"Gagaku" The Japanese music, "Gagaku" is a art form which blends the native
ancient chants and dancing, with the musical instruments which was originally
imported from the ancient Asian Continent. The art of Gagaku finds it's
origin in the pastimes of aristocracies during the mid-Heian period and
was gradually refined and evolved to the form we know today. Since then,
The art was protected by the imperial households, and transcended through
the court, the aristocratic society, and the powerful temples and shrines.
After World War II, various popular "Gagaku" clubs were organized
based after the music department of the imperial household agency, and
the art was propagated to the ordinary public. While we may consider "Gagaku"
to be the world's oldest form of orchestra that remained virtually unchanged
from it's original form in Heian period, it is just recently during the
past decades that the ordinary public have started to enjoy the art. The
word "Gagaku" is an antonym of "Zokugaku (popular music)",
and has a meaning of a legitimate music. From this, we understand that
"Gagaku" holds a unique position within various styles of Japanese
music.Gagaku can be roughly categorized into the following 3 types: (1) "Kuniburi-no-utamai": Chants and dances that have been transcended since ancient period. The origin of the chant is believed to be an ancient mythical legend. Mainly used for ceremonies. (2) Songs and dances of the Continent of Asia such as Tang music and Goryeo music which are based on the imported music. (3) "Utamono" such as "Saibara" and "Rouei" which were made in the Heian era under the influence of imported music. Songs are what the aristocracy enjoyed at Court. Meanwhile, there are 3 different methods of "Gagaku" performance. "Kangen" is an execution that performs orchestral music, "Bugaku" mainly performs dancing, and "Kayo" centers on singing. "Gagaku" musicians used aspirated instruments such as "sho" and "hichiriki", stringed instruments such as "biwa", and percussion instruments such as "gakudaiko" to perform, and nowadays they use 8 different kinds of instruments including above. Besides "kangen", they used "kagurabue (a kind of flute)" and so on. Among instruments used in "Gagaku", "sho" has the most popular impression. The unique shape of "sho" is often compared a figure of a Chinese phoenix perching on somewhere to take a rest, and the elegant tone quality it emanates is so beautiful to have been described like "a light streaming from the heavens". In the same way the tone quality of "hichiriki" that coordinates the main melody is also impressive, with it's continental, powerful and magnificent tone where audience is overwhelmed. In recent times, "Gagaku" is performed publicly in several locations, and not limited to the performance at the occasional event in the Imperial Court. "Gagaku" is a traditional form of art that receives a high esteem not only in Japan, but from the world for it's unique musicality and historical values. It has come to attention that the unique scales of "Gagaku" is particularly more beautiful than that of other music, and has had a lot of influence on modern music. In the ancient times, the art was enjoyed by the aristocracy with a flower of the season in their crown where they slowly danced to the music. If you have an opportunity to see "Gagaku", try immersing yourself to the era were time was not scaled, but rather flowed, and even temporarily leave the hectic society that we place ourselves in. Just as the Heian aristocrats chanted and expressed the simple beauty of the moon and the flower while striking a chord. End |
