Experiments in combining Western and Japanese instruments have been made since the Meiji Period, from the tentative early attempts to mix Japanese instruments in Western-style compositions to the recent bold, anything-goes usage of electronic, jazz and popular musical styles with hogaku. Some of the mixes of musical styles have proved successful, while others have faded with fashion. In general, though, hogaku has proved to be a fertile base for experimentation.

Early Japanese composers trained in Western classical music were quite familiar with Japanese instruments. One was Rentaro Taki (1879-1903), who is known for compositions such as "Kojo no Tsuki (Moon Over the Ruined Castle)," 1901, and "Hana (Flowering)," 1900, which remain extremely popular even today. "Kojo no Tsuki" especially lends itself to rendition by the shakuhachi.

The prolific early 20th-century composer Kunihiko Hashimoto (1904-1949) also appreciated Japanese instrumental sounds. One of his masterpieces, "Jogashima no Ame (The Rain at Jogashima Island)," for voice, piano and violin (or flute) obbligato, has instructions written in the early scores which mention the obbligato part can be played by shakuhachi. The soulful immediacy of the shakuhachi adds an poignancy to the mournful lyrics of the piece.

Michio Miyagi (1894-1956), a koto player and composer thoroughly trained in hogaku techniques, approached the idea of East/West synthesis from the viewpoint of traditional Japanese music. His 1926 composition "Haru no Umi (The Spring Sea)," for koto and shakuhachi, was based on a typical Western sonata form (A-B-A) while utilizing various hogaku techniques. The piece was immediately popular, and its simple universality kept it alive.

In 1928, Miyagi composed "Etenraku" Hensokyoku (Variations on "Etenraku"), in which he took the melody from the gagaku piece "Etenraku" and set it into concerto form with orchestra and solo koto. The piece was performed for the celebrations at the coronation of the Emperor Showa. The combination of orchestra and koto was unheard of, yet Miyagi, again by taking universal elements of both Western and Japanese styles, created a piece which was successful at its premiere and remains so today.

In 1967, Tohru Takemitsu (1930-1996) stunned the world when his "November Steps" premiered for the 125th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic. The piece combines the traditional techniques and rich tonal colors of the shakuhachi and biwa with Takemitsu's unique orchestral sounds.

Whereas Miyagi constructed a musical organization common to both hogaku and Western music, Takemitsu concentrated on instrumental textures and the dominance of tone color. Structure in "November Steps" is minimal; the power of the instruments and performers carry the piece. "November Steps" also thrust the shakuhachi and biwa onto the world stage and helped to usher in a period of interest and experimentation in ethnic and world music.

Orchestral Works for Japanese Instruments, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 30 at Tokyo Geijutsu Gekijo (JR Ikebukuro Station, West Exit). Takemitsu's "November Steps" and Miyagi's "Etenraku" Hensokyoku will be performed along with other orchestral pieces for Japanese instruments. Admission free. For tickets send a return postcard with your name, address and telephone number by Aug. 31 to IMC, Kokusai Ongaku Hyogikai, 4-2-17 Minami Machi, Nishi Tokyo, 188-0012. Please indicate on the postcard that you want to attend the concert.

Recent years have seen the fusion of traditional hogaku instruments and genres with commercial jazz, rock and pop music as well . . . though they rarely succeed. Compared to the highly refined musicality of hogaku, commercial rock and pop music is musically quite impoverished, though the underlying social phenomena of the music may be fascinating. An example might prove my point.

I was sent a newly released CD, "Rock Shamisen" by nagauta shamisen player Hiromitsu Rokuya. The music combines his virtuoso playing with various rock instruments, synthesizer, rap voice, flamenco guitar and other hogaku instruments. That he used the finest of musicians and equipment was evident. The shamisen riffs segue flawlessly into guitar melodies while "the techno-trance sounds combine with the dreamy atmosphere of the noh flute."

Yet I couldn't help feeling that this combination brings hogaku down to a mundane, "gimmick effect" level. The light delicacy of the shamisen is deadened by the incessant, metallic rhythmic pulses of rock percussion, and the fine timbres of the Japanese flutes are lost in the cheap electronic synthesizer sounds. The refined subtlety of hogaku instruments seem wasted in such a musically insensitive genre.

One of Rokuya's goals is to help introduce hogaku to young people, to whom this CD is obviously targeted. With its modern, techno beat, it will certainly appeal to them, but I shudder to think it may be their only exposure to hogaku.