History and storytelling meet in this program that explores the musical experiences of the Tenshō Embassy and their classmates at Jesuit schools in 16th and early 17th century Japan. We honor the lives and achievements of these little-known musicians by pairing relevant Iberian and Italian musical selections with short readings from letters and reports about their musical experiences.
In 1582, four teenage Japanese boys of noble birth set sail from Nagasaki to Lisbon. They were students at the Jesuit school in Kyushu and were sent on a tour of Italy and Iberia as ambassadors of three Japanese daiymo, or feudal lords, who had converted to Christianity. Known collectively as the Tenshō Embassy, their names were Mancio Itō, Michael Chijiwa, Martin Hara, and Julio Nakaura. Music was an essential component of the embassy’s eight-year trip to and from Europe and played an equally essential role in the Jesuit mission in Japan, which lasted from the first Jesuit’s arrival in 1549 to the expulsion of the Jesuits by Japan’s Edo government in 1613.
Many of the details of the boys’ music making remain unknown, and those that are known were not recorded by the Japanese musicians themselves but rather by European Jesuits. The European Jesuits’ recording of this history exposes their eurocentrism, hubris, and ignorance, but their records also give us insight into the lives and experiences of these otherwise unknown musicians who are part of the centuries-old tradition of making music with voices and viols.
Recording Samples
Venid a sospirar, anon, Cancionero de Belém
Como por alto mar tenpestuoso, G. de Morata, Cancionero musical de la Casa de Medinaceli
More Information
Program Notes
Past Performances
2025
Academy of Early Music Series
Beverly Hills & Ann Arbor, MI
2024
Howard M. Brown International Early Music Series
The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Lyracle’s Boston area concert series, Quincy & Boston, MA
Performers
Danielle Boivin, narrator
Jacob Jahiel, viol
Ashley Mulcahy, mezzo
James Perretta, viol
Arnie Tanimoto, viol
