Peter asked "Can you say "well, his
technique and sound are terrible, but his playing has great spirit."
How about the opposite, and if so is one the converse of the other,
i.e. can just one but not both be true? Anyone care to bite this time?
I think both statements can be true. One can make the first statement
depending on how one defines spirit, if spirit can refer to enthusiasm or
being full of energy, or making a great effort... As for the opposite I'm
sure that most of us have heard players or perhaps found ourselves guilty
of having great sound (or maybe good sound) and technique on a particular
piece but perhaps we were just going through the motions and the
performance wasn't inspired. One has to go beyond a simple repitition of a
honkyoku in order to make it one's own piece, as Yokoyama Katsuya is known
to have said. How one defines one's spirituality seems to be quite
subjective so theoretically one could feel very spiritual when playing but
the piece might sound less than sublime to the listener, again depending on
who was listening. If you were playing a honkyoku and the listener was
familiar with that particular genre they might not appreciate your errors
in timing or meris which were too high in pitch. I don't think one's
spiritual side is suffering just because one's pitch is off but it seems
that if one is studying shakuhachi as a discipline one would want to
improve musically as well as spiritually so that consistent effort, study,
and practice (right practice, that is) would be goals one would set for
oneself. Historically, the komuso were members of a group so I imagine
they played in that context where honkyoku that were played were recognized
as having certain musical elements which distinguished them from other
pieces, including things like phrasing, pitch, or quality of tone. Even
the great masters are never satisfied with their playing, I don't think,
and I don't imagine that those who become "enlightened" just sit around
twiddling their thumbs either. If shakuhachi was an easy thing to master it
wouldn't be any fun would it?
Cheers,
Dan
Ribble
How sour sweet music is
When time is broke and no proportion kept
So is it in the music of men's lives
Shakespeare/Richard II, V. v.42
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