Four Seasons of the Old Mountain Woman: An Example of Japanese Four Seasons of the Old Mountain Woman Text Setting

Abstract

HE ARTISTRY AND SOPHISTICATION with which Western composers have been able to respond musically to the mood and meaning of texts in vocal music are quite evident to any sensitive listener attuned to Western music culture. In the present study I hope to expand this kind of appreciation and understanding by showing, through one Japanese example, how non-Western composers in non-Western idioms can be equally capable of expressing musically the implications of a sung text in logical and artistic ways. example (Shiki no Yamamba)' is chosen from one genre (nagauta) within one period (Edo 1615-I 867) of one East Asian country (Japan). As with any single example from the full scope of European music history, one cannot make sweeping general assumptions about Japanese music on the basis of this one study, much less draw any conclusions concerning all Asian music. basic thesis of this study concerning text setting is consonant with the generally accepted thought in Western scholarship that much East Asian music is word-inspired.2 There are, it is true, a few purely instrumental traditions in East Asia such as the danmono for the Japanese koto3 or the sanjo for the Korean kayakeum zithers.4 But most East Asian solo instrumental music, such as that of the Chinese p'ip'a lute or ch'in zither, has an evocative title, like Moonlight Over the Spring River or The Lament of Empress Chen,' rather than an abstract or formal one, such as Sonata No. 2 in B flat Major or Prelude and Fugue in G Minor. A survey of East Asian chamber music continues to support this generality. Much Chinese chamber