When William Malm published his wide-ranging study of traditional
Japanese music in 1959, it was the first time in the twentieth century
that such a work had been brought out in a Western language.
Malm's
book has still not been replaced as the single most interesting and
authoritative text on the subject. But until now it was never revised or
updated, nor were its illustrations ever changed. With the present
publication, however, an extensively improved edition that includes a CD
of sample
music has been made available.
Professor Malm's
aim has always been to attract the layman reader as well as the
musicologist, which has given this book its strength and durability. The
writing is clear, lively, and informed, the scope of his study being
broadened by frequent comparisons with other traditions, East and West.
Accompanying it all is a generous number of drawings and photographs of the players and their various instruments.
The
book opens with a brisk and eloquent history of Japan's musical life,
then moves on to its religious music, Shinto, Buddhist, and Christian;
its court music; the music of the noh drama; and the music of specific
instruments: biwa, shakuhachi, koto, and shamisen. After examining the
components of
kabuki music, it closes with a chapter on folk music,
popular musical arts, and the music of other ethnic groups in Japan. For
the more technically inclined, there is a detailed appendix on notation
systems. Lastly, to put all this in a practical context, a CD is
provided, giving nineteen examples
of these different genres.
Whether
your interest is in a particular form of Japanese music-the marvelous
sonority of the bamboo flute, the sharp but wistful sound of the
shamisen-or just in music in general, Malm's book will more than satisfy
your curiosity.
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