Gorō Yamaguchi
{{more citations needed|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Gorō Yamaguchi
| image = File:Goro Yamaguchi.jpg
| caption = Yamaguchi playing Japanese shakuhachi in c. 1967
| occupation = Instrumentalist
| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|02|26}}
| birth_place = Tokyo, Japan
| death_date = {{death date and age|1999|01|03|1933|02|26}}
| origin = {{Flag|Japan}}
| instrument = Shakuhachi
| genre = Japanese classical
| years_active = 1960s-1990s
| label = Japan Victor, Nonesuch
}}
Gorō Yamaguchi (山口 五郎; February 26, 1933 – January 3, 1999)[http://www.shakuhachi.com/H-Yamaguchi.html Yamaguchi Goro]http://jjjjj.cxri.net/p/music/biography.cgi?artist_id=34762{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} was a Japanese shakuhachi player who worked in both solo and ensemble performances. He was noted for his influential recordings of traditional Japanese music and one of his pieces was selected by NASA to be included on the Voyager Golden Record and launched into space.
Career
Yamaguchi headed the Chikumeisha shakuhachi guild and became a world-famous Japanese performer and teacher. In 1967–1968, he was appointed Artist in Residence at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, United States along with Yamada-school koto performers Namino Torii and Yamaguchi Hozomi, his wife.{{Cite web|url=http://eastasianmusic.blogs.wesleyan.edu/37-2/|title = Wesleyan's Blog System}}
While at Wesleyan, Yamaguchi recorded his LP, A Bell Ringing In The Empty Sky, which was released by Nonesuch Records on its Explorer Series.{{Cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Gor%C3%B4-Yamaguchi-A-Bell-Ringing-In-The-Empty-Sky-Japanese-Shakuhachi-Music/release/1285215|title = Gorô Yamaguchi – A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky (Japanese Shakuhachi Music) (Vinyl)|website = Discogs| date=12 April 2017 }}{{better source needed|date=May 2021}} This was an influential first recording of shakuhachi in the United States; in 1977, NASA selected a honkyoku from the LP, "Tsuru No Sugomori" ("Depicting the Cranes in their Nest"), to be included on the Voyager Golden Record, a gold-plated copper record that was sent into space on the Voyager space craft. The record contained sounds and images which had been chosen as examples of the diversity of life and culture on Earth.{{cite web |title=Voyager - Music on the Golden Record |url=https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/golden-record/whats-on-the-record/music/ |website=voyager.jpl.nasa.gov |access-date=4 May 2021 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Late Junction: The songs they sent to space |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/Zy10WWyStk9W7kXQs3CFpV/the-songs-they-sent-to-space |website=www.bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC Radio 3 |access-date=4 May 2021}}{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Jonathan |title=The Vinyl Frontier: The Story of NASA's Interstellar Mixtape |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4729-5611-8 |page=109 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dW90DwAAQBAJ&dq=A+Bell+Ringing+In+The+Empty+Sky+voyager&pg=PT109 |access-date=7 May 2021 |language=en}}
In 1992, the Japanese government designated Yamaguchi a Living National Treasure (Ningen Kokuhô).{{Cite web |last=Nelson |first=Ronald |title=The International Shakuhachi Society |url=https://www.komuso.com/people/people.pl?person=692 |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=www.komuso.com |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=1999-01-07 |title=Goro Yamaguchi, 65, a Master Of Traditional Japanese Music |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/07/arts/goro-yamaguchi-65-a-master-of-traditional-japanese-music.html |access-date=2022-06-23 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |title=Goro Yamaguchi |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/517151-Goro-Yamaguchi |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=Discogs |language=en}}
Major recordings
- A Bell Ringing In The Empty Sky Nonesuch Explorer Series H-72025
- Shakuhachi no Shinzui: Shakuhachi Honkyoku (Soul of Shakuhachi: Shakuhachi Honkyoku). Solo performance of complete Kinko school honkyoku repertoire: 38 compositions on 12 CDs. Boxed set with 44-page booklet. Japan Victor VZCG-8066-8077.
- Shakuhachi no Shinzui: Sankyoku Gassô (Soul of Shakuhachi: Trio Ensemble). Ensemble performances with voice, koto, and shamisen. Four CDs in boxed set with 44-page booklet. Japan Victor VZCG-8078-81.
Audio link
- [http://www.komuso.com/audio/189%20---%20Track%203.mp3 Brief excerpt from "Nesting of Cranes" perf. by Yamaguchi]
Obituaries
- [http://www.shakuhachi.com/H-Yamaguchi-Blasdel.html Appreciation by Christopher Yohmei Blasdel]
- [http://www.shakuhachi.com/H-Yamaguchi.html Appreciation by Monty Levenson]
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Voyager Golden Record}}
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Category:20th-century Japanese flautists
Category:20th-century Japanese male musicians
Category:Living National Treasures of Japan
Category:Wesleyan University faculty
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