The song I selected is called Sojo Choshi, which means The Prelude or Tuning in the “Sojo mode”. I found the song on Spotify, and it was on an album of traditional Japanese Imperial Court Music and Dance by Toshio Tsuji. I chose it because it sounded very mystical and unique, but almost unsettling, in my opinion- almost like a calm ocean, but it’s misty, and something could be approaching. How it’s structured is that it starts with the Sho by itself, which gives a calmer effect, but at:27 the ryuteki is introduced at a very high pitch, and it makes the whole piece ‘clash’ a bit, to show the calmer sho combined with the ryuteki. Then, finally, at the end of the song, it slows down and goes silent, for some plucking by what I presume is the Koto. Overall, I really enjoy Japanese music and find a lot of East Asian music intriguing, but this piece was just a specific one I listened to and wanted to write about.
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