Carpe Diem #117, Sakura (Japan)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today our final piece of our little musical trip around the world. Today we are visiting Japan, the land of haiku. The folkloric music of Japan is called Sakura, that's the prompt for today, and I will take you to the world famous Japanese drums of Taiko.

Sakura - Cherry Blossom

"Sakura Sakura" (さくら さくら?, "Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms"), also known as "Sakura", is a traditional Japanese folk song depicting spring, the season of cherry blossoms. Contrary to popular belief, the song did not originate in ancient times; it was a popular, urban melody of the Edo period and was adopted as a piece for beginning koto students in the Tokyo Academy of Music Collection of Japanese Koto Music issued in 1888 (in English) by the Department of Education.The song has been popular since the Meiji period, and the lyrics in their present form were attached then. It is often sung in international settings as a song representative of Japan. I will reproduce the song text here:

In Romaji:

sakura sakura
noyama mo sato mo
mi-watasu kagiri
kasumi ka kumo ka
asahi ni niou
sakura sakura
hana zakari

sakura sakura
yayoi no sora wa
mi-watasu kagiri
kasumi ka kumo ka
nioi zo izuru
izaya izaya
mini yukan

English translation:

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
In fields and villages
As far as you can see.
Is it a mist, or clouds?
Fragrant in the morning sun.
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
Flowers in full bloom.

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
Across the spring sky,
As far as you can see.
Is it a mist, or clouds?
Fragrant in the air.
Come now, come now,
Let's look, at last!

And this is the music of Sakura, Sakura:

The Music of Sakura, Sakura

It's a song in praise of the Cherry Blossoms. The Cherry Blossom is a kigo (seasonword) for Spring and I will offer that prompt in our next month of Carpe Diem. March will have a prompt-list with classical Japanese kigo (as I did in December 2012 for Winter).

And so it sounds:

Another wonderful piece of Japanese music is the so called Taiko (Japanese Drums).
Taiko (太鼓?) means "drum" in Japanese (etymologically "great" or "wide drum"). Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums, (和太鼓, "wa-daiko", "Japanese drum", in Japanese) and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming (sometimes called more specifically, "kumi-daiko" (組太鼓)). The performances can last between 5 and 25 minutes and typically follow a jo-ha-kyū (beginning, middle, end/rapid, sudden, urgent, and emergency) structure, which means the performance will speed up significantly towards the grand finale.

Japanese taiko drums have been developed into a wide range of percussion instruments that are used in both Japanese folk and classical musical traditions.

Taiko, in general, are 3 sticks percussion instruments. With the exception of the "ko-tsuzumi" and "ō-tsuzumi", all taiko are struck with bachi. They have heads on both sides of the drum body, and a sealed resonating cavity. Taiko are also characterized by a high amount of tension on the drums heads, with a correspondingly high pitch relative to body size. This high tension likely developed in response to Japan's wet and humid summers when most festivals take place. Many taiko are not tunable, and a drum with high head tension would counteract the slacking effects of humidity.

A Taiko Drum

These Taiko drums are great and the perfomance with Taiko is almost better than the most Western music. An example of a Taiko performance:

In my country, The Netherlands, we have a Drum group called 'Slagerij Van Kampen', they perform on regular base all over the world and this is how that sounds:

Well ... isn't it wonderful to end our little musical trip around the world in Japan? (And a little bit of The Netherlands? :-) 

Is it possible to write haiku on this prompt? I don't know ... I hope so. I will give it a try and I hope you will too.

in praise of Cherries
a geisha is playing the Koto
singing Sakura

singing Sakura
wandering beneath the Cherry Trees
Ah! what a joy

drumming sounds
dancing through the streets
Taiko band playing

Taiko band playing
thoughts of Slagerij Van Kampen
East joins West

Really ... I have done it ... I have written a few haiku on our prompt for today ... what a relief. I hope you enjoyed reading this episode and I hope (for sure) that you did like the music I have shared here. Be inspired and creative ... follow the heartbeat of the Taiko drums to write and share your haiku on todays prompt.

This prompt will stay on 'till February 10th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new Carpe Diem Special written by Chiyo-Ni later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). Hereafter I will already share Chiyo-Ni's haiku for this Special.

harusame ya utsukushiu naru mono bakari

spring rain
everything just grows
more beautiful

Carpe Diem #116, Fado (Portugal)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Well ... do you like our little musical world trip? I hope you do. I have read wonderful haiku during this little journey around the world. It's really a joy to prepare these episodes of Carpe Diem. Doing the research for them and learn a little bit more about those musical styles and dances.
Today we are leaving South America and fly towards Europe ... visiting the land of Fado, Portugal.

Fado (painting by Jose Malhoa 1920)

Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best. But even that information was frequently modified within the generational transmission process that made it reach us today." In popular belief, fado is a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor, and infused with a characteristic sentiment of resignation, fatefulness and melancholia (loosely captured by the word "saudade", or longing). However, although the origins are difficult to trace, today fado is regarded, by many, as simply a form of song which can be about anything, but must follow a certain structure. The music is usually linked to the Portuguese word saudade which symbolizes the feeling of loss (a permanent, irreparable loss and its consequent life lasting damage). Amália Rodrigues, Carlos do Carmo, Mariza, Mafalda Arnauth, and Cristina Branco are amongst the most famous individuals associated with the genre.

The word Fado comes from the Latin word fatum, from which the English word fate also originates. The word is linked to the music genre itself and, although both meanings are approximately the same in the two languages, Portuguese speakers seldom utilize the word fado referring to destiny or fate.

Fado only appeared after 1830 in Lisbon. It was introduced in the port districts like Alfama, Mouraria and Bairro Alto.

There are many theories about the origin of Fado. Some trace its origins or influences to "cantigas de amigo" (friends songs) from the Middle Ages or Moorish songs.

Fado performers in the middle of the 19th century were mainly from urban working class and sailors, who not only sang, but also danced and beat the fado. During the second half of the 19th century, the African rhythms would become less important, and the performers became merely singers.

Fado was thus generally sung by one person called a fadista, and normally accompanied by the portuguese guitar and the classical guitar.

The 19th century's most renowned fadista was Maria Severa.

More recently Amália Rodrigues, known as the "Rainha do Fado" ("Queen of Fado") was most influential in popularizing fado worldwide. Fado performances today may be accompanied by a string quartet or a full orchestra. 

It's a wonderful kind of music ... I love Fado songs, they are so full of joy, passion, sadness and so on. Was it fate? To share this with you? I don't know, but I loved writing this post.

fado singer
sings right from her heart
was it destiny?

fate re-done in fado
strong belief in music from the heart
fado singer


What a joy! I love the way these haiku came on paper, while listening to the sweet voice of Amalia Rodrigues, the Queen of Fado.

Have fun, be inspired, listen to Fado and become creative. Share your haiku on Fado with us all. Enjoy it ... and be prepared ... we are traveling further to the Far East to hear the Japanese folk music of Sakura and Taiko (Japanese Drum Music).
This prompt will stay on 'till February 9th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our next episode later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).

Carpe Diem #115, Tango (Argentina)

Dear haijin, visitors and travelers,


We are continuing our little musical trip around the world with a short visit to the homeland of our Crown Princess Maxima, Argentina. This long stretched land we find in South America and it's said that the Tango was born there. Today we are sharing haiku on Tango.

Tango dance originated in Río de la Plata, and spread to the rest of the world soon after.

Early tango was known as tango criollo. Today, there are different types of tango dance such as Argentine tango or Uruguayan. Popularly and among tango dancing circles, the authentic tango is considered to be the one which is closest to that originally danced in Argentina and Uruguay.

Tango is a dance that has influences from European and African culture. 

 

Credits: Candombe

Dances from the candombe ceremonies of former slave peoples helped shape the modern day Tango. The dance originated in lower-class districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The music derived from the fusion of various forms of music from Europe. The word "tango" seems to have first been used in connection with the dance in the 1890s. Initially it was just one of the many dances, but it soon became popular throughout society, as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the suburbs to the working-class slums, which were packed with hundreds of thousands of European immigrants, primarily Italians, Spanish and French.

In the early years of the 20th century, dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires travelled to Europe, and the first European tango craze took place in Paris, soon followed by London, Berlin, and other capitals. Towards the end of 1913 it hit New York in the USA, and Finland. In the USA around 1911 the word "tango" was often applied to dances in a 2/4 or 4/4 rhythm such as the one-step. The term was fashionable and did not indicate that tango steps would be used in the dance, although they might be. Tango music was sometimes played, but at a rather fast tempo. Instructors of the period would sometimes refer to this as a "North American tango", versus the so-called "Argentine Tango". By 1914 more authentic tango stylings were soon developed, along with some variations like Albert Newman's "Minuet" tango.

When I met my wife, she was a dancer who was dancing in the highest levels of amateur dancing with her dancing partner. She is a wonderful dancer ... I am not ... I am more of a writer and poet (smiles).

Well ... enough about Tango, let's go compose a haiku (or few).

dance of deep love
she, my lovely wife, sways
dancing the Tango

dancing the Tango
passionate couple of youngsters -
dance of deep love

Not a very strong set, but I enjoyed it very much to write these. I am looking forward to your haiku on Tango. Have fun, be inspired and passionated and share your 'Tango-haiku' with Carpe Diem. Our next stop in our little musical world trip will be Portugal, land of Fado.

This prompt will stay on 'till February 8th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode around 10.00 PM (CET) today.

Carpe Diem #114, Mariachi (mexico)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today we start a little musical trip around the world. And we will start in Mexico were the Mariachi's are the folkloric musicians. After Mexico we will visit Argentina, Portugal and Japan. So let's go on a trip around the world with music.

Mariachi is a form of folk music from Mexico. The name refers to the music, the musicians and the band/orchestras that play it. Mariachi began as a regional folk style called “Son Jaliscience” in the center west of Mexico originally played only with string instruments and musicians dressed in the white pants and shirts of peasant farmers. From the 19th to 20th century, migrations from rural areas into cities such as Guadalajara and Mexico City, along with Mexican government’s cultural promotion gradually changed this Son style, with its alternate name of “mariachi” becoming used for the “urban” form. Modifications of the music include influences from other music such as polkas and waltzes, the addition of trumpets and the use of charro outfits by mariachi musicians. The musical style began to take on national prominence in the first half of the 20th century, with its promotion at presidential inaugurations and on the radio in the 1920s.

Isn't it wonderful music? I hope that I can write a haiku on this prompt myself. Well ... I have to try.

at the festival
the joyous sound of Mariachis -
sharing happiness

sharing happiness
on the streets of Mexico City
a Mariachi band

I love that Mariachi sound very much ... so different with our Dutch music on Wooden Shoes (smiles).

Have fun, be creative and share your haiku with us here on Carpe Diem.

This prompt will stay on 'till February 7th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will share our next stop in our musical world trip, Tango (Argentina), later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).