Gagaku
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is a type of
Japanese classical music is a type of Japanese classical music that was historically used for imperial court music and dances. was developed as court music of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and its near-current form was established in the Heian period (794-1185) around ...
that was historically used for imperial court music and dances. was developed as court music of the
Kyoto Imperial Palace The is the former palace of the Emperor of Japan. Since the Meiji Restoration in 1869, the Emperors have resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, while the preservation of the Kyoto Imperial Palace was ordered in 1877. Today, the grounds are open t ...
, and its near-current form was established in the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
(794–1185) around the 10th century.History of gagaku
Nihon gagakukai
Today, it is performed by the
Board of Ceremonies The is a department of the Imperial Household Agency of Japan. The board is the chief administration charged with ceremonial matters. History The history dates back to the Asuka period of the 8th century under the Taihō Code, when the was for ...
in the
Tokyo Imperial Palace The is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the where the Emperor has his living quarters, the where va ...
. Gagaku consists of three primary repertoires: #Native Shinto religious music and imperial songs and dance, called #Vocal music based on native
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...
poetry, called #Songs and dance based on foreign-style music ##A
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
,
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
and
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
form (specifically
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
), called ##A
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
n and
Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
n form, called , like , employs the
yo scale The ''yo'' scale, which is like the Mixolydian but does not contain minor notes, according to a traditional theory is a pentatonic scale used in much Japanese music including gagaku and shomyo. The ''yo'' scale is used specifically in folk songs ...
, a
pentatonic scale A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancien ...
with ascending intervals of two, three, two, two, and three semitones between the five scale tones. Artistically it differs from the music of the corresponding Chinese form () which is a term reserved for ceremonial music.


History

The prototype of was introduced into Japan with Buddhism from
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. In 589, Japanese official diplomatic delegations were sent to China (during the
Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...
) to learn Chinese culture, including Chinese court music. By the 7th century, the (the 13-stringed
zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...
) and the (a short-necked
lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
) had been introduced into Japan from China. Various instruments, including these two, were the earliest used to play . Even though the Japanese use the same term, ( in
Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...
, in
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
), the form of music imported from China was primarily banquet music () rather than the ceremonial music of the Chinese . The importation of music peaked during the Tang dynasty, and these pieces are called (Tang music). pieces that originated at a time earlier than the Tang dynasty are called (ancient music), while those originating after the Tang dynasty are called (new music). The term itself was first recorded in 701, when the first imperial academy of music was established. Music from the Korean kingdom of
Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most ...
had been recorded as early as 453 AD, and was eventually used as a term that covered all Korean pieces, the Goguryeo kingdom being referred to as Koma in Japanese. and became established in southern Japan during the
Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...
(710–794). In 736, music from India and Vietnam were also introduced, known as and respectively. During the Nara period in the 8th century, was performed at national events, such as the erection of the Great Buddha of Todai-ji Temple, by organizing performance groups at large temples. From the 9th century to the 10th century, during the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
, traditional was developed further, becoming distinctly Japanese in style through its fusion with musical styles indigenous to Japan, changing it greatly. The form of was almost completed by the fusion of , , and which were introduced from Asian countries, with , traditional Japanese music, and , songs born in the Heian period.The Indigenization and Accomplishment of Gagaku
Japan Arts Council
During this period, many pieces of music were created and foreign-style music was rearranged and renewed. was also reorganized, and foreign-style music was classified into categories called and . Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian style was classified as , and Korean and Manchurian style was classified as . and were also included in the category of . The popularity of reached its peak between the 9th and 10th centuries, when court aristocracy began to hold private concerts, but declined in the
Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...
(1185–1333) when the power of the court aristocracy became diminished while that of the samurai rose. was played by musicians who belonged to hereditary guilds. During the
Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...
, military rule was imposed and was rarely performed at court. At this time, there were three guilds, based in
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
,
Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
and
Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
. Due to the
Ōnin War The , also known as the Upheaval of Ōnin and Ōnin-Bunmei war, was a civil war that lasted from 1467 to 1477, during the Muromachi period in Japan. ''Ōnin'' refers to the Japanese era during which the war started; the war ended during the Bunmei ...
, a civil war from 1467 to 1477 during the
Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...
, ensembles ceased to perform in Kyoto for about 100 years. In the
Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
, the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
revived and reorganized the court-style ensembles, the direct ancestors of the present ensembles. After the
Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
of 1868, musicians from all three guilds came to the capital and their descendants make up most of the current
Tokyo Imperial Palace The is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the where the Emperor has his living quarters, the where va ...
Music Department. By that time, the present ensemble composition had been established, consisting of three wind instruments – , , and (bamboo mouth organ used to provide harmony) – and three percussion instruments – (small drum), (metal percussion), and (drum) or (large drum), supplemented by two string instruments – and . also accompanies classical dance performances called . It may be used in religious ceremonies in some Buddhist temples. In 1955, the Japanese government recognized and as important National Treasures. Today, is performed in three ways: *as , concert music for winds, strings and percussion, *as , or dance music, for which the stringed instruments are omitted. *as , singing to the accompaniment of a musical instrument, classified into 10 categories. survives only as . Contemporary ensembles, such as , perform contemporary compositions for instruments. This subgenre of contemporary works for instruments, which began in the 1960s, is called . 20th-century composers such as
Tōru Takemitsu was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu was admired for the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre. He is known for combining elements of oriental and occidental phil ...
have composed works for ensembles, as well as individual instruments. In January 2015 the Reigakusha Ensemble and
Ensemble Modern Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of modern composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countries. Hi ...
performed together ''Music with silent aitake's'' by Belgian composer
Frederic D'Haene Frederic D’haene is an avant-garde composer born in Kortrijk (Belgium) in 1961. After completing musicology at Ghent University and KU Leuven, he studied composition at Royal Conservatory of Liège with Frederic Rzewski, Walter Zimmerman, Henr ...
, making and Western music co-exist.


Instruments used

Wind, string and percussion instruments are essential elements of gagaku music. Some instruments, such as Haishō, Gogen biwa, Kugo had been removed from the ensemble during Heian period and reconstructed based on the old documents and some remains of the instruments in the Shōsō-in during Showa Era.


Wind

*, oboe * *, transverse flute used in tōgaku *, mouth organ *, large mouth organ *, transverse flute smaller than ryūteki, used in komagaku *, also called ''chukan'' *, transverse flute larger than ryūteki, used in kuniburi no utamai * *, panpipes


String

*, 4-stringed lute *, 5-stringed lute *, 13-string zither of Chinese origin *, angled harp used in ancient times and recently revived * *, zither of Japanese origin, with 6 or 7 strings


Percussion

*, small gong, struck with two horn beaters *, small hourglass-shaped drum struck with two wooden sticks *, drum on a stand with ornately painted head, played with two padded sticks *, large drums used at festivals *, small, ornately decorated hourglass-shaped drum *, hourglass-shaped drum *, clapper made from a pair of flat wooden sticks * *, a bell tree clapper, specific to Mikomai dance performed as Mi-
kagura is a type of Shinto ritual ceremonial dance. The term is a contraction of the phrase , indicating the presence of gods () in the practice. One major function of is , involving a procession-trance process. Usually a female shaman will perfor ...
*, hourglass drum, specific to
Shirabyōshi were Japanese female entertainers in the Heian and Kamakura periods who sang songs and performed dances. They danced dressed as men. The profession of became popular in the 12th century. They would perform for the nobility, and at celebrations ...
dance performed as Mi-kagura


Influence on Western music

Beginning in the 20th century, several western classical composers became interested in gagaku, and composed works based on gagaku. Most notable among these are
Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher and teacher. Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 202 ...
(''Ongaku'', 1957),
La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best kno ...
(numerous works of
drone music Drone music, drone-based music, or simply drone, is a minimalist genre that emphasizes the use of sustained sounds, notes, or tone clusters – called drones. It is typically characterized by lengthy audio programs with relatively slight harmon ...
, but especially ''
Trio for Strings ''Trio for Strings'' is a 1958 composition for violin, viola, and cello by American composer La Monte Young. It consists almost entirely of sustained musical tone, tones and rest (music), rests, and represents Young's first full embrace of "stati ...
'', 1958),
Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American-Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) and ...
(numerous works),
Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...
( ''Sept haïkaï'', 1962),
Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his form ...
(''Pacifika Rondo'', 1963),
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
(''
Curlew River ''Curlew River – A Parable for Church Performance'' (Op. 71) is an English music drama, with music by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by William Plomer. The first of Britten's three 'Parables for Church Performance', the work is based on the J ...
'', 1964),
Bengt Hambraeus Bengt Hambraeus (Stockholm, Sweden, January 29, 1928 – Glen Roy, Ontario, (in Glengarry County), near Montreal, Quebec, Canada, September 21, 2000) was a Swedish-Canadian organist, composer and musicologist. Biography Hambreaus studied organ wi ...
(''Shogaku'', from ''Tre Pezzi per Organo'', 1967), Ákos Nagy (Veiled wince flute quartet 2010),
Jarosław Kapuściński Jarosław Kapuściński (; born December 12, 1964 in Warsaw, Poland) is a composer and pianist specializing in intermedia. He is Associate Professor of Composition at Stanford University, regularly teaching at the Center for Computer Research in Mu ...
(numerous works),
Sarah Peebles Sarah Peebles is a Toronto-based Canadian - American composer, improviser and installation artist originally from Minnesota (USA). Much of her work explores digitally manipulated found sound, unconventional methods of amplification, and distinct ap ...
(numerous works),
Michiko Toyama Michiko Francoise Toyama Muto (February 14, 1908 – October 23, 2000) was a Japanese American composer. She was one of the first women invited to study at the  Columbia–Princeton Electronic Music Center (today known as the Computer Music Center ...
(''Waka'', 1960), and
Tim Hecker Tim Hecker is a Canadian electronic musician, producer, composer, and sound artist. His work, spanning atmospheric ambient albums such as ''Harmony in Ultraviolet'' (2006), ''Ravedeath, 1972'' (2011) and ''Virgins'' (2013), has been widely cr ...
(''
Konoyo ''Konoyo'' is the ninth studio album by Canadian electronic music musician Tim Hecker, released on September 28, 2018 on Kranky and Sunblind Music. A majority of the album was made from Hecker's visits to Japan, where he worked with a gagaku en ...
'', 2018). One of the most important gagaku musicians of the 20th century, Masataro Togi (who served for many years as chief court musician), instructed American composers such as
Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American-Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) and ...
and
Richard Teitelbaum Richard Lowe Teitelbaum (May 19, 1939 – April 9, 2020) was an American composer, keyboardist, and improvisor. A student of Allen Forte, Mel Powell, and Luigi Nono, he was known for his live electronic music and synthesizer performances. He was ...
in the playing of gagaku instruments.


Other cultural influence

The American poet
Steve Richmond Steven L. Richmond (born December 11, 1959) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played 159 games in the National Hockey League with four teams between 1984 and 1989. Amateur career Richmond grew up playing hockey in Chicago ...
developed a unique style based on the rhythms of gagaku. Richmond heard gagaku music on records at
U.C.L.A. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
's Department of Ethnomusicology in the early 1960s. In a 2009 interview with writer
Ben Pleasants Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( ...
, Richmond claimed he had written an estimated 8,000–9,000 gagaku poems.


See also

*
Aak ''Aak'' is a genre of Korean court music. It is an imported form of the Chinese court music ''yayue'', and means "elegant music". ''Aak'' was performed almost exclusively in state sacrificial rites, and in the present day it is performed in ce ...
*
Etenraku is a Japanese gagaku melody and dance. It is usually played with a hichiriki or ryūteki, and is accompanied by other traditional instruments such as the shō, koto and kakko. History The origin of Etenraku is not fully known. There are th ...
*
Gigaku , also known as , p.357-8, on ''gigaku men" (mask) refers to an extinct genre of masked drama-dance performance, imported into Japan during the Asuka period. History Records state that was introduced during the 20th year of reign of Empress Suik ...
*
Kagura is a type of Shinto ritual ceremonial dance. The term is a contraction of the phrase , indicating the presence of gods () in the practice. One major function of is , involving a procession-trance process. Usually a female shaman will perfor ...
*
Nhã nhạc ''Nhã nhạc'' (, , "elegant music") is a traditional music of Vietnam. Vietnamese court music is very diverse, but the term ''nhã nhạc'' refers specifically to the Vietnamese court music performed from the Trần dynasty of the 13th century ...
*
Yayue ''Yayue'' () was a form of classical music and dance performed at the royal court and temples in ancient China. The basic conventions of ''yayue'' were established in the Western Zhou. Together with law and rites, it formed the formal represent ...


References

*Alves, William. ''Music of the Peoples of the World''. Thomson Schirmer, 2006. *Garfias, Robert. "Gradual Modifications of the Gagaku Tradition." ''Ethnomusicology'', Vol. 4, No. 1. (Jan., 1960), pp. 16–19. *Matsumiya, Suiho. "Traditional Music in Japan To-Day: Its Stability and Evolution." ''Journal of the International Folk Music Council'', Vol. 11 (1959), pp. 65–66. *Malm, William P. ''Japanese Music and Musical Instruments''. Charles E. Japan: TuttleCo., Inc., 1959.


External links


Gagaku (Japanese Imperial Court Music) – The Imperial Household AgencyGagaku – UNESCOAncient Japan: The Earliest Japanese MusicGagaku music: Repertoire, Instruments and Orchestration
{{Authority control Japanese styles of music Classical and art music traditions Japanese traditional music Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Japanese words and phrases