Buddhalaisuus Juha T. Koskisen teoksessa Dream Transmission (2019)

Esittäjän ja yleisön näkemyksiä suomalaisessa ja japanilaisessa kontekstissa

Abstrakti

Buddhism in Juha T. Koskinen’s Dream

Transmission (2019): performer and audience perceptions in Finnish and Japanese contexts

Composer Juha T. Koskinen’s (b. 1972) composition Dream Transmission for solo clarinet and electronics was premiered at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in 2019 by clarinetist Lauri Sallinen, who commissioned the work. The composition, representing Western and Finnish classical concert music tradition, draws a strong influence from Japanese Buddhism, like the shōmyō (Buddhist chanting) and includes reciting mantras as well as physical gestures, such as sitting in a kneeling position (seiza) and hand signs (mudra). Besides the Japanese influence, it also uses other culturally and geographically marked source material, such as a German lullaby and sounds of the Finnish sauna.

In this article, I combine cultural music analysis, close reading, and performance studies to examine the piece from the perspective of a performing musician, critical music analyst, and researcher of East Asian cultures, in order to draw attention to cultural sensitivity in music. The main research question is: How are the cultural traits of Japanese Buddhism represented in Dream Transmission, and what kinds of problems do these cross-cultural representations create from the perspective of cultural sensitivity and the social responsibility of the performer? I performed Dream Transmission in five concerts during 2023 and 2024 in Finland and Japan. In connection with these performances, the audiences’ reactions were investigated using a semi-structured questionnaire. I examined how Finnish and Japanese audiences received the performances, how they perceived the cultural connotations of the work, and how the composer’s aims were transmitted to the listeners. The composer’s perspective and background of the work were explored through interviews. I reflect on how much a non-Buddhist performer should familiarize themselves with the Buddhist content before performing the work, how much information of cultural contextualization should be given to the audience, and in which way, in a concert situation. By analyzing the complexity of the cultural layers of all the elements used in the work, as well as the audience reception, I argue that culturally connected materials should be communicated more openly to the audience. Source references in the score with cultural contextualization could benefit the performer to produce a more culturally informed performance, as Western classical music tradition often draws inspiration from non-European cultures.