Japanese Traditional Music: Gagaku and Buddhist Chant. 1941 Recordings of the Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai

This series is one of the most exciting and fascinating that I have come across in a long time. The music was recorded in 1941 in an effort by the Japanese government to document the diversity of its national music. This historical aspect gives a kind of poignancy to the music, recorded at the apex of Japanese power that would crumble within in 4 years. The music is so subtle, so honest, so strange and so beautiful that it is hard to believe that it was recorded at the behest of a brutal, imperialist government. The sophisticated art, theatre, religious, and folk music represented here provides evidence of a Japan far more complex and human than the historical stereotypes. The recording quality, although poor by modern standards, does not interfere with the musical impact. It may even enhance it in some instances. Add to all this that many of these recordings were preserved for posterity on 78's collected by Beate Sirota Gordon, the Jewish Austrian American young woman who wrote women's rights into the modern Japanese constitution at the behest of Douglas McArthur, and you have a wonderful story to go with this marvelous music. Buy it while you can.

I purchased this as a gift for an 89 old Japanese woman. She said she is not at all familiar with this and does not care for it. I have not listened to it so I have no idea what is on the CD. I was just winging it. I had given her a different one before and she loved it. But I don't know the difference from one or the other. I don't want to give it a bad review based on the opinion of one person but I believe she would have given it a 1 or a 2.

beautiful, incredibly rare recordings, essential for any japanophile. people complaining about the sound quality should be pushed off a cliff. the source is 70-year-old 78 rpm records, only recently unearthed. and these aren't studio recordings! marvel at the history, not the hiss.

My first experience to traditional Japanese music, and loved the new sounds.