We Need to Be Articulate 2018年芥川作曲賞

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I went to the Suntory Hall last month to see the 28th Competition of Akutagawa Award for Music Composition. This competition is for composers of contemporary classical music and was established in April 1990 to commemorate the achievements of Yasushi Akutagawa, a Japanese composer. (By the way, he's also known as a son of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the author of "Rashomon" and "In a Grove," the original two short stories of Akira Kurosawa's film, "Rashomon.")

I love usual classical music, such as Debussy and Elgar, but have no idea about what contemporary composers are trying to achieve. I've been to contemporary classical music concerts several times, but pieces performed there only sounded to me a series of dissonant chords and noises. (I know this is because I have no ear for this kind of music.) But my inability to understand what is good about something doesn't mean it's bad. So, I was looking forward very much to hearing from the three members of a jury for the competition, also contemporary composers, their interpretation of pieces to be played in the hall.

Three candidates' works had been chosen in the preliminary selection and were played by the New Japan Philharmonic in the hall. All the three pieces sounded as expected, i.e., dissonant, and the only difference I could tell was that the last played one was like more usual classical music than the other two and that I didn't fall asleep!

After that, a panel discussion was held on the stage, in which three jurors, former winners and professional composers, were supposed to discuss each piece to decide this year's winner. But I didn't hear any discussion. I only found them expressing their views on each piece but without responding to or arguing about the other jurors' opinions and based on this "one-way" discussion and a majority vote, the prize winner was decided. Two jurors voted for the winner while the other for the composer of the least sleepy piece to me.

On my way home, I couldn't help but feel disappointed that it didn't give me any clues that enable me to enjoy contemporary classical music. Neither were explanations made by each juror on their selection criteria nor was a real discussion done on the stage. It's like they were just reading scripts and I don't understand how come it was an "open selection process."

I also wondered what the responsibilities of professionals were. I had expected to hear from the three professionals who, as jurors, owed the audience explanations for their decisions. They talked, but weren't articulate enough for lay persons, like me, to understand their decision making process. But writing this post made me realize that I'm not articulate either and that is why I started this blog... 

第28回芥川作曲賞選考演奏会を聞きに行った。作曲家の芥川也寸志氏（芥川龍之介の息子）の功績をたたえるために設立された現代音楽作曲家のための賞だ。といっても私にとって現代音楽は不協和音の連続でしかなく、聞いていても寝てしまうだけ。でも「自分に理解できないものは悪いもの」ではないというつもりはない。私に見えない（聞こえない）ものが作曲家たちには見えている（聞こえている）に違いない。というわけで当日は、審査員の方々の解説を楽しみにしていた。

数十曲の中から最終候補として選ばれた3曲が、新日本フィルハーモニー交響楽団により演奏された。正直どれも難解（笑）だったが、最後の曲がそれでもまだ分かりやすかったかな。（つまり普通のクラシック音楽に近かった。）ただ、その後行われた3人の審査員による公開選考会では、2対1の多数決で別の曲が大賞に選ばれた。

帰り道、何かがっかりした。現代音楽を好きになれるような解説を期待していたのに。選考会で審査員が喧々諤々議論するのを期待していたのに｡｡。こちらが知識不足なのは分かっている。でもやはりあれでは「公開」審査とは言えないのでは｡｡。プロなら私のような素人にも分かるように説明してくれ～！と書いて気が付いた。そうです。そうなんです！私こそ相手に伝わるように説明するのが下手なんです。だからこのブログを始めたんでした。