SHICHISEIKAI + INDIAN MUSIC PROJECT

Period

June and July in any year

Venue

Concert Hall, Church, Cultural space etc.

Performers

The Shichiseikai: Shomyo and Gagaku instruments
Sitar player
Tabla player
two Tambura players
HIROS: Bansuri
Minimum Numbers of Performers:11

Sound engineer:1

Performance time

2 hours

Example time division of the performance

Shomyo <40 minutes>、Intermission <10 minutes>, Hindustani music on Sitar or Bansuri <40 minutes>、Shomyo+Indian music <30 minutes

The aim of the project

  The origin of the two performing arts, Shomyo Buddhist Chanting and Indian Classical Music, can be traced to the Veda chanting tradition of ancient India. There is a very strong relationship between the Veda tradition and Japanese Buddhist chanting.
 In the earliest Vedic chanting only one or two different notes were used. Brahmin monks developed this chanting style using only one or two notes early on into a musical form using seven notes.
 Indian Classical music can be thought of as developing, in part, out of this early Vedic chanting. And it became an independent modern musical form influenced by secular music. It can be found in the Natya Shastra, 2nd century A.D. by Bharata, one can find reference to a musical form that was derived from the earlier Vedic chanting. In the fifth century A.D. the concept of Raga appeared. In reading the Sangeet Ratnakara we discover that by the thirteenth century A.D. the form of our contemporary music, the Raga-Tala system, had already been established. From the tenth century A.D. on the Muslims began establishing their influence in India. One of the results of this Muslim presence in India was the metamorphosis of classical Indian music into Muslim Court Music. At the same time, as a result of this metamorphosis, there was also a flowering and sophistication of the Indian classical music. And this remains the classical Indian music of today.
 In listening to the Japanese Shomyo form of today we can hear the influence, the remnants, of the Ancient Vedic tradition. This connection depends on the fact that they are both a reading of the Sutras with a melody. This reflects the fact that the chanting itself leads naturally to a musicality. The musical accompaniment that colored the chanting of the Sutras was remonstrated by the priests when the message of the Sutra was lost to the music. We know this is the case from the content of some of the earlier Sutras. This is evidence that the chanted Sutra is basically musical.
 Buddhism, along with its way of chanting Sutras, flowed into China from India by a multitude of routes. As the Sutras were translated into Chinese it is reasonable to assume that the way of chanting, as well as the melody, was modified.
The Shomyo, modified Indian Sutras, were introduced into Japan and further adapted to the Japanese musical aesthetic. Counter to this was the order from the Japanese Emperor, 720, to follow exactly the Chinese way of chanting the Sutras. Thus, we have proof here that the Japanese priests were altering the original Sutras.
Present day Shomyo followed a path from Shingon and Tendai, eighth and ninth century A.D.. The Shomyo of Shichiseikai, the monks of the Jodo sect, follows the Tendai tradition because the Jodo sect of Buddhism branched off from the Tendai sect. The Shomyo of the Shichiseikai sect are mostly from the Tendai tradition, although having their own unique characteristic. This characteristic can be easily appreciated by ordinary people, differing, as it does, from the exclusivity of the rest of the sects in the Tendai tradition.
 The above talks about the journey of Shomyo and Indian Classical Music from their beginnings in Vedic Chanting to modern Japanese Shomyo and modern Indian Classical Music. They appear to be different from one another. One is practiced by the Japanese Bhuddhist monks, the other by professional musicians. In spite of the large distance between country and musical form one can find an underlying connection in the Shomyo and Indian Classical music.
 Our purpose in this project is to bring together in India these two forms of music, Shomyo and Indian Classical music, in their birthplace in order to show new possibilities in the way of musical expression. Hopefully, this will encourage a cultural exchange between our two countries.

Contact

Tengaku Planning Office
3-2-6-1-705, Port Island, Kobe 650-0046, JAPAN
phone & fax:+81 78-302-4040
mobile:+81 804231-6465
hirosnaka@yahoo.co.jp