introduction to japanese music - week 3
TRANSCRIPT
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)