Gagaku: instrumental music, dance and song

Kangen foregrounds an instrumental ensemble, bugaku joins music to dance, and vocal forms foreground singing. This classification by performance differs from classification by repertory: indigenous kuniburi no utamai, continental-derived tōgaku and komagaku, and the Heian vocal forms saibara and rōei.

The shō has a cluster of bamboo pipes; the hichiriki is a short double-reed instrument; the ryūteki is a transverse flute. Kangen commonly combines three wind instruments, biwa and sō strings, and three percussion types. Dance accompaniment uses a different combination, with further differences between tōgaku and komagaku.

Kangen begins with netori, a short prelude led by the shō that introduces the mode of the following music. After netori, the kakko player cues the main piece and the lead ryūteki begins alone. The hichiriki enters at a prescribed point and takes the melodic lead, shaping pitch with breath and lip position in embai. The shō commonly supplies clusters of notes and provides the strings’ tuning reference.

Kangen has no separate conductor. Players listen to the ensemble and watch one another’s breathing and movements to coordinate entries and endings. The biwa marks the first beat with swept strings. The kakko player guides the overall progress, raising the beaters after netori to cue the main piece; in dance accompaniment the player also signals the ending as dancers leave. Komagaku uses san-no-tsuzumi in a comparable leading role.

Bugaku has Left and Right repertories, normally accompanied by tōgaku and komagaku respectively. Dancers enter from the corresponding side as seen by the audience. Left dance uses shō, ryūteki and hichiriki with kakko, taiko and shōko. Right dance normally uses komabue, hichiriki, san-no-tsuzumi, taiko and shōko; without shō harmony, its two melodic winds stand out. Bairo, Genjōraku and Batō are exceptions: these Right dances use tōgaku and add shō, but retain san-no-tsuzumi rather than adopting the entire Left ensemble.

Nasori is usually a vigorous two-person dance of the right, often paired with Ryōō of the left. Blue costumes with fur-edged borders, masks with moving eyes and suspended jaws, and silver batons distinguish its appearance. The dancers match or mirror one another, facing towards or away from each other. Nara uses different names for the solo and paired versions.

Komabue flute, taiko and shōko introduce Nasori with the prelude Koma-koranjō. The dancers enter only after the central Ha section has begun. Kyu follows; when its dance is finished, the music continues while the performers leave. Watching the entrance and departure reveals how a musical section can extend beyond the dance itself.

Tōgaku’s instrumental repertory uses six chōshi, or modes, each centred on a main tone; its twelve pitch names do not match Western equal temperament exactly. Most pieces have fixed meter but a tempo that can fluctuate. Netori and some other preludes use free rhythm without a fixed pulse, so a leisurely pace does not necessarily mean an absence of meter. Training begins with shōga, singing the music and performance patterns. Oral teaching, practice and instrumental scores work together to support memory and transmission.

Etenraku is instrumental, without an accompanying dance. Versions survive in three modes: Hyōjō, Banshikichō and Ōshikichō. A contrasting passage called jūtō precedes the return of the main section; in the Hyōjō version it briefly moves towards Ōshikichō. The three versions are not all straightforward transpositions, and their order of composition remains uncertain.

Etenraku can be performed as nokorigaku sanpen. In nokorigaku, repeated statements progressively lose instruments: percussion drops out first, followed by supporting wind players and biwa. A dialogue between sō zither and hichiriki remains, with special string techniques answering fragments of melody. Repetition changes the texture as well as revisiting the tune.

Japan’s existing song and dance traditions met imported Asian repertories from around the fifth century onward. Court musicians selected and reorganised these materials, establishing a foundation by about the tenth century. Labels such as tōgaku and komagaku refer to the Japanese repertory as reorganised, rather than an unchanged archive of every source culture’s music.

The Taihō code of 701 established the Gagakuryō to organise ceremonial performance and train musicians. Early Heian administration also created the Ōutadokoro for indigenous songs. A palace gakusho appeared in the early tenth century and increasingly became a centre for performance and transmission; Nara temples and Tennōji developed their own centres.

Heian musicians organised imported repertories into tōgaku and komagaku and composed new works. Saibara adapted songs from local traditions to instrumental accompaniment, while rōei set Chinese verse to melody. Performance also became part of aristocratic recreation and education. The repertory grew through these activities, alongside its ceremonial uses.

War dispersed Kyoto’s musicians, while hereditary families in Nara and Tennōji retained skills, treatises and scores. Their traditions were brought together with Kyoto’s in the sanpō gakuso. Under the Tokugawa, some musicians served at Edo Castle’s Momijiyama. Patronage, examinations and scholarship supported performance and the revival of lost repertory.

After the court moved to Tokyo, musicians from separate centres entered a common institution. Coordinating teaching and performance led to the standard scores compiled in 1876 and supplemented in 1888, known as the Meiji senteifu. Private associations in the Kansai region also maintained shrine and temple traditions.

The Imperial Household Agency’s Music Department was established in 1949. Its gagaku received national intangible-cultural-property designation in 1955 and UNESCO inscription in 2009. The National Theatre has presented gagaku since its opening in 1966. Its work also includes reconstructed repertory and new compositions. The Music Department also performs at court events, public concerts and overseas, while training younger musicians.