Composing for Japanese Instruments

A practical but scholarly guide to Japanese instruments by one of that country?s leading composers.
The unique sounds of the biwa, shamisen, and other traditional instruments from Japan are heard more and more often in works for the concert hall and opera house.
Composing for Japanese Instruments is a practical orchestration/instrumentation manual with contextual and relevant historical information for composers who wish to learn how to compose for traditional Japanese instruments. Widely regarded as the authoritative text on the subject in Japan and China, it contains hundreds of musical examples, diagrams, photographs, and fingering charts, and comes complete with two accompanying compact discs of musical examples. Its author, Minoru Miki, is a composer of international renown and is recognized in Japan as a pioneer in writing for Japanese traditional instruments. The book contains valuable appendices, one of works Miki himself has composed using Japanese traditional instruments, and one of works by other composers - including Toru Takemitsu and Henry Cowell - using Japanese traditional instruments.

CONTENIDO

List of Illustrations
Compact Discs Track Listings
Foreword
Translator's Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction

1- Wind Instruments
Shinobue
Ryuteki
Nokan
Shakuhachi
Hichiriki
Sho

2- Strings Instruments (Lutes)
Biwa
Shamisen
Special shamisen
Kokyu

3- Strings Instruments (Zithers)
Koto
Special Kotos

4- Percussion Instruments
Membrane Percussion
Wood and Bamboo Percussion
Metal ans Stone Percussion

Afterword
Appendix I: Work for Japanese Instruments by Minoru Miki
Appendix II: Contemporary Works for Traditional Japanese Instruments by Composer Other than Minoru Miki, 1981-2005

Notes
Glossary
Index