"This book introduces us to the world of contemporary Japanese music and it guides us towards a better understanding of their world."--Luciano Berio Yogaku discusses over a century of musical activity in Japan, detailing, in particular, the music that was inspired by Western music after the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century, and its development through the end of the 20th century. The book not only examines the infiltration of Western music into Japan, but also provides insight into the aesthetic and theoretical aspects of Japanese musical thought. The word yogaku (Western music) is made...

Over the last fifty years, the music of Joji Yuasa has attained the zenith of international musical standards. A study of this great Japanese composer is long overdue. Persuasive and captivating, less easy than that of his lifetime friend Toru Takemitsu, Yuasa's music has also been a model for many young composers, both from Japan and further afield, thanks to the long period he spent teaching composition at the University of California, San Diego (1981-1994). This book serves to illuminate aspects of Yuasa's work, intricately linked to deep, native roots which tend to be more opaque for...