ABOUT THE CHARACTER OF JAPANESE MUSIC

Ab!t "e Character of

Japanese Music by Anne-Ka$%n Dern

About The Character Of Japanese Music Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION – About the character of Japanese Music

p. 4

1. Japanese Scales 1.1 Male & Female Scales 1.2 The Koto-Scales 1.3 Yin & Yang Scales

p. 6 p. 6 p. 6

2. The History Of Japanese Music 2.1 Japanese Music Before Meiji (1862) 2.2 The Meiji-Period (1862-1912) 2.3 Japanese Music Before 1945 2.4 After The Second World War

p. 7 p. 7 p. 8 p. 8 p. 8

3. Instruments 3.1 Taiko 3.2 Shakuhachi 3.3 Shamisen 3.4 Koto

p. 10 p. 11 p. 13 p. 14

4. Styles in Japanese Music 4.1 Gagaku, Bugaku & Kangen – The Royal's Music 4.2 Biwa – The Storyteller's Music 4.3 Shōmyō – The Buddhist Ritual Music 4.4 Kotomusic, Sankyoku & Min'Yo – The Folk Music 4.5 Nô, Kabuki & Bunraku – The Theatre Music

p. 16 p. 17 p. 17 p. 18 p. 19

6. Bibliography

p. 21

INTRODUCTION It probably is not possible to write about Japanese music using criterias of the Western cultures. In Japan, there wasn't a summarizing definition of music for a long time. There only existed different words for different musically accompanied arts which makes it difficult to write about Japanese music in general. The two Japanese words dentô (historical tradition) and denshô (pass on, inheritance) probably are the most important words to understand the character of traditional Japanese music. Tradition, culture and social standards are passed on from generation to generation – as undestroyed and unchanged as possible.

Furthermore, the idea behind traditional Japanese music is not the same as ours. It is not made to entertain, not to give the human senses variety or pleasure. It fulfills an ethical, moral purpose that serves harmony, balance, stillness and intellectual education, combining sensual beauty with moral goodness. That's the reason why traditional Japanese music is often considered boring and drowsy by Western culture. This impression is even intensified by the demonstrative calmness of the music, coming from the slow tempi and the avoidance of contrast or surprise. One main statement of the Japanese on their traditional music is: Music comes from inside, from the heart and soul of a person, and therefore it's calm and pure. It is made by the Gods and given by nature. To maintain the pureness, the music also may not be too sensual, too artificially made or too decadent and nostalgic.

Due to these moral ideas behind the music there also exist ideas about what music should or shouldn't sound like. A loud, open voice with a complicated technique and sound as well as a sensual voice were considered highly unaesthetic (these attributes would probably match our opera voice) whereas a voice with a clear, simple, monotonous, decent, solemn, flowing and calm sound was referred to as the perfection of the art.

Japanese art always follows four ideals of the Zen-Buddhism: the spirit of harmony, reverence/respect, pureness and stillness.

While in Western cultures artists always sought to produce contrasts (dissonance-consonance; melodic lines and surprises; harmonic changes; rhythmic contrast; tutti against a soloist etc.), the Japanese artist wanted to create a music of harmony and mental balance.

The idea of reverence finds its way into music within the ensembles. It's a central understanding that every player has his rank within an ensemble so that a player of lower quality and rank (like a student) doesn't excel above a higher player or even his master. This modesty – to defer to a better player and to stand in his shadow – is conisdered highly moral.

The idea of pureness is emphasized by the way of playing an instrument, the appearance and the behavior. It is important to create optic beauty by a correct body posture, adequate clothes, a calm face expression and the avoidance of any unnecessary body movement to combine it with the acoustic beauty.

The required stillness has two meanings for traditional Japanese music. The first is referring to the passing time, the slowness of the tempo. The second refers to the stillness of the room. Especially in the shakuhachi music these aspects are clearly audible, the listener can even understand the meaning of stillness in music.

The sound colour of many Japanese instruments also plays an important role. It is necessary to create the simplicity of Japanese music: These instruments are built to create a tone but to have a big deal of noise in their sound as well. This natural imperfection, flawed beauty and simplicity is considered to be a natural beauty of a high moral rank. The development of simplicity as a contrast to complexity is one of the greatest cultural achievements of Japan. This simplicity reached a very high level of finesse, exploring all the possibilities of sound colours as well as micro tonality.

Of course, all these attitudes also had an influence on the way of teaching methodes. Teaching means to teach another heart with your own and learning means gaining enlightment from one's own experience. It is the opinion of many Japanese teachers that art and religion cannot be taught with words since there exist too many aspects that cannot be put into words – instead it has to be experienced. To their minds, learning is not the result of the strength of someone else but it's based on one's own strength. That's why even today, most arts are taught without explanations, notes or books. The student should learn most of the art by simply practising in the right spirit and with the right content. This is mostly achieved by the method of imitation: During the lessons the teachers play something, the students try to imitate them as flawless and unchanged as possible. That's why lessons usually completely consist of playing together – only few things are explained, further the student has to listen, watch and try. If this method would work in Western cultures is arguable but in Japan it is the best way to convey the ideals and the spirit behind the music. Furthermore, there don't exist music theory books about traditional Japanese music one could work with – or at least they have a completely different content from ours. The few old scripts about music mostly deal with the ethic and moral sides of music, not with the construction of scales or harmony. On top of that, there doesn't exist a standard way of writing down music. The notation differs between the instruments and due to the way of teaching, it

is clear that it was unnecessary to write down music to pass it on. It even goes against the principle of unspeakable aspects of music. The specific notations of the instruments usually don't contain the music to be played but more some sort of playing instructions on how the sound has to be created on the instrument. So it's more about fingering charts and specific instructions for the instrument. There don't exist scores of ensemble pieces, only single voices which contain cues of the other instruments.

The music of Japan developed on the background of single voice leading, unisono and octavation. It is based on melody lines, rhythm and sound colours. A harmony theory in the sense of chord harmony doesn't exist.

Chords or any other chordal homophony was of minor importance. It was never seriously developed over a longer period of time. The melodic lines form by the characteristics and expression possibilities of the instruments. All instruments play the same melody, each including characteristic variations of the instrument.

At the same time – and this is a basic trait of almost all the Japanese music – the unisono isn't really accurately played. The unisono voices don't result in a definite homophony: they play the same notes and rhythm but not precisely at the same time, just like minimal music. This minimalistic shifting that might sound a bit sluggishly played to European ears is actually organised chaos, strictly formalised imprecision that can give the voices some sort of independence. Another montage technique of Japanese music is putting a layer of different melody fragments above each other, often having nothing in common but the length of the fragment. So there exist two extremes of leading several voices within a piece: either they almost fall together in slightly shifting unisono (or octave parallels) or they move freely in a way as if the other voice didn't exist at all. At the same time, the listener never has any doubt that the result is an intentional composition and not only a product that happened by accident. Rhythm is usually not based on a straight pulse but on a very flexible flow. An important feature of Japanese music are breaks within the music to create tension.

The average form of a traditional Japanese piece is divided into three parts: Jo (slow and faint introduction), leading to Ha (main part with increasing tempo), resulting in the end part (Hin)Kyu (calm and concluding lingering sound). This main principle of form goes along with the ideal of a natural flow instead of contrast.

It is known that single elements of traditional Japanese music can be followed back to ancient time even though new and different forms of music developed throughout time. The thought of passing on traditions to a chosen individual of the next generation is a central concern in Japan.

To most people Japanese music is a mystery, due to the lack of written music and historical knowledge. At the same time we cannot fully understand the above described Japanese mentality and it is not clear to most people how so many cultural elements from different countries and eras can coexist in peace and harmony. In Western cultures one style usually was replaced by another. In Japan all styles came together throughout history and stayed – they were preserved whereas in Western culture, during the change of an era, the former style was usually considered too old-fashioned and therefore abandoned for a time. Of course, the musical styles of Japan developed but it was more an evolution than a revolution. Other times with other people who feel differently require an adjustment of expression while at the same time the different styles were passedon and performed unchanged.The sum of those elements seems to have formed a whole new musical culture with a unique Japanese sound. At the same time no one can actually articulate properly what exactly it is that creates and defines the Japanese sound.

The geographical location of the Japanese islands has influenced the musical development as well. On one hand, the isolation supported the preservation of traditions, especially since there were almost no foreign forces conquering Japan throughout history. On the other hand, Japan always traded with the countries from the mainland of the continent, getting in touch with the Chinese, Korean and other Southeast Asian cultures.

It is a trait of the Japanese to let those other cultures influence their own and to integrate some features of it, to form it until it is again a unique part of Japanese culture. As a result of that mixing, traditional Japanese music is very diverse and very hard to define in the context of a homework like this one. Especially when it comes to traditional music one has to consider that it was once primarily confined to live performances and operas but the development of radio and TV brought that music to the homes of the public – where every region mixed its own historical inheritance with the music they heard on those media.

If one tried to divide traditional Japanese music into different types, there are two basic distinctions to make: The so-called folk music and the art music.

When we hear certain styles of traditional Japanese music (e.g. the Gagaku, Noh, the Buddhist Chants or the Biwa) for the first time with our Western ears we cannot fully comprehend the sense behind it, nor can we understand the aesthetic. Only after a while, it becomes easier to feel the intensity of the music if one stops trying to understand the music and experiences it instead.

1. JAPANESE SCALES Japanese music usually makes use of what we call pentatonic scales (onkai 音 階 „ Scale“ or chōshi/jōshi 調子 „tuning/tempering, in a musical sense“). Nevertheless, there exist many different kinds of pentatonic scales in traditional Japanese music which are not so well-known in Western culture. In this chapter, the most important of those shall be explained.

1.1 MALE & FEMALE SCALES There are scales in use which consist of whole tones. They can be divided into two modes which are mostly used in the so-called Gagaku music (3.1): Name

Kanji

Example

呂旋

Steps 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

„male“ mode

ryosen

„female“ mode

ritsusen

律旋

1, 2, 4, 5, b7/6

c d f g b c'/c' a g f d c

c d e g a c'

1.2 THE KOTO-SCALES Furthermore, there are scales which consist of half tones (hemitonic pentatonic). Those scales are mostly used in Koto music (3.3). There exist three modes of hemitonic pentatonic scales in Japanese music: Name

Kanji

Steps

Example

hira-jōshi

平調子

1, 2, b3, 5, b6

c d es g as c'

iwato-jōshi

岩戸調子

1, b2, 4, b5, b7

c des f ges b c'

kumoi-jōshi

雲井調子

1, b2, 4, 5, b6

c des f g as c'

Hira-jōshi was developed during the 17th century by the blind Koto-master Yatsuhashi Kengyō (八 橋検校).

1.3 YIN- & YANG-SCALES In traditional Japanese folk music there also exist modes which are named by Yin and Yang: Name

Kanji

Steps

Example

insen

陰旋

1, b2, 4, 5, b7/b6

c des f g b c'/c' as g f des c

yōsen

陽旋

1, b3, 4, 5, b7

c es f g b c'

In the folk music of the Japanese island Ryūkyū (Okinawa) there also exists the following mode: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 (e.g. c e f g b c').

Nevertheless, there still exist quite a lot more scales, the possibility of forming new ones seems endless. Let alone in the Chinese Tang dynasty, there existed 28 scales which could be varied and combined again in any way. Since the Japanese musicians took those scales and created their own again, we can only assume how many theoretical and practical scales there are.

2. THE HISTORY OF JAPANESE MUSIC

Since ancient times, waves of migrating cultures have influenced Japanese music. The precise origin of Japanese people is not known but ever since they maintain a strong independence. Although one can find Chinese, Mongolian, Korean as well as Southeast Asian influences, there appears to be something that is indigenously Japanese. Throughout history, Japanese musicians have adapted foreign influences to eventually make something uniquely Japanese. Today is no different. Much so called Japanese 'roots' music is a mix of Japanese traditions with all kinds of extraneous influences, not only from the West, but from throughout the world.

Background Information Periods in Japan are named after special occurances or – more common – the time of a lordship's governance (often including his childrens' lordship as well). Dates in Japan are given according to the period, e.g. our year 1989 would be Heisei 1 in Japan.

Pre-named period: to 645 Taika period: 645-710 Nara period: 710-784 Heian period: 794-1185 (Fujiwara period-Late Heian: 857-1160) Taira period: 1160-1185 Kamakura period: 1185-1333 Ashikaga (Muromachi) period: 1336-1573 Nobunaga: 1573-1582 Hideyoshi: 1582-1598 Tokugawa (shogunate): 1598Tokugawa (EDO) period: 1600-1868 Meiji period: 1868-1912 Taisho period: 1912-1926 Showa period: 1926-1989 Heisei period: 1989-

2.1 JAPANESE MUSIC BEFORE MEIJI (1862) Almost nothing is known about music in Japan's prehistory. There is only little that remains from that period, seemingly some songs, legends and rituals. They were recorded in the "Kojiki" and "Nihon Shoki," the first chronicles of the new state of Japan.

Poetry and song have been immensely important in ancient Japanese history and they still are nowadays. The distinction between the two is not clear, however. The word "uta" can mean either "song" or "poem" but it is clear that poetry was almost always imagined as being recited aloud, often accompanied by an instrument.

During this prehistoric period the Japanese music was largely what we would call primitive. Folksongs (4.4) were very common. More complex ancient Japanese music originated from China. The first documented evidence of Chinese music coming to Japan can be followed back to the third century.

The Nara period (710-794) is the first major historic period in Japan that is known. At the same time it's the first international period in Japanese music history. Court music (4.1) was brought to Japan from China, Korea and India, and was therefore mostly played by foreign musicians. Folkmusic had continued to develop, especially in it's relation to dance and festivals in villages, while at the same time Buddhist ritual music (4.3) became popular during this period.

During the Heian period (794-1185) Chinese influences were being modified while the Japanese people developed some sense of independence and individuality which also had an influence on music. The instruments which were used were still essentially Chinese, but now the musicians weren't foreigners anymore: They were Japanese and as a result the music slowly developed Japanese characteristics.

The Kamakura period (1185-1333) was the era of the Shogun (Japanese military title for leaders of the royal soldiers, the Samurai). The above mentioned international characteristics, mostly based on Chinese music, had largely disappeared. Furthermore, court music was declining. Instead there was a large popularity concerning Buddhist chants, vocal and dramatic music.

This dramatic and theatrical music from the Kamakura period continued to develop freely during the Muromachi period (1333-1568). It was ultimately leading to the well-known Noh drama (4.5). There were also some instruments which slowly gained popularity, one of them being the shakuhachi bamboo flute (3.2) which was played by wandering priests.

The Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600) was the flourishing time of the Noh drama. It is also referred to as the era during which the sanshin (lute) came to Okinawa. Shortly after it arrived on the Japanese mainland, it transformed into the very popular shamisen (3.3), one of the most characteristic instruments of Japanese music.

The Edo period (1600-1868) was a time of bourgeois art. The bigger cities put up pleasure quarters which even emphasized this development. The typical Japanese instruments – shamisen, koto (3.4) and shakuhachi – all flourished during this period.

2.2 THE MEIJI PERIOD (1862-1912) The Meiji period is marked by the flood of Western culture which began to influence the previously closed country. The culture of the samurai was crushed and replaced by the emperors. The first Western music influence during the Meiji era was brass band military music. At the same time Japanese music was drowned out and the former agricultural country changed into an industrial country. It was a time of patriotic songs and marches while the nationalism gained importance. But then this sense of national pride slowly began to have a positive effect on Japanese traditional music. Court music – which had been a privilege only to the royal families before – opened to the public for the first time.

2.3 JAPANESE MUSIC BEFORE 1945 During the first half of the 20th century a form of narrative song became popular throughout Japan which was called rokyoku. The rokyoku was some sort of street music which was mostly accompanied by the shamisen. This style of music was often used to spread nationalistic ideology.

Japan had always embraced music from around the world before World War II. In the 1920s and 30s, French chansons were very popular since the Japanese people worshiped Western culture at that time. Especially Paris was seen as a centre of chicness and fashion.

At the end of the 1920s, Jazz came to Japan, along with dances such as the foxtrot and rumba. European waltzes were replaced by American temporary dances to which people could dance in the new dance halls in the bigger cities. Around 1937, the tango became very popular in those dance halls. Japanese musicians composed new tango tunes but from 1940 on the tango was outlawed.

Hawaiian music has always been popular in Japan as well since Japanese emigration to Hawaii had already begun in 1885. During the 1920s and 30s Hawaiian music reached a peak in popularity since the first generation of Japanese Hawaiians visited their home country and brought along the music. In 1944 the steel guitar and banjo were outlawed and Hawaiian music was banned as well as all the other Western music.

2.4 AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR After the war the general term for popular songs in Japan was kayokyoku. This style is a mixture between Western pop and enka, which contains strong Japanese and Asian characteristics. In the 1950/60s the tango

reached it’s peak of popularity in Japan.

In the late 1960s, group sounds started to use rock rhythms in kayokyoku. During the 70s, 80s and 90s, any new western trend was assimilated into kayokyoku songs, the rules slowly vanishing from that style.

Especially, the Beatles had a great influence on it. Since the 1960s Jazz, blues, country and folk have all been popular until now. Japanese musicians play all these genres while adding a touch of traditional Japanese elements to them.

In the early 1970s, a slow type of kayokyoku, the so-called enka, became popular. It is sometimes said to be the „Heart of Japan“ since it is a completely Japanese genre that wasn't imported from another country. Its sentimental lyrics deal with memories, despair, hope or the separation of lovers. This style of music usually includes saxophones, trumpets, electric guitar, bass, piano and strings. Enka is still a very popular form of music today and it's the only Japanese national music to rival Japanese pop in the charts.

Another important development happening during the early 1970s was the karaoke which started to flourish in Japan. Over the past 40 years, it has become a national obsession to sing along with technology. People often sing enka at karaoke, and although mostly the older generation listens to this style, recently some young singers have attracted a younger audience as well.

The end of the 1980s was the beginning of the world music scene in Japan. When the term world music became generally accepted, the Japanese musicians started to look back at their own music to find out what their own country had to offer. The traditional music which had mostly been preserved held only little connection to most Japanese people. But pop music had become extremely Western inspired that it had lost anything inherently Japanese. Therefore, musicians from that time updated traditional music by mixing the old rokyoku with music from Africa, Indonesia, Korea, China, Malaysia and Latin America as well as popular rock music and other genres like reggae, R'n'B, soul or HipHop. At the same time they made pop music more Japanese by including traditional Japanese instruments in that kind of music. This sort of world music gained success in Japan and attracted attention overseas. The biggest selling world music titles in Japan were Shima Uta by The Boom, Fukko Bushi by Soul Flower Mononoke Summit, Haisai Ojisan by Shoukichi Kina and Shamisen Jonkara by Chikuzan Takahashi (all on DVD). Shang Shang Typhoon (see DVD) is also one of the groups combining roots music with Western styles but there is such a huge variety and popularity of such groups that it is impossible to name them all.

There also developed a new Japanese classical repertoire, based on the old forms but combining it with new instruments and new tonality (CD Tracks 1-3) . Improvisation also recently found its way into that kind of music. Furthermore, Western classical music is performed more often and many Japanese artists (especially pianists) gain popularity in other countries. Let alone Tokyo has nine full-time symphony orchestras which play everything from baroque to contemporary music. There also exist ensembles or soloists who take the most famous Western repertoire and adapt it to tradtional Japanese instruments (CD Tracks 4-6).

It is important to mention that nowadays, Japan is the second largest music market in the world, behind the USA. Pop bands from Japan who are mostly singing western music can still be classified as kayokyoku.

While other styles also gained popularity among the youth of Japan, it is still Japanese pop music that is supported most. Except for the language, Japanese pop doesn't differ too much from our pop music. The same goes for HipHop and rock music. The only thing that might struck a Western listener as strange is the fact that current Japanese popular music often sounds like our 1980's music. One of the most famous pop stars in Japan is Hikaru Otada, followed by Ayumi Hamasaki (both on DVD) who is famous for the diversity of styles in her songs. Both have published several albums which became million sellers.

At the same time the independent rock scene is flourishing and challenging a music industry that was traditionally dominated by the major record companies and their marketing powers. This influence is so strong that the majors even create their own „indie“ sub labels within their organisations to compete.

During the 1980s and 1990s Japanese pop and rock musicians were craving for success in the US or Europe.

But despite huge attempts and heavy marketing activities by major record companies nobody has really broken into a western market. The biggest selling pop music has remained largely for the internal Japanese market, until some Asian neighbours also discovered Japanese pop culture. TV channels in Taiwan broadcast Japanese dramas and music videos and despite some anti-Japanese sentiment, it's the same in Hong Kong and Thailand. Even in Korea young people are discovering Japanese music while the restrictions on Japanese culture are lifted and the history between the two countries becomes forgotten by the new generation.

The entertainment industry of Japan is the most developed in this particular Asian region. Asians increasingly identify more strongly with Japanese pop culture. When youth is searching for the latest trends it's looking towards Japan, not America. One reason for this development might be that the songs and stars of Japan have a common Asian appeal. Perhaps in the future, Japan might take a leading role in establishing an Asian musical identity – influenced by the western cultures but established as something uniquely Japanese.

Another rather modern development is Japanese music in films due to the easily available samples of traditional instruments. Hans Zimmer used the power and the original battle intention of the taikos for the

movie Last Samurai (see DVD), also including the shakuhachi, koto and shamisen. He mostly created the Japanese atmosphere by using traditional Japanese instruments, only featuring enough elements of Japanese scales and harmonies for the audience to understand where the movie takes place. Composer and conductor John Williams, however, relied more on the Japanese atmosphere in Memoirs of a Geisha (see DVD) by using their scales in a very clever way. Traditional Japanese instruments are only used very subtle – that's one of the main differences between the two composers and their soundtracks: Hans Zimmer goes more for the obvious so that the last person on earth will understand that the movie takes place in Japan whereas John Williams counts on the power of the pictures and the intelligence of the audience, not feeling the need to emphasize in the music what the viewer can obviously already see on screen. He rather chooses to compose what goes on beneath the surface. But the difference also lies in the genres of the movies and the wishes of the directors.

3. INSTRUMENTS 3.1 TAIKO

Track 7-25

The Taiko or Daiko (jap.: 太 鼓 , engl.: thick drum) probably is the most famous traditional Japanese instrument.

Again, the oldest forms of this instrument originated from China and Korea. Historians assume that they were first used to conjure the Gods, especially Susanoo, the God of storm.

Later, the Buddhism brought this tradition to Japan, where the Taiko drum was also used as accompaniment for work on the fields, as a signal on the beach or as a warning to the village if there were intruders to come. Later, the Samurai discovered the effect of the Taiko on the battle field and therefore used it as a sign to attack – it should strengthen the courage of the Samurai and demoralise the enemy.

Nowadays, the Taiko is not only used in Japanese art and religion, but also as entertainment in other countries. The most famous Taiko groups in and outside Japan are Ondekoza (CD Tracks 7-23), Yamato (see DVD) and Kodo (see DVD). The Cirque du Soleil also features Taiko performances (CD Track 24) and the industrial rock group used Taikos in their song Taiko (which became asphole) (CD Track 25).

In Western culture, people usually have the huge drum in mind which can be seen in the picture above. In fact, all drums in Japan are called Taiko and are usually played with simple wooden sticks. They usually specifiy the name more clearly since there are hundreds of different Taikos. In general, one can say that Japanese people refer to drums as Taikos when certain criteria are fulfilled, one being the barrel shape of the traditionally built corpus which has to be made out of one single tree trunk. This means that Taikos can have any size, depending on the largeness of the tree the wood was taken from.

There also exist Taikos with mixed wood but that is not the traditional way of building them. Originally, only wood from the so-called Kejaki tree was taken to build the Taikos. The drumhead is made out of horse or cow coat and can be attached to the drum either with nails (this makes re-tuning the instrument afterwards impossible) or with binding by putting a ring on the drumhead and attaching it with ropes to the corpus. This technique allows tuning the instrument differently for every occasion while the nail technique would require ripping off the coat and attaching a new drumhead on the Taiko every time it has to be tuned differently.

Normally, the Taiko is played on one side only, with two thick wooden sticks which are sometimes covered with leather at the top. At performances the huge Dadaiko not only serves the sound but also the act of performing (see picture on right top). This one, being played by the biggest varnished wooden sticks, has always to be hit with the left hand first, followed by the right one.

3.2 SHAKUHACHI

Track 26-48

The Shakuhachi (jap. 尺八) is a traditional Japanese bamboo flute which originated from the Chinese Xiao.

It is one of the most famous Asian instruments and is used by Asian as well as Western composers. The Shakuhachi has a very soft, unique sound and cannot be played on a high volume level. Very famous Shakuhachi players are Tajima Tadashi (see DVD, Teruhisa Fukuda, Toshimitsu Ishikawa, Alcvin Takegawa Ramos and Michiaki Okada (all featured on the CD). In Western Popmusic you can also find sampled Shakuhachi. Peter Gabriel used one of these in his hit Sledgehammer (CD Track 47) and the group Linkin Park, famous for mixing rock music with hip hop elements, used it in their song Nobody's Listening (CD Track 48).

It was first brought to Japan during the early 8th century where it was used in Gagaku ensembles at first. But due to the low volume level, it soon vanished in those ensembles. Between the 16th and 19th century, the Shakuhachi was used by former Samurai warriors – not as a musical instrument though but as a center of meditation for the Zen Buddhism (see DVD). These pieces, performed by a single Shakuhachi are called honkyoku (本 曲 original pieces) (CD Tracks 26-46). There also exist honkyoku duos (CD Tracks 45 & 46). At that time, the use of the Shakuhachi was quite limited: It was neither allowed to be used at concerts nor was any outsider allowed to hear the former Samurai play. On top of that, it was also forbidden to combine the Shakuhachi with other instruments. During the Meiji restauration, the sect of the former Samurai was forbidden along with the religious use of the Shakuhachi. It was then instroduced back into courtly music to give the teachers of that instrument the opportunity to still make a living with it.

The modern Shakuhachi of the 20th century is tought in three different ways: 1. The Kinko-school, which basically teaches playing traditional compositions.

2. The Tozan-school, which also allows a bigger influence of Western music.

3. The Myōan-school, which teaches the old religious Samurai tradition.

The Shakuhachi is usually made out of the root of the Madake bamboo, although there also exist mechanically produced flutes made out of plastic or wood. But according to professionals, these mechanically produced Shakuhachi can never have the sound quality of a traditional hand-made one.

The standard instrument is tuned in d' and is 54,5 cm long or in Japanese terms 1 Shaku ( 尺 ) und 8 hachi ( 八 ), which also explains the origin of the instrument's name. Shakuhachi can also be found in a lot of different sizes, though: from smallest 1,5 Shaku, tuned in g', till biggest 2,4 Shaku, tuned in a. All possible sizes can be seen in the picture on the right.

The tube is slightly turned upwards at the end and inside it has a conical bore. It also has to be varnished several times on the inside to protect the wood from wetness and to enhance the flute's unique sound.

The modern Shakuhachi consists of two separate parts and must have 7 bends of which each has a strictly determined order. The mouth piece usually has a characteristic metal or plastic application to ensure a longer stability of the flute. The standard instrument has 4 upper holes and 1 thumb hole (for more detailed information have a look at the graphic on the next page). It has a range of about 2,5 to 3 octaves and is tuned in pentatonic minor. There also exist variations with additional holes to make chromatic notes easier accessable.

While performing a piece on the Shakuhachi flute, the player doesn't only move his fingers but also makes characteristic movements with his head. These movements in combination with not fully covered holes create the typical side-notes of the Shakuhachi. Furthermore, it can also be used to play slides, sighs and other colours possible on the flute. Contrary to other similar flutes, this one is mostly played without tongue and tongue articulation.

The notation of Shakuhachi music is of course very different from Western notation. There exist many different ways of notation which originated from the different schools mentioned above.

Basically, the pitch is written down through certain Japanese signs which can be seen in the picture on the right. The picture also shows that the Japanese don't limit themselves to a few letters of the alphabet like the Western cultures do.

The note length, and other performance specifications like octave positioning and articulation – if mentioned at all – are expressed through lines between the signs or additional signs which can vary again. These can be seen in the picture on the left which illustrates a full Shakuhachi notation.

Instructions about interpretation usually are passed on by word of mouth from teacher to student or by imitating the interpreation of the teacher.

3.3 SHAMISEN

Track 49-51

The Shamisen (jap.: 三 味 線 ) is a lute instrument with three strings, a long neck and a relatively small corpus. Nonetheless, there doesn't exist a standard weight, height, length or material. It is one of the most famous traditional Japanese instruments. Its sound is unique and people from Western cultures are immediately able connect it to the far east.

Originating from China, the Shamisen was brought to Japan at the end of the 16th century, at that time still named Sanshin ( 三 線 ). It was also influenced quite a lot by the Indian Sitar and other instruments similar to a banjo.

During its long history, the Shamisen was played by all social classes but especially by the poor. After World War II, the Shamisen became a more sophisticated instrument.

In Japanese history, the Shamisen played a very important role to the Geishas. A Geisha high in rank had to be able to play the lute very well for her customers to entertain them (see DVD). Especially, during the Edo era, the Geishas became famous for their talent on the Shamisen, which they could nearly play to perfection. There were even xylographies (woodcarvings) made that very often showed a Geisha with her instrument (see picture on the left).

The Shamisen was also very popular among the Biwa artists – the storytellers. They used the instrument to accompany, underline, emphasize and support their prose and lyric. The instrument was used to accompany narrative as well as melodious singing (CD Track 52) .

For an unknown reason, the Shamisen became a very popular instrument in all kinds of musical styles when it comes to telling epic love stories. But the performance of those lively illustrating love stories that always ended with a double-suicide of the couple led to an increasing amount of double-suicides in reality (!) as a love proof. This inevitably resulted in a ban of those pieces – they simply weren't allowed to be performed anymore. On top of that, other romantic pieces in other styles were forbidden, too, because due to their content, several employees of high rank fell in love with normal citizens from a lower social class and ran off to get married. The owners of different houses lost income and respect.

So instead, the Shamisen was used as an accompaniment for the puppet theatre. After the Shamisen intro, the puppet player awakens the puppets with a deep humming sound. The Shamisen player comments on the play and keeps it together. In general you can conclude that the Shamisen can be used in various ways: As a Solo instrument, as well as in ensembles, chamber music or as accompaniment to a soloist. Nowadays, it is still extraordinary popular due to its use in the most famous stage performing arts of Japan (like Kabuki (歌舞伎) or Bunraku (文楽)).

The corpus of a Shamisen made out of wood, looks like a modified rectangle and is covered with cat- or dogskin on both sides, which partly creates the brilliant sound of the instrument. On the inside of the wood, one can find special designs called Ayasugi which aren't only beautifully carved and decorated but also serve to improve the sound. The Shamisen has a 88cm long neck which also has a great influence on the sound colour. Basically, one can name three different types of necks: broad neck = penetrant/piercing sounding instrument called futezao; average broad neck = less shrill sounding instrument called chûzao; thin neck = bright sounding instrument called hozozao. The Shamisen has three strings which run over two bridges. It's a distinctive feature of the Shamisen that only two of the three strings are spanned over both bridges (the lowest runs on the left past the bridge). Another oddity are the so-called valley above the upper bridge followed by a so-called mountain. If the lowest string is plucked, it hits the mountain a little bit and creates a metallic, snaring tone which is called Sawari. It creates the typical Shamisen sound.

The Shamisen has to held like a guitar, the strings are plucked or hit with the right hand by a maidenhair leaf shaped plectrum which can be made out of ivory, wood or plastic. Sometimes the player uses his fingers to pluck the strings but then it is done as a stylistic mean. The left hand dampens the sounding strings with only three fingers (thumb and little finger usually aren't used). There can be real slides created on the Shamisen and techniques like pizzicato and tremolo also exist. Sometimes the left hand is powdered to be able to play

better slide. Another characteristic of the Shamisen play is the simultaneous touching of string and corpusskin.

Usually, the Shamisen is used to accompany a voice. Normally, the melody of the Shamisen is identical with the melody of the voice but it is played half a beat after it. Through this kind of shifting, both the Shamisen and the voice are very well audible but still in unison. At the same time, the text can be heard much clearer.

On top of that, the hard plectrum hitting the corpus makes the rhythm much more definite.

The Shamisen has three main tunings: honchôshi (B, e, b), standard tuning niagari (B, fis, b), used to create a light, cheerful spirit sansagari (B, e, a), used to create a dark, melancholic mood During a piece, it is possible to change the tuning more than once in order to express a changing atmosphere.

The change from honchôshi to niagari is supposed to be very effective since it is a modulation from tonic to dominant.

The sawari (障り) mentioned before can not only be created by direct playing of the lowest string but also by playing the two upper strings, the lowest resonating along with them. The clearest sawari can be created by playing octaves, quints or quarts – pure, consonant intervals.

A very famous current Japanese pop/rock group that performs traditional Shamisen music combined with pop/rock elements are the Yoshida Brothers (see DVD). Furthermore, there exist groups that adapted classical Western music to the Shamisen (CD Tracks 4-6).

Probably the most famous and virtuosic performer of the Shamisen history was Chikuzan Takahashi (see DVD).

3.4 KOTO

Track 52-67

The Japanese Koto (jap. 琴) is a Zither which is spanned with silk strings. Its origin is the Chinese Guzheng.

The Koto was brought to Japan during the Nara era (710793) as an instrument for the court music (Gagaku). One of the most famous Koto pieces is Rokudan no Shirabe, composed by Yatsuhashi Kengyō (CD Track 53). Another great Koto composer was Michiyo Miyagi (CD Track 6264), developing new Japanese music and being often compared to Debussy.

The average Koto is 1,80-2,00m long and 25cm wide, consists of paulownia wood and is shaped in a concave way. The corpus is bent slightly upwards, has two sound holes at the bottom and and two small bridges over which the strings are spanned loosely. It has 13 strings which used to consist out of silk. Nowadays, mostly nylon or tetlon are used due to their longer durability. They almost have the same sound quality as silk strings. The strings all have the same pressure on them. They are spanned over 13 movable bridges, the so-called Ji. By shifting the Ji along the Koto corpus, one can set the pitch of the strings before or change it while playing a piece as well (e.g. due to a modulation). The Ji used to be made of rosewood or even ivory but today, mostly plastic is used.

There exist two main forms of the Koto: the one described above called Sô – which is basically used to accompany other instruments – and the soloinstrument Kin which is 1m long. There is a mythological describtion of every piece of the Koto. Its form is often compared to the shape of a dragon. That's the reason why its upper side is called Dragonback (Ryuko), its low side Dragonventer (Ryuhara), the back end Dragontail (Ryubi), the front bridge Dragonhorns (Ryukaku) and the bridge at the back is the Domicile of the Angels (Temmyo).

Playing the Koto (see DVD) is one of the traditional Japanese arts of the court and is still pratcised. It is either played kneeling on the ground (traditional way)

or sitting while the Koto stands on wooden legs. The strings are plucked on the right end with the right hand.

The player has to wear 3 claw-like plectren, the Tsume (爪, fingernails), like rings on the fingers. The Tsume can be made of ivory with bamboo-rings or completely of plastic. The left hand creates sound effects, changes the pitch by a half or whole tone or it simply plucks the strings as well.

The standard tuning of the Koto is the hira-jōshi (see chapter 1, Koto-Scales). The strings are tuned from back to front in the following way: D, G, A Bb, D, Eb, G, A, Bb, D, Eb, G, A. There also exist other Koto-Scales such as iwato-jōshi and kumoi-jōshi as it is explained in Chapter 1.

There are two different schools of Koto: The Ikuta-school and the Yamada-school. The difference between the schools is basically the use of different plectren and the art of playing the Koto. Furthermore, the Yamada-school concentrates more on the Koto as an instrument to accompany singing.

The movable bridges make the Koto a very flexible instrument concerning repertoire. It can be used for Asian as well as Western music (DVD). Therefore, many modern musicians start to experiment with Japanese music, develop it further ot even play pop songs on it like the young musician Gayo Nakagaki (see live Concert on DVD).

Due to the many Koto-schools in Japan, there exist different ways of writing down its music. In all notations, there is given the main tuning first and after that the numbers of the strings to be plucked. The first 10 strings are named after the Japanese numbers. The last 3 strings are called tō (斗, 11.), i (為, 12.) and kin (巾, 13.).

There also exist signs for the notation of adornments, breaks, rhythm, tempo, articulation and dynamics but these vary from school to school. In the picture on the right you can see a full Koto notation of the first part of the famous Rokudan (CD Track ?).

The notation of music is – as all the Japanese notations – vertical. It has to be read from right to left, top to bottom. Each box is one count. Four counts are grouped by using a double horizontal line but unlike Western bars, the first count is not emphasized. The main signs in the boxes indicate the strings to be plucked. A number written smaller and slightly to the right is of shorter duration. Two numbers written side by side have to be played in a single stroke. Repitions are shown by >. Circles in a box indicate a reast during a count while circles with a point in them indicate that the note shall be held on to the next count although it will fade.

Furthermore, there exist other more complicated signs that indicate fingerings, prolonging notes half a count or less or other sound effects produced near the bridge or by touching the strings in certain ways before plucking them.

4. STYLES IN JAPANESE MUSIC 4.1 GAGAKU – The Royals' Music

Track 68-81

Gagaku (jap. 雅楽, eng. elegant music) is a musical form which was played since the 7th century (Heianperiod) at the Japanese Royal Imperial court. It originated from the empire of China and consists of chamber music, as well as choir- and orchestra-music. Today, it is still played at the Japanese court but it had its greatest popularity during the Nara- and Heian-period. Due to older paintings than those periods it is also quite sure that this style is a development of a much older form, called Kagura (ritual music for funerals, coronations or appeasement of the Gods). The Gagaku can be divided into Bugaku ( 舞 楽 , dance accompanied by Gagaku) and Kangen (管弦) (instrumental Gagaku music) (also see DVD).

Towards the end of the 7th century, the power of the Tennō was mostly consolidated. He started having constant diplomatic contact with the Chinese court of the Tang-Dynasty. That's how – within less than 200 years – writing, language, philosophy, music and dance of the Tang-Court also found their way into Japanese culture. They standardised the instrumentation and had students sent to China to learn the original style. The Gagaku soon developed a great popularity among the royals and they even learned to play the instruments themselves, composed their own music and presented it. During the Kamakura period the aristocratic court fell and so did the Gagaku – it was from then on only played by selected musicians. Since they lived quite isolated from each other on different islands the Gagaku didn't develop its technique or compositions. On top of that the practical performance technique of several pieces was lost and forgotten. Later on, during the Muromachi period, the Gagaku reached its lowest level of popularity and was pushed aside by other, more innovative styles. Finally, at the end of the 19th century, the Gagaku gained popularity again through the public and music research. From 1873 on, everybody was allowed to take music lessons and some pieces of the old Gagaku-Repertoire – of which about 90 compositions were preserved or reconstructed – were performed in public in the original way. At this time it was also renamed to Gagakukyoku or Gakubu and combined the three musician clans from Nara, Kyōto and Ōsaka. Every one of these royal musicians also had to learn a european instrument which had to be played at royal-representative events. As a result of this rule, today's Gagaku musicians aren't only able to successfully perform the complete traditional court- and ritual- music but also Western classical music.

The performance of the Gagaku mostly depends on the repertoire and its origin. At instrumental concerts the musicians sit on a wood or stone stage, encircled by a fence and sand. This can take place both inside and outside. In most cases the musicians wear simple silk robes in dark colours. It is also very common for the musicians to wear hats or hoods.

Every Gagaku composition is played in a very slow tempo (at least for Western ears) and starts with a solo flute. At the second hit of the big drum the other wind- and percussion-instruments set in – and again later the string instruments. The melody is usually presented by the wind-instruments. The string instruments are the connection between the harmonies of the wind instruments and the rhythms of the percussion which are repeated in certain patterns throughout the piece. The melody instruments don't necessarily need to play synchron to the rhythms or bars throughout the whole piece. Towards the end of the piece some instruments fade out already (tomede). The reason for is doesn't have anyting to do with the music itself but with the musicians. During the Heian period the last bit of the piece was only performed by the amateur musicians of the ensemble, the professional musicians stopped playing. This was the moment for the amateur musicians to show off without the concurrence of the professionals. The mostly used form of the Gagaku is: Introduction (netori) – Theme A – Theme B – Theme A – Fade to end (tomede). There is no possibility for the musicians

to improvise or to interprete anything differently. Furthermore, for Western ears, the dissonant sounds are very audible whereas the connection between rhythm and melody often isn't clear for us.

Rhythm for itself is less complicated. Slow pieces are written in nobebyoshi (8/4 bar), mid-tempo pieces in hayabyoshi (4/4 bar) and fast pieces in osebyoshi (2/4 bar). It is also possible to switch the different kinds of bars within a piece – then it's called tadabyoshi.

The instrumentation is an adaption of the Chinese court orchestra of the Tang era. It can vary a bit, especially in Bugaku and Kangen, but usually the following instruments are used: shō (mouth organ), hichiriki (flute with double reed), ryūteki (flute) or komabue (smaller flute), two gakubiwa (lutes), gakusō or koto (zither), kakko (cylindic drum) or san no tsuzumi (sand glass drum), shōko (hanging bronze gong) and taiko (see chapter 4.1).

The Gagaku and its variations are never played in equal, well-tempered or any other Western tunings – it's always pure tuning. Usually, the male and female scales described in chapter 1 are used in this style. So before a performance, the mode to be played in has to be determined. The netori described above serves exactly this purpose. It's played rhythmically very freely before the actual piece starts. The form of this “tuning“ is strictly dictated by tradition: The Shō starts, the Hichiriki follows shortly afterwards. After that the Ryūteki and Kakko play a small duet. The end is introduced by Koto and Biwa. In the variation called Bugaku, these introductions are more complex, similar to polyphonic planned chaos in canon form.

Nowadays, there only exist six different “tuning“ introductions to Gagaku and six to Bugaku.

4.2 BIWA – The Storyteller's Music

Track 82-85

The Biwa ( 琵 琶 ) is also a form of folk music. It was played by wandering storytellers who stood in streetcorners, telling a story while accompanying themselves on the (Gaku-)Biwa (see DVD). Ususally, the singing of a story was more a recital, the Biwa emphasizing the athmosphere, feeling or the storyline. Rarely, a Shamisen was used instead of a Biwa.

Very often, the Biwa was performed by blind people. They toured around certain areas and performed a variety of stories. The content of a Biwa story can be very free, though. It can vary between religious, heroic, historical or any other genre possible. The most famous and epic story is the Heike no monogatari.

Nowadays, there are only few musicians left who can actually perform the style of Biwa. To Western ears, it sounds very unusual due to the different colouring of Japanese singing (they don't use our bellcanto voice).

4.3 SHOMYO – The Buddhist Ritual Chants

Videos on DVD

Shōmyō (jap. 声明) is a Buddhist ritual chant in Japan. But those who practise that kind of music actually don't see it as a form of art but as a ritualistic code of practice. Sometimes it's used for means of meditation or contemplation but its main purpose is to create an inner motivation in the ones singing as well as those listening to fulfill earthly balance by acts of goodness.

Legend tells of a man living a life of solitude on the Chinese half-island Shandong when he heard music coming from stone caves. He thought it was the chant of the heavenly musician Ghandharva Pancika so – inspired by that – he started to turn the Buddhist texts into chants. They developed into the so-called Fannbay-Chants – hymns which basically consisted out of long held single tones and short melodic fragments. During the Tang dynasty (618-907), the ritual chants were blooming. This tradition was brought to Korea and Japan during the 6th and 7th century while it got lost in its origins China and India. But due to the Japanese habit of historical preservation, the tradition lives on until today.

Shōmyō is usually performed by a soloist or with a choir, mostly without instrumental accompaniment. The lyrics, containing either lines from the Buddhist scripts or worship – are short and essential. Each tone is held pretty long which opens and eases the mind but makes the content difficult to understand. This kind of singing shall break down any awareness of time. This state of being unconscious of the time passing must be adjusted to the inner time, meaning the inner rhythm, the frequency of breathing and the heartbeat.

The melodies consist of stereotype motives which are connected like fragments of a puzzle. Each of these motives has a determined form and a name. Every Shōmyō-school has its own repertoire of such fragments.

The language of the text can vary, though. One can divide them into three big groups: Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese.

The tonal system can vary as well between 5 tone pentatonic scales to 7 tone pentatonic scales. Furthermore, one can even use tones whose frequency lies between a whole- and half-tone.

The notation of the Shōmyō is called Hakase and uses straight or curved lines, or a combination of both. It is similar to the European way of writing down Gregorian chants. Still, throughout history, Shōmyō was passed on verbally, not in written form. This transmission of knowledge mostly happened secretly and even today, those who are part of that process don't understand the Shōmyō as music. The ideal case is a perfect imitation of the teachers chanting without adding any individual characteristics. This can even lead to an accidental passing-on of the teacher's habits or his personal specifications to his student until the teacher's individualities become a constant part of the tradition.

It is not important if a Shōmyō chant is aesthetic or not to the public ear. "If one still differentiates between beautiful and ugly in a Buddhaland, then I don't want to be a Buddha in such a land.", is an original quote from a Buddhist script and it's also a basic idea behind the chants. From the Buddhist point of view, beauty is not necessarily the opposite of ugliness – that would be too dualistic. At the same time, Japanese spiritual art uses the same aesthetic principles that all the other spiritual disciplines in the world do: WA (harmony) – between singer and listener; KEI (respect) – for music that only serves the nature of being; SEI (pureness) – music as a ritual that purifies the heart; JAKU (stillness and simplicity) – in the minimalistic melodies and in the calm flow of the sounds. Due to this concious abandonment of audible seduction, the Shōmyō cannot exactly be called public oriented. It requires a special kind of listening – a kind of listening that doesn't differentiate, that doesn't try to identify with the usual music and which allows a motionless spirit to hear the original meaning behind every sound. Sadly, very often the pragmatic intention of the average listener is the hope for an inner motivation for wellfare and benefit – giving it to others to gain it back.

4.4 KOTO-MUSIC, SANKYOKU & MIN'YO – The Folk Music

Track 86-93

The Japanese folk music is probably the most known Japanese music in Western culture. The most typical music is the Koto-music (CD Track 52-67) with its light melodies, elegantly played by (formerly blind) Japanese women in kimonos. This is also the music, tourists mostly get to know and which enjoys great popularity concerning cultural purposes.

Both the instrument and the music have a long history that leads back to the 9th century. There is not known much about the folk music of that time since it wasn't written down but from what is known we can say that the character of that music mostly was melancholic and deeply touching. The Koto-Music was used in several ways: As dance music, solo-music or accompaniment for singing as well as storytelling. It was also combined with the Shamisen since they shared the same repertoire.

In later folk music there were a voice, a Shamisen, a Shakuhachi or instead a Kokyû (some sort of violin) added to the Koto (CD Track 86-93). The Solo-music became ensemblemusic. Since there were usually three instruments playing together, this kind of music is called Sankyoku (engl. Music for three instruments – see DVD).

During the 19th century it became part of the female education to learn how to play the Koto. In the Meiji era the Koto was replaced by the Western piano. This is the reason why Japan has such an enormous amount of pianist – girls and women think of it as part of their cultural, social and academic education.

Furthermore, there existed folk songs, the so-called Min'yō (CD Track 49-51). They can be divided into four main categories: work songs, religious songs, songs used for gatherings (like weddings, funerals or festivals)

and children songs. Every area of Japan had its own favourite songs and regional styles of Min'yō. The worksongs were often sung a capella and had a similar call and response structure as the worksongs of the black slaves in the USA. At the beginning, the other Min'yō styles were usually sung a capella as well by non-professionals but they developed through the performance of the Geishas who can be considered as professional singers. It became a standard that the other styles were accompanied by the Shamisen, often supported by Taikos and the Shakuhachi. Sometimes, the Shinobue, bells, smaller drums or the Koto are used as well. When Enka artists perform those pieces nowadays, they also use modern instruments like electric guitars. The Min'yō also includes pitched shouts in the choruses.

During the 20th century, many of the Min'yō songs changed into a more virtuosic style whose singers are – due to the difficulty of singing a Min'yō song – much admired in Japan. Performing one of those pieces requires a great vocal control.

Sadly, the real meaning and spirit of Min'yō somehow got lost during the modernization of the Meiji period when the government tried to root out all traditional culture that was considered unsuitable for a Western style nation. Many songs were re-written at that time and only traditional songs of which the government approved were played on the radio. Only few true Min'yō songs survived in some rural regions.

One of the most famous folksongs that has survived is Jonkara written for the Shamisen.

4.5 NO, KABUKI & BUNRAKU– The Theatre Music

Videos on DVD

Nō (jap. 能) is a traditional Japanese theatre form that used to only be played, danced and musically accompanied by men. Since the start of the 20th century, more and more women become professional Nō artists as well. Usually the main character wears a mask. The Nō plays usually take place on the same sparely decorated stages, since centuries showing the same scenes.

The Nō theatre was created during the 14th century but its origins lead back again to the Chinese Tang era. Back then, the actors of the Nō drama were at the same time the authors of the plays. During the Edo period it was a privilege of the samurai to play and visit the Nō theatre, the Nō actors had the inherited status of a samurai. Four big schools educated the actors as well as the extras and musicians: 観世, Kanze; 宝生, Hōshō; 金春, Komparu; and 金剛, Kongō. During the Meiji era, the Kita (喜多) was added as an equal school.

The Nō theatre is played traditionally in combination with Kyōgen,

a sort of comedy. In year 2001 Nō and Kyōgen were united in the term Nōgaku, which was then added to the UNESCO list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. In 2005, the 2 other theater variations Bunraku and Kabuki were also added to that list.

The topics Nō deal with can be divided into the following categories: Godly Drama: about a Japanese God or Goddess, a foreign mythological figure or a Heavenly God Male Drama: mostly military or martial content/legend which ends with the tragic death of the hero Female Drama: about beautiful women and tragic love stories, including longing, jealousy and unfulfilled love Insanity Drama: about current events Monster Drama: mostly monster or horror content During the usually formal plays, one or two pieces of those topics are shown, followed by a Kyōgen comedy.

Nō theatre is usually accompanied by a flute ( 能 管 , nōkan), two or three drums (Ozutsumi, Kozutsumi, Taiko) and – most important – a chorus of eight singers ( 地 謡 , ji-utai). The flute is the only melody instrument in the Nō ensemble. It serves 5 main purposes: giving signals, being the accompaniment and tempo instruction for the dance, changing the atmosphere during the interludes, giving the pitch for the choir and to increase the lyrical effect of the main character during the most important poetic passages. The same fragments are repeated very often so that there doesn't form a melody but more of an atmosphere. The playing technique of the drums is very differenciated, similar to the Indian tabla. Screams of the players also belong to the percussion effects and make the rhythmic part of the Nō drama a highly exciting percussion music.

An unusual feature of the Nō drama are the costumes. The main characters wear traditional masks of which nowadays 250 standardised types for personating different characters exist (but only 60 of them are used on a regular basis). There are masks for women (young and old), men, demons, monsters, Gods etc. Only when impersonating an adult man, the actor doesn't wear a mask. Depending on the ankle from which on looks at the mask, it changes its expression. Nō masks are a little smaller than a normal face to make the actor seem bigger on stage and because it's a Japanese beauty ideal to have a small face, especially for women. As well as the masks the rest of the costumes is unique in theatre history. Many of these art works are protected by museums or even by the state. The style of these costumes is a mixture of all the styles between 1400 and 1800. In general, they are very pompous, elegant and expensive. Even if the character to be played is a poor gardener of fisher, they use expensive material for the costumes. They're just less colourful but they never look poor or dirty in a realistic way.

The Nō is a very difficult, strict art. It takes years to learn how to move, walk, talk and sing. Everything is completely set, there's no room for improvisation – even the way the actors walk on stage (a kind of gliding) or how they laugh, cry and fight is stylised. At the same time, the Nō theatre is such a high rank art in Japan that it is an honour to be chosen at a young age for the training at one of the schools. Due to the Nō theatres huge popularity and long tradition, it is said to be the highest rank, an artist can gain. If one considers it a whole piece of art, one could compare it to our opera.

A variation of the Nō is the Bunraku (jap. 文楽), the traditional Japanese puppet theatre, named after the puppet master Uemura Bunrakuken. Bunraku is specifically famous for its tragic love stories, ending with suicide. The puppets are about 1,5m tall and have to be moved by 3 puppet players who are visible on stage the whole time (dressed in black kimonos) though they never speak a word. The Tayū (太夫) recites the story of a Bunraku piece and says all the puppets lines as well, differentiating between them by using different techniques of his voice – learning these different techniques of recital singing takes years of concentrated education. Near the Tayū, one can usually find a Shamisen player who accompanies the narrative singing, similar to the Biwa.

Bunraku was also given the state of untouchable cultural inheritance by the Japanese government.

For some time in history, Bunraku was replaced by the Kabuki (jap. 歌舞伎, eng. Singing and dancing), the traditional folk theatre form of the Edo period which consists of singing, pantomime and dancing. It's less formal and strict than the Nō and the stage usually is opulently decorated. Like the Bunraku, it contains narrative singing, accompanied by a Shamisen. Concerning content, Bunraku and Kabuki also deal with similar topics. Some pieces are even adapted for both forms. The main difference between the puppet theatre and the Kabuki is that the first one is a theatre form for the author (the reciter usually starts the play by holding the author's script and bows before it to signalise his respect and the assurance that he will follow it word by word) while the latter is a theatre form made for the actors in which they – different from the Nō – are free to improvise.

The Kabuki was first invented by women who served Buddha with their plays. They also added some erotic gestures to their playing – that's how the Kabuki got its name (Kabuku means shocking). It was banned several times throughout history due to prostitution of the actors (female as well as male). When it came back, it developed into a sophisticated art that was again only practised by men. The plays can be divided into three groups: Jidaimono ( 時 代 物 , engl. History play), Sewamono ( 世 話 物 , engl. Folk play) and Shosagoto (所作事, engl. Dance play). A Kabuki performance was a social event that took a whole a day on which the audience also ate, drank and wandered around the theatre. The actors are children of actor families in which roles, positioning, movement, costumes and make-up are taught from birth.

The traditional Spring Dances (formerly danced by the Geishas – see DVD) are also a development of the Japanese theatre art.

-THE END-

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books & Encyclopedias: MGG – Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart – Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik, Sachteil Vol. 4, Article: Japan, Bärenreiter & J.B. Metzler, 2nd edition, 2008 The New Oxford History Of Music, Volume I: Ancient And Oriental Music, Oxford University Press, 1st edition, December 31st, 1957 MUSIC IN JAPAN: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture – by Bonnie C. Wade, Oxford University Press, 1st edition, 2005

Wikipedia Articles: Music of Japan Shakuhachi Shamisen Taiko Gagaku Shomyo Koto Min'Yo Bunraku Kabuki Noh

Websites: www.jtrad.columbia.jp/eng/history.html www.wissen.de/wde/generator/wissen/ressorts/unterhaltung/index,page=1131980.html www.farsidemusic.com/historyJa.html www.komuso.ch/das_instrument.php www.komuso.ch/sankyoku.php www.komuso.ch/ueberblick.php www.buzzle.com/articles/traditional-japanese-music.html www.shakuhachi.ch/japanische_musik.html www.shoubu.de/jap_musik.htm www.eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=1012 www.gagaku.de/ www.the-noh.com/

Videos: YouTube DVD: Memoires of a Geisha (Warner Bros. Pictures) DVD: The Last Samurai (Warner Bros. Pictures)