The Opelousas courier., 1904-08-06
THE MUSIC q JAPAN.
AN ART THAT ~ poT TAKEN
SERIOUSLY BAANYBoDY.

SERIOUSLY BAANYBoDY.
The Japanese eea!man Regards the
Practice WIthft Sort Of Amused
CONFERENCE.-THE Time lmmemoriaI
Considered + Profession for the
sisht'ess'
If Japan's i ace in the scale Of civis
~lization werSo be decided upon a con-
sideration fher musical tastes and
achievemer Europeans generally
would cert lily assign her a Dry low
status. n doubt, she has made some
little MOI in musical matters during
the past k;W years, but it cannot nave
amounta. to much. Fashions of all
sorts aIe 500 changed, and nowhere
more fpeedily than in Nippon; but
natioeY tastes and real preferences
are .s~Sx.4tters of very low growth, n
whichever may be in vogue in musical
jain just now, we Hey be sure that
eEfy Japanese who could be Induced
tfexpress his real opinion would say
pYetty muc.~as oT> Of their dlstln-
Aisheddaen said in reply to DR.. Null
YRS inquiry as to what he thought OF
%Western music. In his blandest and
most polite manner, he said European
Emusic might please women and chill
\ dren, but that NJ Japanese gentleman
could endure it.
A most amusing, unconscious revela-
ton of the real appreciation has just
been made public by Nine. SherWln,
who, in the course of her professional
~wanderings about the world, found
herself in Toxic, where she gave a
concert, attended by the court and
aristocraey. The first part consisted
Of miscellaneous songs. 1t was received
in chilling silence, which, of course
the performers felt very discouraging,
but which they tried to persuade them
selves must, no doubt, be the customary
thing in japanese court circles, and
they were about to proceed with the
second part of the program, consisting
of operate selections, when they were
dismayed by a message from the court
chamberlain, inquiring when the enter
tainment was to begin. The dlstln-
guished audience could not imagine
that what had been done could be Sc
riously intended as an entertainment,
and were patiently awaiting the re-
moval of the screens that had been
placed at the sides of the stage Cor the
exit of the artists. That amusing lit
tie incident is entirely in accordance
with the opinion of the great man al
ready quoted.
AS a matter of fact, music never has
been taken seriously by anybody In
Japan. Until a recent period, perform
ance on any wind of musical instru-
ment, or the public singing of any kind
of song, was thought to be altogether
beneath the dignity of any man. There
were plenty of trade and labor ditties
that workmen would sing at their diff
ferent occupations. The rice planters,
the water carriers, the metal workers,
the chair carriers, the sailors espe-
cially, had their own songs, but pro-
fessional music was always left to the
women, and this fact in itself shows
how poor a place music must always
have held in general estimation.
japanese women, 1t must be remem-
bered occupy with regard to the men
that infinitely inferior position which
oriental lords and masters generally
assign to the female. And not only have
professional musicians In Japan almost
invariably been women, but they have
usually been blind women and no in
frequently women of more than du-
bious moral status. The japanese gen.
tleman, therefore, though he listens to
native music with pleasure, and will
have it. performed as an interlude at
his feasts, regards the practice of 1t
with very much the same sort Of con-
tempt which Lord Chesterfield dis
played when he advised his son never
to play the fiddle himself. If he want
ed music .let him engage a fiddler. The
JapanesS male until the last few years
would never practise music in any
form. The study of it would be alto
gether beneath him, and until quite
recently i men were ever found play
ing instruments in Japan they were of
the broken down, blind mendicant
class. Apparently the only recorded in
stance Of upper class male interest in
anything musical wa the production
of the mournful little minor wall which
serves for the Japanese national an
them. This Is additionally said to
have been composed by an emperor,
, and the words written by his wife.
From time immemorial, in the Mi
> kado's empire, music has been consid-
cred to be a profession for the sight
less, and as it has always been left to
the poorest of the women it need hard
!, ly be said that Japan has no musical
. literature, no harmony, only the crud-
= est rudiments of rotations. In the
great temples they have musical per-
). formances for WHICH something CORE
: spending to our classic music has been
elaborated, and for one Or two of their
most important instruments they have
compositions specially set. These are
said to be not altogether wanting In
. a certain wierd, quaint, barbaric
: : charm. and are very highly esteemed
: by the Japanese themselves. But the
fact is they have no instruments capa-
BILE of producing anything beyond the
: most trivial and unimposing music
Such instruments as they possess, both
string and percussion, appear to have
been introduced from China. In the
course of centuries the ~fancifuI inge.
a. H. - AZ ooopIa hos IN CANA av+opH