Naoko Takada Plays Her Music With Four example essay topic

The concert that I chose to see for this report was performed by Naoko Takada. She is a Japanese woman that plays the marimba. Since we had already studied the Japanese music culture in class, I felt that this would be an interesting concert to attend. Her music gave me a deeper appreciation for Japanese music and the Japanese culture itself.

The marimba comes from the xylophone. In Japan, the xylophone changed from the 1930's to the 1960's by two important xylophonists, Yo ichi Hira oka and Eiichi Asabuki. There music on the xylophone was very different compared to the American forms of playing the xylophone. In Japan, there were many radio shows dedicated to xylophone music. Eiichi Asabuki had many students, and even started the Japanese Xylophone Association that has about 5000 members. Xylophone concerts were beginning to be heard by large audiences.

The xylophonists were becoming very influenced by the sound of the marimba. The marimba became immediately integrated into the music of many xylophonists. Keiko Abe was one of the first musicians to experiment with the possibilities of the marimba. She experimented with four and six mallets to come up with a nice sound. At age 24 in the 1960's, Keiko Abe began looking for musicians to compose original music for the marimba.

The first song that was developed was "Conversation" by Akira Mi yoshi in conjunction with the Tokyo Marimba Group. The Japanese marimba style evolved into two different forms. One was a continuation of the xylophone influenced performance style. The other form was a marimba style that was begun by Keiko Abe. Her style had an emphasis on contemporary classical music, and had a much different sound than the other form. Japanese forms of music are mostly derived from Chinese and Korean sources.

However, in Japans later years its isolation played a major role in developing its own unique culture. Japanese modern music began during the Meiji Restoration of 1868. During this period Japan was introduced to and greatly influenced by music from the western world. Western music became very popular in Japan though after the establishment of the Imperial Academy of Music in Tokyo which began in 1878. After this, western music grew rapidly in popularity in Japan.

Many traditional Japanese forms of music are popular today in the United States. "Music played on the samisen and the koto (stringed instruments) and the taiko (drum) continue to be practiced and interpreted in new ways. I think that Japanese music is very popular in the states since the audience was large at the show I attended, and the audience also seemed very attentive to the music being played. Naoko Takada won first prize in the 2002 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. She was born in Tokyo, and began to study the marimba at the age of 8. By the age of eleven she was already playing solo pieces with the Tokyo Symphony and the Tokyo Chamber Orchestra.

I found her style of music to be very interesting at the concert. My seat was in the first row in front of the stage on the right side. She came out of a door on the left side of the stage, and would go back out through that way in between songs. During her music, the audience was very quiet and attentive. The only time the audience was allowed to leave their seats was in between songs. Naoko Takada plays her music with four mallets (two mallets in each hand).

Her pieces were approximately five to ten minutes each. It was very interesting for me to see this concert since I had never been to anything like it. I also enjoyed her instrument because she was standing up when she played it and moved around the stage a lot. I've never seen an instrument being played liked that, and I found it very interesting and exciting. She was also very passionate the way she played her instrument. I especially enjoyed that I was sitting right in front of her and I was able to see just how much talent and skill it takes to play the marimba.

In my research for this project I found many interesting things. In figure three of my copies from the New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments there is a picture of a "modern four-octave orchestral marimba". This is a very close picture to the type of marimba that was played by Naoko Takada at the concert that I attended..