“Crossroad between Music Dramas and Choral Culture in the Meiji and Taisho Periods: Focusing on Children’s Operettas and College Choirs”, INOUE, Tokiko
Abstract
The reception of opera in modern Japan began with an acceptance of operas based solely on “written information”, followed by various attempts to stage music dramas by students of the Tokyo Music School, the Imperial Theater, and the Asakusa Opera in the late Meiji and Taisho periods. Among the issues surrounding the performance of music drama in its early days, this study focuses on the “physical culture” such as “singing along with the voice”, “listening to music”, and “acting to the music”, and examines it in the context of the acceptance of Western music and school education.
This study examines how “physical culture”—essential for the performance of music drama—was understood and practiced in the connection between shoka (school song) and dance in school education during the Meiji and Taisho periods, as well as in the choral activities that spread throughout the country, particularly in universities.
This presentation clarifies the performance culture of music drama in the Meiji and Taisho periods in relation to choral culture through an examination of (1) children’s operettas such as Dom-Brako and shoka (school song) dramas and (2) choral repertoire of opera excerpts by college choirs and glee clubs.
Event Outline
- Time and Date: October 5th (Sat.) 2024, 16:30 – 18:00 (JST)
- Format: HyFlex (On-Campus and Online meeting (Zoom))
- Venue: Waseda University, Nishi-Waseda Campus, Room 204 of Building 54 *No advance registration is required.
- Presenter: INOUE, Tokiko
- Affiliation: Ochanomizu University
- Moderator: SATO, Suguru
- Language: Japanese
- Organized by: Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University
Registration
Participate Online
Registration is required by October 4th (Fri.). Please register through following URL:
https://list-waseda-jp.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0qceivrDoiEtSuznvvbSwoT633HZSOMtAv
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Contact
Waseda Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University: https://prj-opera-mt.w.waseda.jp/
e-mail address: operaken-uketsuke[at]list.waseda.jp ([at] = @)
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＜Profile of Presenter＞
Tokiko INOUE is a Professor at Ochanomizu University (Japan). She completed a Ph.D. degree in musicology at Ochanomizu University. Her doctoral dissertation was titled A study of choral societies in nineteenth century Dresden: The social aspect of choral activities. She is currently conducting historical and empirical researches on the cultures of performance and appreciation in modern Japan and Western countries. She is the author of the forthcoming book Orchestra and the Japanese (Artes Publishing) and has published numerous articles in academic journals such as Poetics and Journal of the Musicological Society of Japan.
