There are over 200 pieces of sheet music in the Re-Envisioning Japan Research Collection about Japan, inspired by Japan, or with some other relationship to Japan. These range from selections from “The Mikado” (Gilbert and Sullivan, 1885) and “The Geisha” (Sydney Jones, 1896) to World War II anti-Japanese propaganda. They include several songs celebrating Japan’s military triumphs during the Russo-Japanese War. In the spring of 2015, 46 songs in the collection were specially recorded under the direction of Dr. Philip C. Carli. Dr. Carli is a familiar figure for silent film scholars and enthusiasts, renowned worldwide for his live piano accompaniments for silent film screenings and his original scores for silent films. For the vocals he assembled colleagues and graduate students at the Eastman School of Music, including soloists Isaac Wenger, Lulu Cossich, and Peter Doyle. When you access an object in this category, you will see a grey bar above the sheet music's cover if a recording is available. Click on the arrow to the left of the bar to play the recorded song: for example, see the item "In Old Japan (1917)." The songs themselves, as well as many of the colorful covers, are fascinating examples of the extent to which Japan and the Japanese were characterized by orientalist trends in 20th century popular culture in the U.S. well into the 1930s.
A Japanese Lantern (1931)
My Japanee (1908)
Fantana (1904)
The Jolly Juggler in Japan (Street Fair in Japan) 1928
Karama, A Japanese Romance (1904)
Ziegfeld Follies 1914 (Underneath the Japanese Moon)
In a Jinriksha (1914)
Japanese Fire Dance (1901)
Sayōnara, A Japanese Romance (1910)
Prince Fushimi's Song: A Soldier of Old Japan (1905)
