Radio Gidayū

Created by Allen S. Weiss and Daisuke Ishida for the Klangkunst program of Deutschlandradio Kultur Berlin, 2014, commissioned by Marcus Gammel, Radio Gidayū is simultaneously a soundscape of Kyoto, a sonic travel diary, the evocation of a utopian space, and a work of musique concrète.

It is inspired by the art of gidayū, a type of chanted narration that originated in Bunraku puppet theater, but which has evolved into a purely vocal and musical art form, fluctuating between recitation, song, and noise. The vocalist – with only shamisen accompaniment – recites all parts, both male and female, as well as all sound effects, characterized by the most extreme vocal techniques. Gidayū transforms the world into sound, in a theater without stage or actors, not unlike that of Hörspiel (radio drama), a theater for the ears. Gidayū may thus be considered among the precursors of radiophonic art.

Five days in Kyoto. We are transported to a tea ceremony near Daitoku-ji, and to worshippers at the Yasaka shrine in Gion; we hear the sounding of the great bell at Hōnen-in, the suikinkutsu at Enkō-ji, and the bustle of the Terimachi shopping mall; and we finally arrive at the famed garden of Ryōan-ji, where the sonic reality is surprisingly different from the spiritual ambience one might expect.

Finally, nothing is as it seems, and the listener shall have ample opportunity to take imaginary detours and create private scenarios. For Kyoto is both a real city and a fantasmatic realm, and this piece is both travelogue and music. In a word, Radio Gidayū presents Kyoto as a symbolic sonic environment.

[The piece which is 44 minutes long can be accessed on the following page by pressing the small Play button on the righthand side.]