Date of Award

Fall 2025

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

School of Music

First Advisor

Jennifer Parker-Harley

Abstract

The purpose of this document is to create a culturally-informed and aesthetically accurate performance preparation guide for Western concert flute players seeking to perform works inspired by traditional Japanese flutes, or fue, such as the shakuhachi and nohkan.1 While many pieces like these exist, there are limited resources detailing how to emulate the traditional Japanese flutes and their performance practices. The composers of these works often do well to provide notation for producing the specific sounds or effects they are trying to replicate, but these are non-standardized and thus vary from composer to composer. In addition, the traditional Japanese aesthetic principles that inform other aspects of the compositions such as character and form are rarely mentioned, which can lead to confusion on the performer’s part of how to go about playing a piece, and which elements of a work should be emphasized or de-emphasized. To encourage a culturally-informed approach to compositions inspired by traditional Japanese flutes, this guide provides an overview of the shakuhachi and nohkan flutes, detailing their history and construction, followed by a discussion on traditional Japanese art aesthetics. Three compositions, chosen for their high quality and prominence in the Western concert flute repertoire, are then used as case studies. The works selected for this analysis are Shirish Korde’s Tenderness of Cranes2 and two pieces by Wil Offermans: Honami3 and Tsuru-no-Sugomori.4 The flutes, traditional pieces, and aesthetics that inspired them are examined, and the notation utilized in each piece is discussed in detail, with written explanations on producing the musical effects provided.

Rights

© 2025, Chase Michael Ketron

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