On Friday, March 7, at 1pm, Triona Marshall and I will play a recital titled Celebrating Lafcadio Hearn - Bridging Japan and Ireland in St Ann's Church, Dawson Street, Dublin 2.
This recital is associated with a full-day workshop themed "Lafcadio Hearn's Japan: from Enchantment to Intercultural Understanding", convened by Professor Nathan Hill and Doctor Lijing Peng of the Trinity Centre for Asian Studies, Trinity College, Dublin.
Triona was concert harpist with the RTE Concert Orchestra before transitioning over to Irish harp. Since then she has played with the Chieftains.
Over the last few weeks we have been rehearsing a programme of Irish and Japanese pieces.
Lafcadio Hearn
Lafcadio Hearn is an unfamiliar name to a lot of people in Ireland, and yet, under his Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo 小泉八雲, he is possibly the most famous Irish person in Japan.
Born to an Irish father and Greek mother, he spent a troubled and difficult childhood in Ireland and England. As a young adult, he emigrated to the US and worked as a reporter in Cincinnati and afterwards in New Orleans.
He travelled to Japan as a correspondent in 1890. Here he seems to have found his soul's home.
Through his work, the world found an introduction to Japanese culture and life. His books and writings during this time in the last decade of the 19th Century and early 20th Century explore everything from insects to ghost stories.
Kwaidan
The most famous of his works is undoubtedly Kwaidan, translating as Ghost Stories. I think it is safe to say that Hearn heard these tales, mostly found in Japanese Folklore, from his wife Setsuko.
The most popular of these tales must surely be Mimi-nashi Hoichi. The title translates as "Earless Hoichi"
The story hearkens back to the Genpei wars where the Minamoto Clan and Taira Clan fought for power at the end of the 12th Century.
It is this war that is the subject of the epic narrative Heike monogatari or Tale of the Heike.
The war ends with the Taira Clan utterly defeated and the child Emperor's death, taken to the bottom of the sea along with the Taira Clan nobility at the Battle of Dan no Ura.
Biwa Hoshi
The biwa has been associated with exorcisms and appeasing spirits throughout its history. This was practiced by Biwa Hoshi, blind musicians-cum-lay priests reciting with accompaniment on biwa.
After the Gempei War, however, a new tradition came into being of reciting the events of the Gempei conflict with biwa to appease the souls of the dead Taira leaders and thereby avoid them returning to cause harm to the new elites.
These recitations form what is the Heike monogatari today.
This became so established as an art form, and so popular, that the biwa has become tied to the Tale of the Heike, to the extent that the instrument itself became known as heike-biwa.
In the story, Hoichi is one of these Biwa Hoshi famed for his ability to recite this tale. Being unable to see, when he is visited by the ghost of a dead Heike warrior, and told to follow, he assumes he is being led to a great Lord's residence but instead arrives at a gathering of spirits of the dead Heike. He is asked to recite the entire Tale of the Heike for them. This epic work takes many nights to recite so he has to return a number of nights. I suggest you read the rest to hear how Hoichi's life is saved at the expense of his ears.
Our programme
Playing shakuhachi and harp, we will start with an Irish air called Port na bPucaí. According to tradition, this haunting air was heard at sea by fishermen who had no idea of where the music sounded from.
The next piece, on satsumabiwa, is called Kadobiwa, meaning "biwa of the gate". It was played by the Biwa Hoshi in the Kagoshima region. Visiting a house, they stood outside the gate of the house and played this piece to let the members of the household know of their arrival. Triona has arranged an enchanting accompaniment.
This will be followed by an Irish reel called the Musical Priest played with biwa and harp as a tribute to Hoichi, particularly his excitement at the prospect of fame and success as he follows the ghost of the dead Taira warrior.
Then I will perform a satsumabiwa recitation on an episode from the Tale of the Heike, that work which Hoichi was asked to recite. As it is a lunchtime event, I chose a more uplifting theme, Nasu no Yoichi and his tremendous feat of archery at the Battle of Yashima.
Triona will then play her own arrangement of the traditional Japanese folktune, Sakura, sakura.
Finally we finish with a flourish on Satsumabiwa and harp.
Entrance is free. I hope I might see you there.
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