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Gagaku Revolution: New Sounds of Ancient Bamboo: Reigakusha, Ensemble N_JP, Thaddeus Squire (conductor), Japan Society, New York City, 10.10.2008 (BH)

Traditional: Ichikotsucho no netori
Traditional: Ranryo-O
Mamoru Fujieda: Patterns of Plants: the 4th Collection (1996-2007)
Yoshiko Kanda: Hair Whirl of the Sheep (2004)
Traditional: Banshikicho no Netori
Traditional: Kashin
Traditional: Etenraku
Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez: Ishin no Mori (Stone Forest) (World premiere)
Ken Ueno: The Vague Border at the Edge of Time (World premiere)
Gene Coleman: Tombo (World premiere)

Reigakusha:
Ko Ishikawa, sho
Hitomi Nakamura, hichiriki
Takeshi Sasamoto, ryuteki
Guest artists:
Mari Kimura, violin
Adam Sliwinski, percussion

Ensemble N_JP:

Members of Reigakusha
Gene Coleman, bass clarinet
Alban Bailly, electric guitar
Alex Waterman, cello
Thaddeus Squire, conductor


Music twelve centuries apart made a striking evening at the Japan Society, where the three members of Reigakusha appeared in a program of traditional ceremonial gagaku along with contemporary works by five young composers.  Reigakusha's bamboo instruments include the ryuteki, about the size of a conventional flute and played by Takeshi Sasamoto, and the ocarina-sized hichiriki with a distinctive nasal timbre, with Hitomi Nakamura.  But perhaps the most fascinating of all is the sho, played with almost eerie calm by Ko Ishikawa.  Its 17 bamboo pipes are bound vertically like a sort of "pocket pipe organ," with a sound resembling a slightly muted harmonica.

Meaning "elegant or refined music," gagaku has been preserved by Japanese royalty virtually unchanged since the 6th century, and gives listeners a window into music performed almost exactly as it was over 1,000 years ago.  Traditional, spare works like Ichikotsucho no netori and Etenraku gave each of the three Japanese players a solo turn before the three instruments combined in fascinating microtonal showers.  Kashin was notable for Mr. Ishikawa's plaintive vocalizing. 

But Reigakusha also claims more contemporary works in its repertoire.  Violinist Mari Kimura joined Ishikawa for Mamoru Fijieda's Patterns of Plants: the 4th Collection (written 1996-2007 and transcribed for violin and sho), with Kimura using minimal vibrato in a series of short Bartókian vignettes.  Entering down a side aisle, Adam Sliwinski (of So Percussion) carried delicate wind chimes followed by Ms. Nakamura playing her hichiriki while shell chimes gently clattered from her elbow, for Yoshiko Kanda's Hair Whirl of the Sheep (2004), a quiet study of flute and percussion timbres (low gongs and drums) separated by silence.  And in one of three world premieres, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez tapped some sixteen members of the audience to play pairs of rocks, to terrific effect, for Ishi no Mori (Stone Forest).  Sliwinski gently raked a gong with fingernails, adding soft pulses on a bass drum and wood blocks, while Mr. Sasamoto's ryuteki offered shrill counterpoint.

Ken Ueno's The Vague Border at the Edge of Time exploited the three Reigakusha musicians' ability to create microtonal hazes, and the program ended with Tombo by Gene Coleman.  Performed by the Ensemble N_JP and adroitly conducted by Thaddeus Squire, the three ancient instruments were melded to modern ones: bass clarinet (Mr. Coleman), electric guitar (Alban Bailly) and cello (Alex Waterman).  If the large-screen abstract graphics projected behind the music seemed mildly anti-climactic next to the invigorating juxtaposition of old and new, Coleman's theatrical score brought many in the sold-out audience to their feet.

Bruce Hodges


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