Eastern cultures have been a source for inspiration for some original music written by contemporary composers. A great deal of this new music actually originates from these Eastern cultures as the composers writing these works are connected to the culture themselves through their own cultural heritage. The recording label, Naxos Music Library, produced a catalogue of recordings of Japanese Guitar Music consisting of four volumes of albums with all the music performed by Japanese guitarist, Shin-Ichi Fukuda1. The first two volumes include music by Japanese composers for solo guitar while the latter two volumes feature original music for guitar in a chamber setting. Of the first two volumes, Volume No. 1 is dedicated to Toru Takemitsu featuring his own original solo works for classical guitar as well as two pieces by Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, which are both Homages to Takemitsu2. Volume No. 2 features original solo works by a number of Japanese contemporary composers: Hiroshi Hara, Akira Miyoshi, Shin-ichiro Ikebe and Toshio Hosokawa.
Having examined a number of original works and arrangements with Eastern cultural influences in these recent chapters, we have uncovered some of the ways in which these cultural influences are shown through musical devices and imagery created by the composer/arranger. However, is it that straightforward that we can just use cultural elements as a sources of inspiration or should this be considered more carefully? Could we, potentially, cause offence depending on how cultural elements are represented in new music for the classical guitar repertoire? The promotion of Eastern cultures in the classical guitar repertory is an important way of sharing the art of the classical guitar but how can we approach this without misrepresenting or harming these cultures? In the next part, these ethical considerations shall be discussed in an effort to attain a better understanding as to how we can respectfully approach cultures as a source of inspiration.
There is a great enthusiasm for new original works for solo classical guitar by Japanese composers (see "Original Works with Japanese Cultural Influences" in Appendix B). In the first chapter, we looked at how Japanese cultural elements influenced some of the guitar works of Takemitsu and despite there being a great wealth of high quality music with Japanese cultural influences by numerous other composers, I would like to shift the focus of this chapter to a piece which has been written another Eastern cultural influence - Chinese cultural influences - this time by a composer that is not directly connected to the cultural influence.
Of the many abilities that Sun Wukong possesses, one of the most impressive is his ability to travel anywhere within seconds thanks to his Cloud "Somersault" or "Cloud Walking Boots"4. Sun Wukong is able to fly through the air at incredible speeds aboard this magical cloud. Originally, the novel describes Sun Wukong leaping from cloud to cloud but modern representations of the story show him traversing atop a single cloud or two underneath either of his feet. Bars 102 - 127 of the piece are intended to represent this magical skill and Assad represents this by using glissandi to portray smooth and quick movement and harmonics to create the feeling of height - flying up in the sky portrayed by producing high pitches (figure 1-3).
The piece ends by depicting the final part of the Monkey King's journey: Sun Wukong attaining Buddhahood and acquiring immortality. In Buddhism, instruments like the gong or the Tibetan singing bowl are used by monks to enhance meditation and spiritual awareness in the pursuit of Nirvana - the ultimate goal of Buddhist philosophy5. The final bars of the piece direct the performer to use a tuning fork (diapason) to transform the guitar into something akin to a singing bowl or gong (unfortunately not with a long resonance but a similar timbral quality). The three percussive notes in bar 215 indicate to hit the tuning fork before placing it atop the surface of the guitar (bar 216) which then acts as a resonating board (figure 8 and 9).
Assad has, through this piece, introduced an important aspect of Chinese culture to the classical guitar repertory. The epic story of Journey to the West may reach new audiences through the promotion of this piece in concert programmes, recordings, and publications of the score. The promotion of a particular culture through repertory in the classical guitar world may be exemplified by the suite Koyunbaba by Italian guitarist and composer, Carlo Domeniconi. The solo work, written between 1985 - 1986, has been performed and recorded by many artists and has gathered a great deal of popularity and adoration amongst classical guitarists (recordings of this work have been made by a number of renowned classical guitarists such as John Williams and Christopher Parkening)6. Those studying or interested in the suite may be curious about the background of the work, what inspired Domeniconi to write the work, and where the name Koyunbaba comes from. The work is inspired by the Turkish saint of the same name, Koyunbaba, and creates a sound world that invokes the atmosphere of the bay next to the Aegean Sea where Koyunbaba resided7. Due to the popularity of this work, the accompanying narrative of the Turkish saint is also known by enthusiasts of the work, incorporating an element of Turkish history and Aegean culture to the guitar world. Sun Wukong's Tocatta has the potential to do the same for the promotion of the Chinese character of Sun Wukong and the epic novel Journey to the West within the classical guitar world.
Composed by renowned Brazilian classical guitarist and composer, Sergio Assad, Sun Wukong's Tocatta was commisioned by GuitarCoop and written in 2016 for Chinese classical guitarist, Meng Su3. The piece is based on the central character of the iconic Chinese novel Journey to the West. Assad structures the piece around the different quirks and traits of the interesting and detailed character, Sun Wukong. Let us examine some of the musical symbols that Assad has created in the piece and their corresponding metaphorical meanings.
The story of Journey to the West entails Sun Wukong's travels from China to India. Through his journey, Sun Wukong and his entourage encouter 81 tasks (adventures) assigned to them by the Buddha and Assad appropriately writes the last 81 bars (exactly) as a separate section of the piece which he names Journey to the West. Joining the Monkey King in his adventures are two companions: Pigsy and Sandy. Pigsy's characteristic pig oink is imitated by tapping the fretboard with the left hand (Figure 4 and 5) while Sandy, the water master, is represented through a series of successive overinging notes using the campanella technique (playing scalic passages across several strings to allow for resonance and blending, similar to a harp sound) to create a scorrevole effect like running water (Figure 6 and 7).
Figure 1a
Figure 4d
Figure 8h
Figure 2b
Figure 5e
Figure 9i
Figure 3c
Figure 6f
Figure 7g
