“ Japan's Emergence as a Musical Power:

The Introduction of Western Music in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Japan"

by Margaret Mehl, Ass. Professor

 

 

 

 

Date and Time : Tuesday 4 March 2014 at 17:30 - 19:30

Venue : Bethesda, Rømersgade 17, 1362 København K (by Torvehallerne).

Language : English

 

To join this event please register at info@ch.mofa.go.jp

 

 

[About Music in Japan and the Lecture, by Margaret Mehl]

 

Japan's Emergence as a Musical Power: The Introduction of Western Music in the Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth Centuries

Western visitors to Japan are often surprised at the how widely Western classical music can be heard, while opportunities to hear traditional Japanese music seem few and far between. Meanwhile Japanese musicians are active abroad – witness the many charity concerts worldwide after the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011, often organized by expatriate Japanese – Yamaha grand pianos stand in many halls and the Suzuki Method of music pedagogy is world famous, to mention just a few examples of Japan's musical presence.

 

What are the reasons for what is arguably one of Japan's greatest success stories? Scholars have long argued that Western music was part of the modernization package introduced by the Meiji government after 1868 and that the main routes by which Western music came to be disseminated was through the military, the imperial court, the church and the education system. Much research has examined these routes, but the focus has usually been on measures “from above” and on Tokyo.

 

My own interest is in what happened “on the ground” and in places far from the capital and I am concentrating on Sendai, which so far has received little attention, partly because of Tôhoku's image of being “backward”. I have also decided to focus on a few individuals, because I believe that the initiative and activities of such individuals played an important role in bringing Western music to the population in general. In my lecture I will introduce individuals connected with Sendai. As well as presenting what I have found out so far, I will also say a little bit about how I went about my research.

 

 

[ About Margaret Mehl ]

 

 

Margaret Mehl is an expert on the history of modern Japan and a dedicated amateur violinist. Currently she is an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen. She holds a doctorate from the University of Bonn as well as one from the University of Copenhagen.

 

After a postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge, Margaret Mehl lectured at the universities of Edinburgh, Stirling and Berlin before moving to Copenhagen in 2001. She has lived in Japan as a researcher on several occasions, affiliated with the University of Tokyo and, more recently, with Waseda University.

 

Margaret Mehl has published widely on the history of historical writing, education and music in modern Japan. Her previous books include History and the State in Nineteenth-Century Japan (Macmillan, 1998) and Private Academies of Chinese Learning in Meiji Japan: The Decline and Transformation of the Kangaku Juku ( NIAS Press, 2003). She has also published articles relating to the violin in Japan in The Strad.

 

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