Music In Japan

By Bonnie Wade. (Subtitle: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture). This case-study volume can be used along with the core Global Music Series books, Teaching Music Globally and Thinking Musically (item MUCA1438 for the set of two books, available separately). Each case study book uses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure, covering historical information and traditions as they relate to the present. This book offers a vivid introduction to the music of contemporary Japan, a nation in which traditional, Western, and popular music thrive side by side. The author focuses on three main themes: how music in Japan has been profoundly affected by interface with both the Western and Asian cultural spheres, how the thriving popular music industry is also a modern form of a historically important facet of Japanese musical culture, and the intertextuality of Japanese music- how familiar themes, musical sounds, and structures have been maintained and transformed over time. Enhanced by eyewitness accounts of performances, interviews with key performers, and vivid illustrations, the book also includes an 80-minute CD with examples of the music discussed in the book.
 
208 pages.