed for piano and orchestra 36:19.330 --> 36:24.310 align:start and he prophesized that 'in time the beauty of both the Oriental 36:24.310 --> 36:26.730 align:start and Occidental music will be merged 36:26.730 --> 36:30.110 align:start into a transcendental form representing a truly universal 36:30.110 --> 36:32.670 align:start medium of expression.' 36:32.670 --> 36:37.730 align:start In 1937, he recounted his own nocturnal experiences 36:37.730 --> 36:39.730 align:start of a Japanese soundscape. 36:39.730 --> 36:43.060 align:start But rather than echoing Eichheim's enthusiasm, 36:43.060 --> 36:47.100 align:start Lapham lamented Japan's rapid musical modernization, 36:47.100 --> 36:50.630 align:start 'I shall never forget how when wandering 36:50.630 --> 36:53.250 align:start out into a Tokyo suburb one twilight 36:53.250 --> 36:57.440 align:start and mounting a beautiful curved bridge over a tiny stream to look 36:57.440 --> 37:00.120 align:start over the thatched roofs, my meditations 37:00.120 --> 37:04.350 align:start and illusions were shattered, with a startling suddenness 37:04.350 --> 37:08.330 align:start by the raucous strains of Saint [inaudible] Blues'. 37:08.330 --> 37:12.040 align:start Some two decades after Henry Eichheim's trips to Japan 37:12.040 --> 37:14.860 align:start and two decades before Henry Cowell's, 37:14.860 --> 37:18.370 align:start we have found another American composer equally fascinated 37:18.370 --> 37:23.240 align:start by Japanese music and repeating many of the same claims and aspirations 37:29.170 --> 37:31.250 align:start Japanese music and culture were 37:31.250 --> 37:34.930 align:start of central importance throughout much of Henry Cowell's live. 37:34.930 --> 37:37.660 align:start The influence of Japanese music is evident in one 37:37.660 --> 37:42.030 align:start of his earliest works the Oriental Movement of Adventures in Harmony 37:42.030 --> 37:46.170 align:start from 1912 and in one of his last the Second Concerto 37:46.170 --> 37:49.760 align:start for Koto and Orchestra in 1965. 37:49.760 --> 37:52.690 align:start Like Eichheim and Lapham, Cowell was instrumental 37:52.690 --> 37:56.060 align:start in introducing Japanese music to other composers. 37:56.060 --> 37:59.260 align:start In this image, we see him demonstrating the shakuhachi 37:59.260 --> 38:00.690 align:start to the composer Edgar Varese. 38:00.690 --> 38:04.680 align:start At the risk of accusations of myopia, 38:04.680 --> 38:08.330 align:start I claim that Japanese musical culture was the most persistent 38:08.330 --> 38:12.400 align:start exotic influence on Cowell - a composer who famously attempted 38:12.400 --> 38:15.980 align:start to 'live in the whole world of music.' 38:15.980 --> 38:20.330 align:start Cowell encountered Japanese folk songs and perhaps even koto music 38:20.330 --> 38:22.350 align:start as a child in San Francisco. 38:22.350 --> 38:25.920 align:start But it is unlikely that he would have heard Gagaku the Japanese 38:25.920 --> 38:28.440 align:start traditional music that had the strongest influence 38:28.440 --> 38:30.260 align:start on his mature works. In fact, Cowell's earliest pieces 38:32.200 --> 38:36.690 align:start on Japanese subjects revealed little knowledge of Japanese music. 38:36.690 --> 38:41.650 align:start For example, in the 1915 monodrama Red Silence, 38:41.650 --> 38:46.530 align:start Cowell-still a teenager-relied primarily on a nave pentatonicism 38:46.530 --> 38:50.190 align:start and open fifth and fourth intervals to signal the exotic. 38:50.190 --> 38:53.650 align:start The manuscript score is held here at the Library of Congress. 38:53.650 --> 38:57.260 align:start The work is for a sole little female character Red Silence 38:57.260 --> 38:59.900 align:start who is waiting for her lover to return. 38:59.900 --> 39:03.760 align:start She receives a sign of his death and then as a good samarized daughter 39:03.760 --> 39:08.530 align:start in the Euro-American Japonisme tradition commits suicide on stage. 39:08.530 --> 39:12.020 align:start In setting her song Fresh Flowery Sprays, 39:12.020 --> 39:16.510 align:start Cowell employed the black notes of the piano for the vocal line. 39:16.510 --> 39:34.040 align:start [ Music ] 39:34.040 --> 39:38.100 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: And he employed mostly parallel forced black notes 39:38.100 --> 39:40.510 align:start for the piano accompaniment. [ Music ] 39:45.050 --> 39:45.550 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: This form 39:45.550 --> 39:52.170 align:start of musical exoticism did not require contact with Asian music. 39:52.170 --> 39:57.390 align:start Cowell's serious study of Japanese music did not begin until age 37 39:57.390 --> 40:02.240 align:start when he met the shakuhachi performer and teacher Kitaro Tamada. 40:02.240 --> 40:06.040 align:start Immigration records reveal that Tamada was born in 1894 40:06.040 --> 40:10.170 align:start and first arrived in the United States in 1918. 40:10.170 --> 40:16.250 align:start He met Eichheim in the early 1920's, was Cowell's most crucial connection 40:16.250 --> 40:18.240 align:start to Japan for three decades, 40:18.240 --> 40:23.070 align:start and inspired several other American composers to study Japanese music. 40:23.070 --> 40:26.180 align:start Tamada taught Cowell shakuhachi for a period 40:26.180 --> 40:29.930 align:start of four years continuing his lessons during Cowell's imprisonment 40:29.930 --> 40:31.900 align:start for homosexual acts. 40:31.900 --> 40:34.050 align:start Within two years of Cowell's release, 40:34.050 --> 40:36.660 align:start Tamada himself was behind barbed wire 40:36.660 --> 40:40.240 align:start in the Manzanar Japanese-American Internment Camp. 40:40.240 --> 40:43.370 align:start He would spend the next three years and eight months attempting 40:43.370 --> 40:45.500 align:start to continue his shakuhachi performance 40:45.500 --> 40:48.180 align:start and teaching while worrying about the future 40:48.180 --> 40:50.970 align:start of Japanese culture in America. 40:50.970 --> 40:53.940 align:start A most eloquent response in expression of gratitude 40:53.940 --> 40:56.910 align:start to Tamada can be heard in the 1946 solo 40:56.910 --> 41:02.180 align:start for shakuhachi the universal flute, which Cowell dedicated to him. 41:02.180 --> 41:05.610 align:start This work is one of the earliest by a Euro-American composer 41:05.610 --> 41:07.570 align:start for an Asian solo instrument. 41:07.570 --> 41:12.060 align:start The piece is an ABA structure typical of shakuhachi music 41:12.060 --> 41:15.090 align:start and Cowell calls for a great deal of the pitch bending 41:15.090 --> 41:19.510 align:start and sliding tones central to shakuhachi idioms. 41:19.510 --> 41:22.510 align:start For a composer who wished to live in the whole world of music, 41:22.510 --> 41:26.750 align:start Cowell spent relatively little time outside the United States. 41:26.750 --> 41:29.940 align:start Unlike Eichheim who traveled to East Asia five times 41:29.940 --> 41:34.620 align:start and for extended periods, Cowell visited East Asia only twice. 41:34.620 --> 41:40.990 align:start He spent approximately two months in Japan in 1957 and one month in 1961. 41:40.990 --> 41:44.590 align:start Cowell's first trip to Japan was part of a larger tour funded 41:44.590 --> 41:47.850 align:start by the Rockefeller Foundation and sponsored by the Department 41:47.850 --> 41:50.570 align:start of State US Information Agency. 41:50.570 --> 41:54.700 align:start In 1961, Cowell served as President Kennedy's representative 41:54.700 --> 41:58.940 align:start to the Tokyo East-West Music Encounter Conference. 41:58.940 --> 42:02.410 align:start Cowell, along with numerous other prominent musicians 42:02.410 --> 42:05.860 align:start and composers proved an important participant 42:05.860 --> 42:08.520 align:start in Cold War Cultural Diplomacy. 42:08.520 --> 42:12.280 align:start His universalism and attempts to synthesize East and West 42:12.280 --> 42:16.440 align:start in his music, however, benign in motivation, worked hand-in-hand 42:16.440 --> 42:19.360 align:start with US Cold War efforts to form political bonds 42:19.360 --> 42:23.780 align:start with Asian nations particularly with Japan, much in the same way 42:23.780 --> 42:26.980 align:start as did State sponsored radio broadcasts, lectures, 42:26.980 --> 42:30.670 align:start and concerts of American music abroad. 42:30.670 --> 42:32.970 align:start Cowell's cross-cultural music and works 42:32.970 --> 42:37.020 align:start of this period repeatedly present a somewhat formulaic dialectic. 42:37.020 --> 42:41.020 align:start The most obviously exotic material appears first, 42:41.020 --> 42:44.680 align:start then a more recognizably Euro-American style is presented 42:44.680 --> 42:48.270 align:start and ultimately an attempt is made to integrate the two. 42:48.270 --> 42:51.730 align:start Cowell's major Japanese influenced works of the 1950's 42:51.730 --> 42:57.820 align:start and 1960's include Ongaku of 1957, The Concerto for Koto and Orchestra 42:57.820 --> 43:02.380 align:start of 1962, The Concerto for Harmonica of the same year, 43:02.380 --> 43:07.210 align:start and The Concerto Number 2 for Koto and Orchestra of 1965. 43:07.210 --> 43:10.670 align:start Cowell repeatedly addressed the relationship between these pieces 43:10.670 --> 43:15.280 align:start and Japanese music in a way that emphasized originality, 43:15.280 --> 43:20.040 align:start creative synthesis, and the use of foreign compositional procedures. 43:20.040 --> 43:23.020 align:start In his program notes for Ongaku, for example, 43:23.020 --> 43:28.250 align:start Cowell stated that the piece, 'Is not an imitation of Japanese music, 43:28.250 --> 43:31.900 align:start but an integration of some of its usages with related aspects 43:31.900 --> 43:34.060 align:start of western music' and he declared 43:34.060 --> 43:37.540 align:start that 'all the thematic material is my own, 43:37.540 --> 43:41.570 align:start there are actually no Japanese themes in the work.' 43:41.570 --> 43:45.970 align:start The two traditional Japanese genres shaping Cowell's material works were 43:45.970 --> 43:50.540 align:start Gagaku and Sankyoku - a form of chamber music for koto, shamisen, 43:50.540 --> 43:53.980 align:start and shakuhachi in the realm of public entertainment. 43:53.980 --> 43:58.570 align:start Cowell's long-term devotion to the solo shakuhachi is also evident 43:58.570 --> 44:01.820 align:start in the melodic style of several of these pieces. 44:01.820 --> 44:05.380 align:start The degree to which Cowell imitated Gagaku and Sankyoku 44:05.380 --> 44:08.440 align:start in his Ongaku is suggested by details 44:08.440 --> 44:13.120 align:start in his manuscript short score, held here in the Cowell Collection. 44:13.120 --> 44:17.940 align:start He labeled the various orchestral parts with a Gagaku instrument names 44:17.940 --> 44:21.460 align:start and transcribed koto scales at the bottom of the first page 44:21.460 --> 44:25.450 align:start of the second movement presumably as a compositional aid. 44:25.450 --> 44:29.840 align:start Several melodic gestures in Ongaku, including the flute introduction 44:29.840 --> 44:33.730 align:start and the initial melody for trumpets in imitation of the ryuteki 44:33.730 --> 44:37.460 align:start and hichiriki parts appear derived from the most famous 44:37.460 --> 44:40.470 align:start of Gagaku pieces Etenraku. 44:40.470 --> 44:44.080 align:start The most striking Gagaku feature in Cowell's Japanese influenced works 44:44.080 --> 44:48.590 align:start of this period is his use of sho style pitch clusters. 44:48.590 --> 44:54.040 align:start Here is the high erratic opening of Ongaku from a recording made in 1959 44:54.040 --> 44:57.510 align:start by the Louisville Orchestra conducted by Robert Whitney. 44:57.510 --> 45:50.410 align:start [ Music ] 45:50.410 --> 45:53.460 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: Similarly, The Concerto for Harmonica opens 45:53.460 --> 45:57.770 align:start with sho inspired clusters in the winds and then in the violins. 45:57.770 --> 46:01.700 align:start The harmonica part, surprisingly, avoids any suggestion of the sho 46:01.700 --> 46:06.010 align:start and contains no chords and only two dyads in the entire piece. 46:06.010 --> 46:09.180 align:start Here is the opening of The Concerto for Harmonica, and I am grateful 46:09.180 --> 46:12.150 align:start to Robert Bonfiglio who premiered the Concerto for Harmonica 46:12.150 --> 46:16.540 align:start with Lucas Foss and the Brooklyn Philharmonic in 1986 46:16.540 --> 46:20.510 align:start for providing me with a recording of that performance. 46:20.510 --> 47:09.070 align:start [ Music ] 47:09.070 --> 47:12.070 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: Cowell's works from the Cold War period might 47:12.070 --> 47:16.610 align:start at first appear far removed from the musical Japonisme of Eichheim; 47:16.610 --> 47:19.020 align:start however, evidence from Cowell's sketches 47:19.020 --> 47:22.820 align:start in the music division suggest a closer correspondence 47:22.820 --> 47:25.750 align:start to Eichheim's poetic impressions. 47:25.750 --> 47:29.880 align:start To what extent does a composition's title shape our experience 47:29.880 --> 47:34.430 align:start of the work and our understanding of the composer's artistic stance? 47:34.430 --> 47:40.220 align:start Cowell's original title for the 1962 Concerto for Harmonica was Haiku: 47:40.220 --> 47:45.470 align:start Spirit of Japan, which is crossed out on his manuscript score perhaps 47:45.470 --> 47:50.340 align:start to steer listeners clear of poetic evocations of old Japan in the piece 47:50.340 --> 47:54.350 align:start and toward an appreciation of a skillful modernist abstraction 47:54.350 --> 47:57.530 align:start of fundamental Japanese musical features. 47:57.530 --> 48:02.360 align:start Likewise, Cowell's original title for Ongaku was Impressions 48:02.360 --> 48:06.560 align:start of Court Music and he initially subtitled the work's first movement 48:06.560 --> 48:08.890 align:start An American in Japan. 48:08.890 --> 48:11.990 align:start Unlike Eichheim, however, Cowell composed impressions 48:11.990 --> 48:16.710 align:start of a musical style rather than of an exotic soundscape. 48:16.710 --> 48:19.820 align:start In multiple ways, Eichheim and Cowell differed greatly 48:19.820 --> 48:23.280 align:start in their interactions with Japan and Japanese music. 48:23.280 --> 48:27.130 align:start Whereas Cowell heard fundamental similarities across all cultures 48:27.130 --> 48:29.770 align:start and claimed to identify with the other. 48:29.770 --> 48:33.180 align:start Eichheim spoke of fundamental differences between the domestic 48:33.180 --> 48:37.110 align:start and the exotic, yet in spite of their different approaches, 48:37.110 --> 48:40.170 align:start we have little grounds for privileging one composer's form 48:40.170 --> 48:42.890 align:start of cross-cultural music over the other. 48:42.890 --> 48:46.990 align:start American musical responses to Japan have always been profoundly shaped 48:46.990 --> 48:51.180 align:start by both personal motivations and broader social factors as well 48:51.180 --> 48:55.310 align:start as by current conceptions of compositional prowess. 48:58.990 --> 49:03.620 align:start My final composer Roger Reynolds has had the most extensive engagement 49:03.620 --> 49:07.370 align:start with Japan, even though traces of Japanese musical influence 49:07.370 --> 49:11.040 align:start in this works may be the least immediately audible. 49:11.040 --> 49:16.320 align:start Reynolds lived in Japan from 1966 to 1969, returned for seven months 49:16.320 --> 49:21.370 align:start in 1977, and has travelled to Japan on multiple other occasions. 49:21.370 --> 49:24.030 align:start In addition, his decade long relationships 49:24.030 --> 49:28.080 align:start with several major Japanese composers resulted in their travels 49:28.080 --> 49:32.600 align:start to and residencies at the University of California, San Diego, 49:32.600 --> 49:34.650 align:start Reynolds's academic base. 49:34.650 --> 49:37.190 align:start In this image, Reynolds is seen in California 49:37.190 --> 49:41.700 align:start with composers Toru Takemitsu and Joji Yuasa. 49:41.700 --> 49:43.830 align:start Although his experience of Japanese music 49:43.830 --> 49:49.400 align:start and culture before 1966 was minimal, I note that in an early vocal work 49:49.400 --> 49:53.120 align:start from 61 Reynolds said Haiku poetry 49:53.120 --> 49:55.830 align:start and that his Japanese colleagues felt some 49:55.830 --> 50:01.270 align:start of his pre-1966 pieces displayed a Japanese sensibility. 50:01.270 --> 50:04.490 align:start Clearly Reynolds was open to the world of Japanese aesthetics 50:04.490 --> 50:08.590 align:start and to both the traditional and contemporary arts. 50:08.590 --> 50:11.290 align:start Unlike many of the American composers I have considered 50:11.290 --> 50:14.940 align:start for this project, Reynolds not only studied Japanese traditional music 50:14.940 --> 50:18.250 align:start and theater but learned the language and engaged substantially 50:18.250 --> 50:21.480 align:start with contemporary composers, musicians, 50:21.480 --> 50:23.880 align:start theater directors, and artists. 50:23.880 --> 50:26.930 align:start Rather than serving primarily as a proselytizer 50:26.930 --> 50:29.020 align:start for traditional Japanese music, 50:29.020 --> 50:32.000 align:start Reynolds has played a significant role in promoting the music 50:32.000 --> 50:36.220 align:start of such modern Japanese composers as Takemitsu in this country. 50:36.220 --> 50:39.840 align:start In Japan, he organized numerous concerts, sponsored in part 50:39.840 --> 50:42.550 align:start by the US Information Agency and many 50:42.550 --> 50:45.870 align:start of his works have been performed and premiered there. 50:45.870 --> 50:49.900 align:start Reynolds has set and been inspired by Japanese literary texts, 50:49.900 --> 50:53.750 align:start has composed for specific Japanese performers and has responded 50:53.750 --> 50:58.100 align:start to specific Japanese settings and aesthetic concepts in his music. 50:58.100 --> 51:02.610 align:start In a 1982 interview, Reynolds was asked, 51:02.610 --> 51:07.180 align:start Whether his 'non-theological approach to articulating 51:07.180 --> 51:09.950 align:start or structuring time was influenced 51:09.950 --> 51:13.500 align:start by contemporary developments in European music.' 51:13.500 --> 51:17.990 align:start The composer answered emphatically in the negative and pointed instead 51:17.990 --> 51:23.410 align:start to the profound impact on him of 'Japanese theater The Noh and more 51:23.410 --> 51:25.150 align:start than anything else Bunraku.' 51:25.150 --> 51:27.540 align:start Also, I would have to say sumo wrestling, 51:27.540 --> 51:31.840 align:start same kind of thing extraordinary sensitivity to the capacity of one 51:31.840 --> 51:35.230 align:start to wait in the proper context. 51:35.230 --> 51:40.650 align:start Reynolds's landmark 1975 book Mind Models begins with a quotation 51:40.650 --> 51:45.160 align:start from Zeami, the seminal figure in the history of Japanese Noh Theater. 51:45.160 --> 51:48.830 align:start In this book, Reynolds points to differences in time perception 51:48.830 --> 51:52.380 align:start between Japan and the west describes the unique approach 51:52.380 --> 51:55.540 align:start to ensemble performance that he heard in Gagaku 51:55.540 --> 52:00.830 align:start and celebrates the 'timbric heterogeneity' of shakuhachi music. 52:00.830 --> 52:04.690 align:start Reynolds has also pointed to the wide range of vocal styles employed 52:04.690 --> 52:10.490 align:start in Bunraku theater as an influence on his Voicespace series. 52:10.490 --> 52:16.010 align:start The 1990 orchestral piece Symphony Myths offers a particularly 52:16.010 --> 52:17.840 align:start pertinent example. 52:17.840 --> 52:20.920 align:start The work was dedicated to Takemitsu and premiered 52:20.920 --> 52:22.940 align:start by the Tokyo Philharmonic. 52:22.940 --> 52:26.700 align:start The first movement entitled Futami ga ura was inspired 52:26.700 --> 52:30.740 align:start by a famous rock formation off the coast of Honshu. 52:30.740 --> 52:34.370 align:start Here we see a drawing by Reynolds of the two main rocks 52:34.370 --> 52:36.700 align:start with the three ropes linking them. This is Reynolds's first sketch. 52:38.660 --> 52:42.450 align:start This first movement consists of three main sections. 52:42.450 --> 52:45.410 align:start Reynolds has aptly described the outer two sections 52:45.410 --> 52:49.690 align:start as 'massive pyramids of sound, tonely aesthetic, 52:49.690 --> 52:52.580 align:start but densely figured with inner detail.' 52:52.580 --> 52:56.050 align:start The middle section represents the ropes in the formation 52:56.050 --> 52:59.380 align:start as three musical lines intertwine and a counterpoint 52:59.380 --> 53:00.680 align:start that resembles hierophany 53:00.680 --> 53:05.450 align:start or what the ethnomusicologist William Malm once termed 'the 53:05.450 --> 53:08.550 align:start sliding doors effect' prevalent in the texture 53:08.550 --> 53:10.980 align:start of Japanese traditional music. The second sketch seen here begins 53:13.550 --> 53:16.540 align:start to document the creative process Reynolds employed 53:16.540 --> 53:20.590 align:start to translate the visual image into musical architecture. 53:20.590 --> 53:23.770 align:start There is nothing exceptional or indicative of Japanese music 53:23.770 --> 53:27.450 align:start in the instrumentation beyond a few prominent gong strokes 53:27.450 --> 53:31.570 align:start and a marimba part that suggests the woodblock sounds of mokugyo, 53:31.570 --> 53:34.230 align:start but Reynolds does call for playing techniques 53:34.230 --> 53:38.310 align:start that create a rapid irregular iteration and pitch 53:38.310 --> 53:42.580 align:start and a smooth achererando that might, at least visually in the score, 53:42.580 --> 53:45.900 align:start prompt a comparison with the accelerating kakko drum rolls 53:45.900 --> 53:47.400 align:start in Gagaku. 53:47.400 --> 53:52.370 align:start Once again, the most suggestive feature of this music is the use 53:52.370 --> 53:54.790 align:start of sustained pitch clusters. 53:54.790 --> 53:57.400 align:start In this opening movement, we experience a sense 53:57.400 --> 54:03.080 align:start of stasis punctuated by lines of intense activity spiraling within. 54:03.080 --> 54:05.880 align:start The pitch clusters heard in the first and third sections 54:05.880 --> 54:09.970 align:start of this movement consist primarily of 5 and 6 pitches 54:09.970 --> 54:11.940 align:start as do the clusters of the sho. 54:11.940 --> 54:15.590 align:start In fact, the interval content of these clusters is quite close 54:15.590 --> 54:19.730 align:start to a couple of the sho clusters and the dynamic swelling and ebbing 54:19.730 --> 54:22.300 align:start of these clusters resembles the breathing rhythms 54:22.300 --> 54:24.710 align:start of the sho even though the register 54:24.710 --> 54:28.060 align:start and timbre do not highlight this similarity. 54:28.060 --> 54:31.590 align:start Here are the opening minutes of this major work in a performance 54:31.590 --> 54:34.510 align:start by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kotara Sata. 54:34.510 --> 56:31.030 align:start [ Music ] 56:31.030 --> 56:33.390 align:start >> Dr. Sheppard: My research on the music of Roger Reynolds 56:33.390 --> 56:35.950 align:start at the Library of Congress like the expansion 56:35.950 --> 56:38.080 align:start of the Reynolds' Collection itself will continue 56:38.080 --> 56:40.060 align:start into the immediate future. 56:40.060 --> 56:43.060 align:start As I proceed, I am faced with a host of questions: 56:43.060 --> 56:45.000 align:start Which work should I focus on? 56:45.000 --> 56:47.390 align:start Those that point to Japan in their titles? 56:47.390 --> 56:50.130 align:start Those created for specific Japanese performers? 56:50.130 --> 56:54.140 align:start Or only those works that to my ear suggest a direct influence 56:54.140 --> 56:57.590 align:start of Japanese traditional or contemporary music? 56:57.590 --> 57:01.210 align:start Influence is a notoriously difficult concept to pin down 57:01.210 --> 57:03.260 align:start and phenomenon to document. 57:03.260 --> 57:08.300 align:start For example, which instances of expressive silence or sonic space 57:08.300 --> 57:12.550 align:start in his music are indications of Reynolds's appreciation 57:12.550 --> 57:16.390 align:start of the Japanese aesthetic of ma and which can be traced 57:16.390 --> 57:20.980 align:start to the pointillistic works of such European composers as Anton Webern? 57:20.980 --> 57:24.620 align:start Should my research pathways be set primarily through conversations 57:24.620 --> 57:26.510 align:start with the composer himself? Or should I first plunge more deeply 57:28.740 --> 57:31.050 align:start into the collective materials housed here? 57:31.050 --> 57:34.380 align:start To what extent am I predisposed to hear 57:34.380 --> 57:37.970 align:start and see Japanese influence everywhere in his works? 57:37.970 --> 57:42.290 align:start After studying the video recording of Reynolds's opera Justice 57:42.290 --> 57:46.750 align:start as produced here in the Jefferson building upstairs in 2001 57:46.750 --> 57:49.650 align:start and now available on the library's website, 57:49.650 --> 57:54.280 align:start I identified Japanese influence in the wide range of vocal sounds, 57:54.280 --> 57:57.400 align:start the lack of stage sets, the limited number of actors, 57:57.400 --> 57:59.650 align:start and the active role of the percussionist 57:59.650 --> 58:03.960 align:start who accentuates the character's speech at specific moments. 58:03.960 --> 58:07.920 align:start When I asked Reynolds about this, he replied, 'I had not thought 58:07.920 --> 58:10.820 align:start about it, but perhaps so.' 58:10.820 --> 58:14.840 align:start The influence of Japanese music on the works of Reynolds is not 58:14.840 --> 58:17.950 align:start as audible as it is in the works of Eichheim, Lapham, 58:17.950 --> 58:20.430 align:start and Cowell that I discussed earlier. However, from other perspectives, 58:22.690 --> 58:25.480 align:start we might notice some fundamental continuity 58:25.480 --> 58:29.100 align:start in such cross-cultural music over the past century. 58:29.100 --> 58:32.160 align:start As I move toward my conclusion of this project, and yes, 58:32.160 --> 58:36.000 align:start of this lecture, I will need to consider the common ground 58:36.000 --> 58:41.210 align:start between Eichheim's evocations of a Japanese nocturnal soundscape 58:41.210 --> 58:45.970 align:start and Reynolds's construction of a piece inspired in structural detail 58:45.970 --> 58:49.600 align:start by a Japanese rock formation and its legend. 58:49.600 --> 58:53.150 align:start Much of Eichheim's approach to Japan was shaped by the writings 58:53.150 --> 58:58.940 align:start of the American Japanophile Lafcadio Hearn including Hearn's 1896 book 58:58.940 --> 59:03.490 align:start Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life. 59:03.490 --> 59:07.310 align:start Reynolds composed a work for solo violin directly shaped 59:07.310 --> 59:10.410 align:start by the discussion of the term Kokoro 59:10.410 --> 59:16.150 align:start in Daisetz Suzuki's 1970 landmark book Zen and Japanese Culture. 59:16.150 --> 59:22.010 align:start In an interview with Takemitsu, Reynolds stated, 'It's the making 59:22.010 --> 59:26.570 align:start of seemingly remote associations that's the most essential part 59:26.570 --> 59:28.680 align:start of exciting art.' 59:28.680 --> 59:31.800 align:start By considering the music of Eichheim, Lapham, Cowell, 59:31.800 --> 59:34.840 align:start and Reynolds today, I have aimed to suggest 59:34.840 --> 59:37.650 align:start such seemingly remote associations 59:37.650 --> 59:41.290 align:start and to reveal both the significant differences and clear strands 59:41.290 --> 59:43.960 align:start of continuity between all four composers 59:43.960 --> 59:46.320 align:start in their engagements with Japan. 59:46.320 --> 59:49.320 align:start Ultimately, I hope to have offered some indication 59:49.320 --> 59:51.970 align:start of the fundamental role that Japanese music, 59:51.970 --> 59:54.460 align:start either directly experienced or imagined, 59:54.460 --> 59:58.080 align:start has played for a wide variety of American composers, 59:58.080 --> 01:00:00.040 align:start negotiating routes to musical modernism. 01:00:00.040 --> 01:00:03.580 align:start >> I look forward to may own research projects 01:00:03.580 --> 01:00:07.510 align:start that undoubtedly will route me back repeatedly to the Music Division 01:00:07.510 --> 01:00:09.290 align:start of the Library of Congress. Thank you very much. 01:00:11.510 --> 01:00:19.180 align:start [ Applause ] 01:00:19.180 --> 01:00:23.060 align:start >> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress.