2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Research on Scottish vocal music reception in Japan
| Project/Area Number |
18520093
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Aesthetics/Art history
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| Research Institution | Seitoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
TAKAMATSU Akiko Seitoku University, Faculty of Humanities, Professor (20236350)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TERUYAMA Akito Kantogakuen University, Faculty of Economics, Associate Professor (80237015)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2006 – 2007
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| Keywords | arts / Western music reception / Scotland / shoka / Meiji era / music / schoolbook |
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| Research Abstract |
There is a general understanding that Japan has introduced many songs from Scotland since Meiji era and that these took root easily owing to the similarity of the tone systems. This research tries to collect all repertoires of the songs of Scottish origin, to find out how they were accepted and reexamine the above statement. Findings are as follows ;
1. More than 20 Scottish tunes were introduced to Japan in Meiji era, 13 of which were adapted to Japanese shoka, the school songs. These songs were revised into 25 different songs with different texts. Most of Scottish tunes we have today in Japan can be found as early as in Meiji period.
2. Some shoka of Scottish origin were reprinted 15 times while others appeared only once. Some Scottish tunes were readapted to 10 different songs while others are always under the same title. No drastic change of the original melody happened in the process of adaptation. It can be stressed that the change from the reverse dotted rhythm to the usual one has scarcely been found which suggests the shift has been happened already in the American versions which could be the source of the Japanese ones.
3. Affinity between Scottish and Japanese tone system has been often pointed out on the basis that they have a pentatonic scale in common. By collecting and classifying statements on this, we can see the similar logic has continuously been used since late Meiji period. However, this research revealed that, against the conventional statement, the pentatonic scale based on the diatonic scale was not so familiar to the Japanese people in Meiji era. Also, the general belief that the similarity of the scale has contributed to the reception of Scottish tunes could be the result of reconstruction of the past, after when pentatonic became the true idiom of Japanese music.
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