演奏
えんそう · ensou · JLPT N3 · noun
musical performance
🎻🎹 演 perform + 奏 play an instrument = musical performance; ensou ≈ ensemble
演 is the perform of 演技 (acting), and 奏 is the play of 奏でる (to play music). Together they mean performing music. Ensou also sounds like the start of ensemble, a group that gives one.
演 — water 氵 + 寅 (yín, phonetic)
演 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the water radical 氵 gives the meaning, originally referring to water flowing far and spreading out, while 寅 supplies the sound. From 'water extending' it broadened to 'develop, elaborate, perform,' as in unfolding a story or acting out a play.
奏 — hands 廾 lifting offering 夭 + 丰 (sheaf)
Originally a pictograph showing two hands respectfully presenting an offering or sheaf upward, often interpreted as presenting music or tribute to a ruler. From this ceremonial sense it came to mean 'to play (music),' 'to present (a memorial to the throne),' and by extension 'to achieve' or 'accomplish.'