The guitar is an instrument that is played and listened to all over the world with enthusiastic communities dedicated to its promotion and education in almost every country. A glance at the different guitar festivals that exist around world1, and throughout the calendar year, indicate the huge popularity of the instrument. Musically, the guitar can not only provide accompaniment as a harmonic backing to a voice or another instrument, but it may also be played effectively as a solo instrument in accompanying itself or exploring more dense counterpoint. This polyphonic and harmonic quality of the instrument is, unfortunately, not as adept as a keyboard instrument (like the piano) due to playability, however, where the guitar lacks technical ease, it more than makes up for in terms of practicality. Both relatively inexpensive and portable (when compared to other classical instruments), the guitar has made itself accessible to people, regardless of economic status or class, for centuries. It is no wonder, therefore, that the guitar is an important instrument in different styles across many different cultures.
This is the central question that I shall be consistently referring back to throughout this investigation. Here is an outline of how this exposition will tackle this research question.
Part I: "Pre-existing Solo Works with Eastern Cultural Influences" shall examine a number of works for solo guitar that fit the criteria of this research question: having Eastern cultural influences. This part will feature a discussion on some of the prominent figures (composers and performers) that have made significant contributions to this field. One such figure is the Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu, who's work (both musical and literary) shall be the topic of the first chapter of this part. In the second chapter, I shall explore some arrangements of popular and folkloric music from certain Eastern cultures written for solo classical guitar. Finally, the last chapter of Part I will provide a brief overview of some of the different original works (that have Eastern cultural influences) by contemporary composers, mainly focusing on the work: Sun Wukong's Tocatta by Sergio Assad. The cultural influences in all the works presented across these three chapters will be analysed based on information surrounding the works - written sources, recordings, musical direction within the scores, cultural backgrounds, etc. These analyses should provide an understanding of the different Eastern cultural elements that have influenced certain solo guitar works, how they have been represented and realised within each work and the impact they have (or could have) on the classical guitar's cultural identity. As it has not been possible to examine every single existing work of this type, there are two appendices at the end of this exposition that list all the pieces (that fit the criteria) that I have come across during my research:
- Appendix A - Arrangements for Solo Classical Guitar with Eastern Cultural Influences
- Appendix B - Original Compositions for Solo Classical Guitar with Eastern Cultural Influences
Part III: "Application of Findings", includes the more practical aspects of this research. In the first chapter of this part, I include the scores and recordings of my arrangements of two songs compiled and composed by the Indian polymath, Rabindranath Tagore. In this chapter, I also discuss how the process of arranging was informed by the findings of Parts I and II. The second chapter of Part III includes the score to the new work which was specifically written for this research. In October of 2021, I commissioned Italian classical guitarist and composer, Dr. Marco Ramelli to write a solo classical guitar work with an Eastern cultural influence for the purposes of this research. Dr. Ramelli is an incredibly gifted artist with a background in performance, research, music education and composition. He holds an impressive resume being an internationally award-winning performer, the artistic director of a number of highly successful classical guitar festivals in Italy, a full time lecturer at the TU Dublin Conservatory of Music and a well seasoned researcher having obtained a doctorate in the performing arts from the University of St Andrews (UK) with a porfolio entitled ‘The Composer and the Performer: An Intertwined Relationship’3. Alongside all of this, Dr. Ramelli is a renowned composer who has written works for the classical guitar with many different stylistic influences for some of the most prolific performers of the instrument4. Dr. Ramelli's versatility within the classical guitar world and his strong background in research (especially concerning the nature of his doctorate) and composition made him an ideal fit for the type of composer that I was seeking. This chapter will document the collaboration between myself and the composer as well as the approach that Dr. Ramelli took in tackling some of the ethical and moral considerations that are discussed in Part II. The full score of the work shall be included and the first performance shall be given live at my presentation of this research on the 30th of March 2022 during the Research Symposium at the Royal Conservatoire the Hague.
Special Mentions
I would like to take a brief moment to thank the people who have helped guide me on this journey. Thanks to Kathryn Cok, Head of the Master Research Programme, for her expert advice; inspiring and informative lectures; and her time and enthusiasm for this research project throughout the two years. Thanks to Roos Leeflang, Coordinator of the programme, for all the administrative assistance she has provided, whenever it was needed. Thanks to Casper Schipper for helping me navigate through the different possibilities that the research catalogue has to offer. Thanks to my Master Circle Leader, Loes Rusch, for her amazing seminars that have taught me valuable skills in the writing and presention of this research. Thanks to my principle study teacher, Enno Voorhorst, whose wisdom, deep musical sensitivity and unparalleled generosity inspired me to try to approach this research in an empathetic and balanced manner. Thank you to Stichting de Zaaier for their unbelievable financial support for this project which has allowed me to commission the original work (written by Dr. Marco Ramelli). Thanks to Dr. Marco Ramelli for the beautiful piece that he has composed especially for this research. I consider it a great honour to feature a work of this calibre in this project. Last, but certainly not least, thank you to my fantastic Research Supervisor, Patrick van Deurzen. Professor Deurzen's broad knowledge of an incredible range of subjects; shrewd awareness of cultural issues; and holistic apporach to culture and art has constantly encouraged me to be aware of my methodology and challenged preconcieved assumptions that I was not even aware that I was making. Professor Deurzen has very kindly given a lot his time towards discussing this project with me and I am greatly indebted to him for this.
DISCLAIMER
Although the criteria concerns Eastern cultures in general, the works that are examined in this research (both in Parts I and III) have influences from either Indian, Japanese or Chinese cultures. I apologise for not examining more works with influences from other Eastern cultures (such as South Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, or Nepalese cultures [to name but a few]). Despite this, I decided to keep the term 'Eastern cultures' in both the title and the research question as the research was initially conducted to include any kind of Eastern influence and the intention was not to only include three Eastern cultures. Furthermore, I would like to continue this research further beyond this exposition (as a potential PhD or Doctorate proposal) where I am able to include works with a wider variety of Eastern cultural influences. I have tried to include works with influences from other Eastern cultures in Appendix A and Appendix B by stating the name of the work, the composer/arranger and the Eastern culture which has influenced the work:
E.g. Sonata Capriccioso - Stephen Goss (2016) {Thai Cultural Influence}.
Before delving into Part I, let us look at a brief summary of the cultural heritage of the classical guitar. In this next chapter we shall try to gain some understanding as why the instrument's cultural identity is so strongly associated with Western cultures and how Eastern cultures could play a part in this evolution.
Part II: "Perspectives on the Ethics of Cultural Inspiration", considers how cultures may be approached as a source of inspiration. This investigation studies the ways in which Eastern cultures may be further integrated into the classical guitar world through repertoire, but in exploring other (foreign) cultures through music, one faces ethical problems of conduct. How can this music represent the cultures - that have inspired it - in a truthful and clear way? Why are some cultural elements (and some cultures) approached with more sensitivity and caution than others? First, I shall take some examples from Part I and evaluate how the composers/arrangers have confronted this question of cultural authenticity. The later chapters in this part shall discuss the issues surrounding the term 'cultural appropriation'; the response to this through the rise of the alternative term 'culture appreciation'; and how cultural influences within music are affected by these terms. These considerations inform how the creative aspects of this research are approached in Part III.
Upon the inception of this research, I felt, rather naively, that Part II would be relatively straightforward and that I would be able to devise a set of guidelines for approaching cultures as a source of inspiration - suggesting a set of ethical 'dos and don'ts' and how to avoid the extremes of this field ("harmful cultural appropriation" and "cancel culture"). Having researched this topic extensively, I must admit that this area is not black and white in the way I thought it would be and, instead, I share my findings, experiences and thoughts about how I have tried to navigate myself through this wide and sensitive area of ethics.
I, myself, am fortunate enough to be a student of the classical guitar (a style of guitar that performs Western classical music) which has taken me to many different countries and allowed me to experience a variety of beautiful cultures both through the music that I study and through the performance and music education projects that I have been involved in. I grew up in the UK and having Indian heritage, I found myself tackling the questions of cultural identity around the same time the questions of personal identity were being posed during my adolescence2. As a classical guitar student, I feel a strong connection to Western art due to it being a part of my environment and studies. Indian art, on the other hand, fascinated me and had been present in my life through my cultural background yet there was always a slight distance in how I perceived it, due to a fundamental lack of understanding and education in this cultural artform. This led me to question how what I do (studying the classical guitar) may better inform who I am (my cultural and personal identity). Could Indian culture have an influence on the ever developing cultural identity of the classical guitar? The same may be asked of other cultures from the East; since the classical guitar seems to already be rich in influences from a range of Western cultures (this shall be looked at in Introduction: The Cultural Heritage of the Modern Classical Guitar). I notice that the music that I study allows me to create connections with different cultures due to the music of certain cultures bringing with them an essence of the culture itself. Perhaps repertoire may provide a means of approaching this topic of Eastern cultural promotion in the classical guitar world. The question that may be presented would therefore be:
