THE MUSIC OF JAPAN
Traditional
Japanese music
genres have
long histories
but have
changed little in
hundreds of
years
In a modern
world, it could
be perceived as
stagnation, but
it is in fact the
reflection of the
Japanese value
of stability
Performances are uniform with great
decorum
Music types
include court
music, musical
drama,
chamber
music, and
chant
The music is
primarily
pentatonic
with auxiliary
pitches
Key Concepts
In Japan,
maintaining
tradition is
important
Generally, in comparison to Japan,
how does our culture regard the
performance and listening of music
1,000, or even 500-years-old?
There is a
connection
between
musical genres
and social class
Musical instruments and styles are
linked to gender
There are layers of activity in
ensemble music
Great emphasis is placed on subtle
differentiations of timbre and
ornamentation
Japanese music is sensitive to
tempo
Kabuki
According to
popular history,
kabuki was first
performed in
1596 by a
female Shinto
dancer
Making use of elaborate stage
equipment, scenery, costumes, and
properties, kabuki also relies on
stock character types and gestures
Kabuki developed at the same time
as Europeans were making their first
experiments with opera
Historically, are the roles of women in
Japanese music the same or different
compared to the West?
Kabuki Nagauta music from the play
“Pojoji” Textbook CD1, track 24
Bunraku
Bunraku puppet
theater
developed in
Osaka around
the same time
as kabuki
Each of the
wooden
puppets is
manipulated by
three
puppeteers
Narration, both sung and spoken, is
provided by a narrator/chanter
How may we account for the lack of
musical puppet theater in the West?
What might be in its place?
Noh theater
Noh theater
developed
during a time
of continuous
military strife
Plays can
be
classified
according
to type
The stately
vocal music
may be in the
form of
heightened
speech or
melodic aria
Excerpt from
Noh play
Hagoromo (“The
Robe of
Feathers”).
Textbook CD1,
track 25
Have you seen any operas or musicals
in Calgary? What did you think of
them?
How can these be compared to the
development of Japanese genres such
as noh and kabuki?
Religious traditions
Shinto is a loose indigenous
agglomeration of local and regional
cults
Buddhist
chant, called
shomyo, is
performed by a
male chorus in
responsorial
style
Concert music
Popular koto
music may be
either a song
cycle or a solo
“Rokudan No
Shirabe”
Textbook CD1,
track 26
performed as
sankyoku
The koto part is said to be the
“meat”,the shamisen part, the
“bone”, and the shakuhachi part, the
“skin”
One of the most famous sokyoku
koto pieces is called “Chidori”
Chidori
Textbook CD
2, track 1
performed as
sankyoku
with voice
Gagaku
Gagaku is
Japanese court
music
The large
ensemble
consists of
percussion,
strings, and
winds
Gagaku is characterized by its
serenity
“Netori &
Etenraku in
Hyojo” CD
2, track 2
Are there Canadian equivalents to
court music? Why or why not?
Summary