{"id":18553,"date":"2025-03-04T12:21:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T03:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/cro\/?p=18553"},"modified":"2025-03-06T14:58:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T05:58:23","slug":"%e3%82%aa%e3%83%9a%e3%83%a9%ef%bc%8f%e9%9f%b3%e6%a5%bd%e5%8a%87%e7%a0%94%e7%a9%b6%e6%89%80%ef%bc%9a%e3%82%b7%e3%83%b3%e3%83%9d%e3%82%b8%e3%82%a6%e3%83%a0%e3%80%8e%e3%82%b0%e3%83%ab%e3%83%83%e3%82%af-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/cro\/news-en\/2025\/03\/04\/18553\/","title":{"rendered":"Institute for Research in Opera and Music Theatre\uff1aDr. \u00c1rni Ing\u00f3lfsson\u2019s Special Lecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. \u00c1rni Ing\u00f3lfsson\u2019s Special Lecture
\n\u201cJapanese Music in Iceland, and the Influence of Japanese Music on Contemporary Icelandic Composers\u201d<\/h3>\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Iceland has a short history of \u201cClassical\u201d music, which was only introduced there in the second half of the 19th century. Musical links between Iceland and Japan have an even shorter history, beginning in the 1960s with performances on the Icelandic Radio of music by composers such as Ikuma Dan and T\u014dru Takemitsu. At the same time, performances by musicians such as Katsuya Yokoyama opened the ears of Icelandic radio listeners for the sound-world of Japanese traditional instruments such as the shakuhachi.
\nBeginning in the early 1970s, Japanese influence can be clearly heard in the music of Iceland\u2019s key modernist composers. Atli Heimir Sveinsson (1938\u20132019) referenced a Japanese sound-world in his award-winning Flute Concerto (1973) and Xanties<\/em> (1975) for flute and piano. In his brilliant solo flute piece, Kalais<\/em> (1976), Thorkell Sigurbj\u00f6rnsson (1938\u20132013) asks for the flautist to remove the mouthpiece and play the final section of the work \u201cshakuhachi-style\u201d.
\nThe most extensive example of Japanese influence in Icelandic modernist music is Sveinsson\u2019s opera The Silk Drum<\/em> (1980), which is based on the Japanese Noh play \u201cAya no Tsuzumi\u201d. Premiered at the Reykjav\u00edk Music Festival in 1980, this opera was a great success and was seen as a landmark event in the history of Icelandic opera. The main gist of the story is the same as in the Japanese original, but the action is transferred from medieval Japan to the world of fashion in the modern West. An old man falls in love with a young and beautiful model, and the work thus becomes a cautionary tale of the modern world\u2019s focus on superficial appearances rather than true substance.
\nIn my lecture, I will discuss these works and their reception in Iceland, as well as the continuation of Japanese influence in the 21st<\/sup> century. This has taken place both through cultural exchange with groups such as the new-music ensemble Caput, which has worked closely with the Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa, as well as direct influence, for example of the works of Ryuichi Sakamoto on composer Hildur Gu\u00f0nad\u00f3ttir (composer, Joker<\/em> and T\u00e1r,<\/em> Academy Award winner for best film score, 2020).<\/p>\n

Event Outline<\/h5>\n