Search - Imperial Court Ensemble :: Gagaku Ancient Japanese Court & Dance Music

Gagaku Rocks the Spot

C. T. Crawford | SF, CA, United States | 02/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This music, with its drones and swarming horn and flute sounds, eclipses much of 20th century musical minimalism in its dolorous, meditative creation of gorgeous, slowly modulating aural spaces. Once you've heard Gagaku (which is well and beautifully represented on this budget-priced disc), there's not really much need to have Terry RIley or Philip Glass on your shelf."

Intimate grandeur, infinite sadness

Uncle Odie | Somewhere on the Coast of California | 07/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is nothing like this music. Not only is it the product of a cultural tradition unbroken for over a millenium, performed by the decendants of the musicians who came to Japan from China over 1,000 years ago, and not only is it a glimpse into the cultural soul of Heian Japan and T'ang China, it is also the vehicle of a sense of sadness so elevated in its feeling and so refined in its sentiment that it can only be called noble. It is almost painfully slow and formalized, and yet through this slowness and formality it becomes the vehicle for that sense of _tristesse_ so closely bound with the ancient Chinese and Japanese aristocratic traditions. It is perhaps the only window westerners have on the delicate world of Genji, or the emperors of the Sung, that allows for this kind of emotional immediacy. Be forewarned -- it is not an easy thing to listen to, but that is, superficially, its object."