「余白の美」と「完全な美」| Aesthetics of Beauty in Japanese and Western Perspectives

I vividly recall my first day attending a local school in the UK as a teenager, where I was struck by the diversity of my classmates. As I began to interact with students from various cultural backgrounds, I gradually became aware, even as a child, of the profound influence that religion has on a nation's culture and values.

Now, 12 years after moving to the UK, I have come to realise that music is no exception. Different cultures shape our perceptions in ways that can fundamentally alter our understanding of beauty.

In Japanese aesthetics, there is a deep appreciation for the transient, the imperfect, and the ephemeral. The beauty lies in accepting the impermanence of things. In contrast, Western aesthetics often seem characterised by a resistance to this impermanence and a pursuit of the eternal.

Claude Debussy, who was notably influenced by Japanese art, captures this ethos in works such as Images, Book I. In these compositions, there is a sense of "the beauty of empty space," where the music intentionally leaves gaps for the listener’s imagination to fill, much like a Japanese garden that presents nature in its raw, unadorned state and invites the observer to complete the experience in their mind.

On the other hand, Franz Liszt, a devout Catholic who became a cleric later in life, composed his Sonata which is often suggested that it was composed under the influence of Goethe’s Faust. This work explores themes central to Christian belief, such as the salvation of the soul and the quest for eternal life. It resonates with the narrative of Faust, who, despite having made a pact with the devil, ultimately finds redemption through the eternal love and spiritual purity of Gretchen’s soul.

Through this program, I aim to explore these two contrasting notions of beauty: "the beauty of imperfection" and "the beauty of perfection," presenting the music of composers who embody these distinct artistic philosophies.

イギリス現地校登校初日、自分のクラスに白人の子が数人しかいなく驚いたのを今でもよく覚えています。多国籍のクラスメイトと触れ合ううちに、宗教がその国の文化・価値観に大きな影響与えていることを子供ながら感じました。

そして渡英から12年経った今音楽も例外ではなく、「何を美しいと思うのか」と言う美の捉え方にも根本的な違いを生むのではないかと思うようになりました。

“移りゆくもの” “不完全さ” “滅び” といったものに美を感じ、永遠でないものを受け入れるのが日本の美的価値観で、それに抗い永遠を追い求めるのが、西洋的美的価値観ではないかと感じています。

日本の美術に傾倒していたことで知られているドビュッシー。『映像第1巻』には、例えば日本庭園で見られるような自然のあるがままの姿や心で創造することで完成させて楽しむという計算された「余白の美」を感じます。

対して熱心なカトリック信者で晩年聖職者になったリストの『ソナタ』はキリスト教の魂の救い（天国に行くこと/永遠の命を得ること）がテーマのゲーテのファウストに影響されたと言われており悪魔に魂を打ったファウストが愛に満ちた永遠の女性の魂によって救済が成就する様子が表現されています。

「余白の美」と「完全な美」

今回のプログラムでは異なる趣向の作曲家の音楽を通して2つの相反した美をお届けしたいと思います。