introduction to japanese music - week 3

Introduction to Japanese Music

Week 3 – Biwa,

Heike Monogatari

The Biwa

Mōsōbiwa

• ‘Blind priest’ biwa

• Accompaniment to sutras and chanting

Mōsōbiwa

• ‘Blind priest’ biwa

• Uncertain origins

Mōsōbiwa

• ‘Blind priest’ biwa

• Uncertain origins

• Beggars playing for alms

Mōsōbiwa

• ‘Blind priest’ biwa

• Uncertain origins

• Beggars playing for alms

• Government protection for schools and guilds

Heike Monogatari

• The Tale of the Heike

• Supposedly written in the late 12th/early 13th

century by Yukinaga

Heike Monogatari

The knell of the bells at the Gion temple Echoes the impermanence of all things. The colour of the flowers on its double-trunked tree Reveals the truth that to flourish is to fall. He who is proud is not so for long, Like a passing dream on a night in spring. He who is brave is finally destroyed, To be no more than dust before the wind.

Heike Monogatari

Gion shouja no kane no koeshogyou mujou no hibiki ari. Shara souju no hana no irojousha hissui no kotowari o arawasu. Ogoreru hito mo hisashikarazu, Tada haru no yo no yume no gotoshi. Takeki mono mo tsui ni horobinu. Hitoe ni kaze no mae no chiri ni onaji.

Heike-biwa

• Yukinaga taught the tale to Shobutsu

• Gagaku; shomyo; blind biwa traditions

• ‘New and unique’ Japanese musical form

Tōdō

• The Tōdō (Tōdōza) established in the 14thC

• Former schools and guilds of biwa performers merged into a single complex for blind musicians

• Later included other genres and instruments, as well as other blind professionals

Tōdō

• The Tōdō (Tōdōza) established in the 14thC

• Former schools and guilds of biwa performers merged into a single complex for blind musicians

• Later included other genres and instruments, as well as other blind professionals

Instrument

Instrument

• Strings 1, 3 and 4 tuned to the pattern a-e’-a’

• String 2 tuned to e’ at the third fret

• Frets iii, iv and v play major 3rd, 4th and 5th

• First fret creates the sawari buzzing sound

Musical Style - Structure

• Chords and arpeggios; single-string plucking developed

• Preludes, interludes, short motifs and codas

• Some exist in particular sequence – others have regular functions (opening, connecting, etc.)

Musical Style - Structure

• Vocal line built from kyokusetsu, melodic patterns

• Formulas have particular associations, and often fixed biwa preludes

• Biwa and vocal parts do not overlap, but are played consecutively

Musical Style - Tetrachords

• Vocal style derived from shomyo – using tetrachords built around nuclear tones

• Intermediate tones may be min.3rd or min.2nd

over lower tone

• Patterns usually progress upwards, ending on the highest tone

Musical Style - Vocal

• Heikyoku sections delivered in three ways:

– Ginsho ; declamatory, syllabic

– Rosho ; intoned, syllabic

– Eisho ; pitched, melismatic

No meter to syllabic sections, but a regular pulse

Melismatic sections in free rhythm

Notation

• Developed for amateur players during Edo period

• Heike Mabushi (1776) – divides the Tale of Heike into roughly 200 pieces

• Standardized Todo revision; included an index of biwa notation

Satsuma Biwa

• Noble, classical music, cultivated by the Shimazu clan in Kyushu

• Uses similar narrative tales

• More technical elements to biwa playing

• Biwa often played simultaneously with vocals

Chikuzen biwa

• Revived (or started) in the 19thC

• Heavy influence from narrative shamisenmusic

• Quieter and more lyrical

Heike-biwa post-Meiji

Resources

• Lecture by Yoko Hiraoka(http://www.japanesestrings.com/yokolecture.html)

• Junko Ueda, Japon: L’epopee des Heike (Disque VDE Gallo, 1990)

• Japan: Satsuma Biwa (OCORA, 2013)

• Yoshinori Fumon, Satsumabiwa – Japan’s Noble Ballads(Celestial Harmonies, 2001)