Search - Tokyo Gakuso & Tadaaki Ohno :: Gagaku & Beyond

Celestial Harmonies!

P. Tierney | New York, NY United States | 03/22/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first Gagaku album I have ever listened to and I must say I love it! I first became interested in Japanese traditional music from watching Akira Kurosawa films. The balance of beauty, nobility, and sorrow has always moved me. Listening to this album, I again feel those same emotions. What at first seemed to be dissonant melodies soon reveal themselves to be a beautiful conversation among the exotic instruments. It creates an other-wordly mood, as if this music was meant not for mortal ears, but for the gods and spirits themselves. The wide variety of styles offered in this album provides a great overview of Gagaku. Personally, my favorite track is the second, which features deep, male vocals (the only vocals on the CD)."

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Matthew Saul | Earth | 08/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"astonishing...wonderous...beautiful...and whole mess of other cheesy adjectives.....i listen to a lot of music from around the planet...i have most of the explorer series re-issues plus a host of others put out by other record labels...and i have to say that this music is some of the most expressive music i have heard from anywhere...not to mention the most expressive i've heard from japan..i did some painting recently and i put this music on in the background....extremely inspirational....it has an incredible ability to shape the mood and space....i would not recomend this music to people who listen to music for entertainment...it won't make you want to bob your head and there is no concrete melody to sing along with but if you are interested in one-ness, or spirituality of any kind this music is a wonderful experience... i would also recomend this to anyone who is interested in exploring their understanding of music, sound, and the relationship of those things to everything else."

On Gagaku

Ernesto | Cambridge, MA | 01/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you want one gagaku/engaku recording this is perhaps the one. The recording quality is great and the performance as well."