A composer's discourse and his compositions

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Other Title
  • 音楽を「語ること」と「生み出すこと」との間
  • 音楽を「語ること」と「生み出すこと」との間--柴田南雄における言語表現とシアター・ピース
  • オンガク オ カタル コト ト ウミダス コト ト ノ アイダ シバタ ミナオ
  • SHIBATA Minao's discourse and his theatre pieces
  • 柴田南雄における言語表現とシアター・ピース

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This paper examines some of the issues in research on a composer's discourse and his compositions. To accomplish this purpose, discussion is made of the composer SHIBATA Minao, one of the most important of Japan's contemporary composers, who has written a great number of essays and/or programme notes about his own compositions, especially about his choral, or theatre pieces. His discourse about his compositions can be understood without ambiguity, and therefore has a significant effect upon their performance. This characteristic of his discourse makes it possible to examine the relationship between his discourse and his compositional output. Two aspects are dealt with: 1. the temporal structure of his compositions; and 2. the variety of voice types used in them. Another aspect of his theatre pieces is that they always require a high level of spontaneity of the performers. It may be said, then, that his compositions have two distinctive characteristics: 1. the composer himself gives clear information about his compositions, and 2. in their performance the composer retreats into the background and a high level of spontaneity is required of the performers. It is possible to observe a degree of dissimilarity, perhaps even a paradoxical relationship, between his discourse on the theatre pieces and actual performance of them. A possible explanation of this phenomenon may lie in the prescriptive nature of his discourse and scores, while the phenomenon itself may be the essence of Shibata's compositions.

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