GAGAKU An Important Intangible Cultural Property
of Japan
DVD 1: 59 min.
This DVD is a digest version with English
or Japanese commentary of former ten-volume
video series recording the present-day performance
practice of gagaku, Japan's court music, at the Music Department
of the Board of Ceremonies of the Imperial
Household Agency. This series, recorded between
1997 and 2000, is a landmark achievement,
in that it records pieces from all of the
genres that make up today's gagaku. This digest version serves as an introduction
which brings together highlights of the performances,
produced with the intent of covering all
of the genres within a one-hour time frame.
Although the gagaku repertoires of bugaku dance and kangen instrumental performance that derive from
ancient China and Korea are well-known, two
other genres have attracted less attention:
kuniburi-no-utamai, accompanied vocal music and dance of indigenous
origin now used in Imperial and Shinto ceremony;
and the accompanied vocal forms saibara and rooei, which were born in the context of the culture
of the Heian court, in the ninth and tenth centuries.
Azuma-asobi
The kuniburi-no-utamai excerpted for the digest are kume-mai and azuma-asobi. The former is performed at ceremonies of
Imperial accession, while the latter is an
elegant recasting of ancient folk songs and
dances of the eastern provinces. Kangen instrumental music is represented by two pieces,
the well-known Etenraku and the lively Batoo. The latter piece is also shown in its danced
form as bugaku, in a demonstration of the musical changes
that take place when the same piece is performed
in these two different styles. Other bugaku dances shown include the movement Gakkaen from the Chinese military dance-suite Taiheiraku, known for its especially intricate armour-like
costume, and the elegant Korean dance Engiraku.
Excerpts from two saibara, Koromogae and Ise-no-umi, as well as from the rooei, Kooyoo, serve to underline the importance of vocal
music in the traditional performing arts
of Japan.
Dadaiko of the Right
Engiraku
Batoo
Taiheirau(Gakkaen)
Saibara
Rooei
Contact: info@tokyocinema.net
Started: 2007.09.19. Final edition: 2007.09.21.
(C) 2000/2007 The Shimonaka Memorial Foundation
Wall paper by Kiyodo
go to gagaku TOP page
go to kuniburi-no-utamai page