Unaccompanied flute repertoire influenced by the Japanese shakuhachi: An examination of three representative twentieth-century works

Abstract

The Japanese bamboo vertical flute, known as the shakuhachi, has captured the attention and interest of many outside of Japan since World War II. With the rising interest in the shakuhachi has come a new trend in composition, that of unaccompanied repertoire for the Western silver flute influenced by the Japanese shakuhachi. Composers have found inspiration in traditional shakuhachi repertoire, ideology, performance practice, or familiar shakuhachi gestures and sounds. In order to fully appreciate these influences, this investigation provides a brief history of the shakuhachi and an introduction into aspects of Japanese musical culture and basic shakuhachi performance techniques. This information is then applied to three pieces from the modern flute repertoire selected for their diversity in notational systems and shakuhachi techniques and gestures represented, as well as their international span: Frank Michael's Shakuhachi, Shirish Korde's Tenderness of Cranes, and Kazuo Fukushima's Shun-san. A formal and tonal analysis, as is relevant to such works, is also applied. It is hoped that the knowledge and understanding gained from this discussion will permit a more informed performance of unaccompanied repertoire for the modern flute influenced by the Japanese shakuhachi.