Event highlights Japanese cultural performance

An afternoon dedicated to Japanese culture took place at the Maison de la culture du Japon in Paris, featuring shômyô chants by five monks from the Mii-dera temple, actor Manjirô Tatsumi of the nô theater, Dôzan Fujiwara playing the shakuhachi, and Makoto Yoshida performing on the clarinet, interpreting contemporary pieces by Tôru Takemitsu and Dai Fujikura.

Setting and atmosphere

The Grand Hall of the Maison de la culture du Japon had decor with clean lines that echoed the images projected for two to three minutes on the screen of the Mii-dera temple, a Buddhist temple located in the greenery of the island of Honshū, at the foot of Mount Hiei, near Kyoto.

Performance begins with nô theater

The auditorium was full and completely silent before the sepulchral voices of Manjirô Tatsumi and Kazuma Tatsumi began to resonate, performing "Shikai nami," "Waves of the Four Seas." This celebrated the calm of the seas surrounding Japan, a symbol of the peace under which this performance, titled "Résonances au temple Mii-dera," is placed.

Musical collaboration

Then, on the center of the stage, facing each other, the two musicians Dôzan Fujiwara (shakuhachi) and Makoto Yoshida (clarinet) took their places. They would remain on stage throughout the hour and fifteen minutes of the performance, composed of 14 short scenes linked together.

Modern composition and influences

They performed one of the five pieces by Dai Fujikura (born in 1977), which are presented today, combining the two instruments with a recitation of waka poetry. These are commissions from the temple to the composer, who has been based in London since he was fifteen and has been influenced by Tôru Takemitsu, György Ligeti, and Pierre Boulez, whom he studied at the Trinity College of Music.

Fusion of styles

His music thus combines several influences, which can be heard in "Tomari," "Le Port," where, on one side, a distinctly Japanese flute (sforzando attacks, the musician's breath, long sustained notes, dynamics, flexibility, glissandi, and expressiveness) and, on the other side, a clarinet with Western accents.

Cultural significance of the piece

This can be understood, as the two parallel melodies, which approach and then merge, tell the arrival by boat at the Mii-dera temple of a protective deity amid agitated elements that eventually calm down. The two instrumentalists show great ease in this particularly animated virtuosic composition.

Acoustic and instrumental synergy

The combination of the two timbres is also very successful, the clarinet adding gravity, roundness, and texture. These qualities are enhanced by the perfect acoustics of the hall.

Performance of a classic piece

The two wind players also performed "Masque," for two flutes (1959) by Tôru Takemitsu (1930-1996), here in a version for clarinet, shakuhachi, and nô: a new dialogue between musicians exploring the concept of "ma," meaning the interval, the space, the inhabited silence between two musical phrases linking two objects, two separated phenomena.

Shômyô chants and nô theater

Three times, five monks from the Mii-dera temple slowly process onto the stage to chant the Buddhist praise called shômyô. This psalmody is grave and little varied for a Western ear, as the liturgical recitation is often done in unison.

Costumes and aesthetics

It is occasionally marked by a cymbal and another percussion, this one muffled. The faces are impassive. The solemnity is extreme. The theatrical part is performed by two nô actors: Manjirô Tatsumi and Kazuma Tatsumi. While the monks' attire is beautiful, the actors' costumes, which vary according to the work, are sublime.

Artistry and tradition

Derived from the ancient ceremonial garments of nobles and samurai, these flowing silk costumes obscure the body's lines and feature particularly brilliant colors, such as violet and Veronese green on the same person. The majesty and ceremony are further enhanced by the ivory masks, highlighted by the red of the mouth and the black of the eyebrows.

Nô theater's expressive language

It is impossible to decode by oneself what is choreographed here, regardless: whether it is the sadness after the death of a loved one or the ideal of lovers wishing to live as long as possible together, one is carried along by this very economical dance, made of precise hand gestures with the fan and slow or sometimes accelerated steps. The magic works...