--- Karl Signell <signell@cpcug.org> wrote:
> At 07:27 PM 8/17/03 -0700, Peter H wrote:
> >...while Yamaguchi Goro's
> >use of vibrato is considered excessive by some players, he pulled it
> >off--beautifully, needless to say...honkyoku is supposed to be=20
> >transparent, so to speak, and vibrato
> >muddies things up.
>=20
> Depends on what we're taught, as you said, Peter, and our "honnin no
> kyoku"=20
> (personal interpretation). Yamaguchi's style is at one end of the=20
> spectrum, representing a highly refined concert style intended for an
>=20
> audience. Yet his inner serenity and detachment communicate the
> essence of=20
> pure meditation. Chacun =E0 son gout.
>=20
> Karl Signell
>=20
>=20
This touches on the age-old question of whether there are any absolute
values in art, or whether it's all "de gustibus non es disputandum"
(since we're throwing in foreign language quotes ;-)). Yes, one hears
this phrase "honnin no kyoku," but I'm sure that if I played, say,
Honshirabe at my next lesson with either of my Dokyoku teachers, and
used lots of yuri (vibrato, I prefer the Japanese term as vibrato is so
general and yuri is unique to shakuhachi), that I'd either be stopped
right away and told to not use it, or else told so after I'd finished.
That's authority. We have to ask, what is the value of that
authority--how to balance that with our own taste or desire to express
our inner selves.=20
I like your description of Goro sensei's playing, but I'm also told to
do certain things when playing Dokyoku for an audience, and I'm sure
all of us will play a piece differently depending on many things,
including whether we're alone at home or playing for others. But I
would never use yuri because I'm playing for others and not use it
because I'm playing the piece as suizen. For me it goes deeper than
that.
My piano teacher was a student of a student of Max Reger's, who was
considered an expert on Bach (he's the one who said "Bach is Anfang und
Ende aller Musik"), and he invoked that lineage when convincing me that
I should not use the sustain pedal at all when playing Bach. Later,
when I heard Andre Watts in concert and he used a lot of pedal in a
Bach piece, I thought it ruined the piece. Had I been initiated into a
deeper understanding of Bach, or just brainwashed into intolerance?
(BTW I was also told that in Bach's day, the thumbs were not
used--imagine playing about 95% of his keyboard music without using the
thumbs! But since this doesn't affect the end result, I wasn't required
to do that).
Peter
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