Traditional Japanese Music: Famous Pieces of Gagaku and Kagura. Recommended Traditional Japanese Music

Gagaku SakuraNEW!Teruo Nozu

[Gagaku] Kangen Sakura — Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) for Gagaku Ensemble

This piece reimagines the tradition of gagaku—handed down for over a thousand years—through contemporary technology and the sensibilities of today’s performers.

Layers of the shō’s beautiful chords overlap, conveying a delicacy and stillness like petals drifting on a spring evening.

The hichiriki’s melodic line is gentle and lyrical, and with the addition of percussion, it evokes the uniquely solemn spatial atmosphere of gagaku.

I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to experience the mystical resonance of gagaku or feel the beauty of Japan’s four seasons through sound.

Etenraku ImayōNEW!Emperor Wen

Etenraku Imayo, performance: Fukieda-kai

A work in which lyrics were set to a representative piece of gagaku and adapted to be sung in the imayō style.

Since the Heian period, a variety of texts have been attached to it and passed down in performances at court and at Buddhist ceremonies.

From the lyrics, composed in a waka-like manner describing cherry blossoms blanketing the spring mountains, one senses a longing for Japan’s beautiful nature and a profound awareness of the changing seasons.

Sung to the stable melody of the hyōjō mode, its majestic resonance carries a spirituality not found in modern music.

In the Noh play Umeeda, there are instances where this piece—reconstructed from old notation—is presented on stage, offering a chance to experience the depth of Japan’s traditional performing arts.

EtenrakuEmperor Wen

Gagaku: Etenraku

Etenraku is a representative piece of Japanese gagaku often included in textbooks, and for many people it is the first work that comes to mind when they think of gagaku.

It is also written as “Etōraku.” Classified as Tōgaku in hyōjō mode, it is a short piece in a fast four-beat meter, counted in twelve measures.

It was a new composition in which a dance once existed but is no longer performed.

There is also a tradition that it was played when Tang ministers ascended to or descended from the palace dais.

An arrangement for koto and orchestra titled Etenraku Variations by Japanese composer Hidemaro Konoye and others has been performed in the United States and Europe.

Among gagaku pieces, it is the most famous, and many people have likely heard it at least once.

BanzairakuEmpress Wu Zetian

Gagaku: the court music piece “Manzairaku”

Manzairaku is one of the Tang-dynasty pieces of Tōgaku (music from Tang China) that was transmitted to Japan.

It is gagaku in the heichō mode, a medium-length piece, in the extended eight-beat meter, with ten measures, classified as a “new piece,” and includes a dance (four dancers, bunbu/civil dance).

It is said to have been composed after the cry of an imperial parrot kept by Empress Wu Zetian, which supposedly called out “banzai” (“ten thousand years”).

The sequence consists of Heichō Chōshi and Hingen (entrance of the dancers), Tōkyoku (dance to the main piece), and Chōshi and Rin Chōshi (exit), with the paired dance being Engiraku.

It is still frequently performed today and is a representative example of a left-side, level dance; it is sometimes danced together with Taiheiraku during the “Feast of Celebration” in the Great Ceremony of the Emperor’s Accession.

Alongside Etenraku, it serves as an introductory piece for those wishing to learn about gagaku.

Hyōjō Kōjōkyū Ryūteki SoloJungjong

Hyōjō 'Kōjō (rapid)' | 2012 Charity Gagaku Concert

“Ōjō” is a type of Tōgaku (Tang music) in gagaku that was introduced from China.

It is in hyōjō mode, classified as a large piece (taikyoku) and shin-gaku (new music), and it includes a dance performed by six dancers.

It is one of the four great pieces of Tōgaku, along with Shun’ōden, Sokōkō, and Banshūraku.

The circumstances of its transmission to Japan are unknown.

The piece originally consisted of four sections—yūsei, jo, ha, and kyū—but today only the solemn kyū is performed instrumentally (kangen).

The character 麞 is read “noro” in Japanese and refers to a type of deer in kun-yomi, but in this case it does not indicate a deer; it appears to derive from the Chinese place name Huangzhang Valley.

This is recommended for those who wish to learn about the style of gagaku and the form of Tōgaku brought from China.

Bugaku: BailuBanroudoku

Bugaku: Bairo

“Bairo” is a type of Tang-era music and one of the pieces of gagaku (Japanese court music) that came from Vietnam.

It is in the hyōjō mode, a medium-length piece, performed in the fast tada-bayashi meter; it uses the twelfth beat pattern, is an ancient piece, and includes a dance (with four dancers).

It is said to have been brought to Japan in Tenpyō 8 (736 CE) by the Brahmin monk Shōjō and a monk named Buttetzu from Linyi (present-day southern Vietnam).

In orchestral kangen performance it is played in the simple tada-bayashi meter, while in bugaku dance performance it is played in the yata-ra-bayashi meter.

Because the dancers perform with weapons, it is also known as a representative piece of martial dance.

It is recommended for those who wish to learn about the origins of Japanese gagaku and about cultural traditions found abroad, such as in Vietnam.

Taishoku-chō Chōkeiko Ryūteki SoloMinamoto no Hiromasa

[Gagaku] Taishiki-chō Netori – Ryūteki Solo.wmv

Chōgeishi (also read Chōgeshi) is a Tang-music piece in the Taishikichō mode.

It is a short composition in a fast quadruple meter, with sixteen beats to the measure, and is a newer piece with no accompanying dance.

It is an instrumental ensemble work and is famous as a postlude performed to conclude a bugaku program.

It is said that connoisseurs depart while listening to this piece.