Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies

Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Edited book | The Aesthetics of Emptiness
Chapter | Sulla tela del tempo

Sulla tela del tempo

Filosofia del suono nell’Etude III per pianoforte di Toshio Hosokawa

Abstract

Etude III for piano by Hosokawa Toshio is an admirable summary of his poetics, which are closely related to the aesthetics of emptiness. In his works, acting as a link between Eastern and Western culture the composer studies the polarity between sound and silence, reinterpreting it in the light of calligraphic experience. Inspired by shodō, Hosokawa traces sound within the spatial-temporal dimension thanks to an interior openness that makes it possible to listen to one’s own voice. Energy (ki) is thus released, fuelling a network of relations that are suspended on the border of impermanence and placed in the background of a great void. Thanks to the respect for every being that contributes to universe life, Hosokawa’s can not only be interpreted as an artistic, civil and political lesson, but also as a sociological and ecological one.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: Aug. 30, 2022 | Accepted: Nov. 24, 2022 | Published April 21, 2023 | Language: it

Keywords Silence and soundCalligraphyEmptinessHosokawaEtude III


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