introduction to japanese music - week 4
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction to Japanese Music
Week 4 – Nō drama
• J Thomas Rimer, ‘What More do we Need to Know About the Noh?’ Asian Theatre Journal 9/2 (Autumn 1992): 215-223.
• Noh Plays Database (www.the-noh.com/en/)
• John Wesley Harris, The Traditional Theatre of Japan: Kyogen, Noh, Kabuki and Puppetry (The Edwin Mellen Press, 2006).
Origins of Nō drama
• Sarugaku – theatre from earlier periods
• The Ashikage shogun patronized sarugaku in the 14thC
• Zeami (1364-1443)
Description of Nō theatre
• Main stage
Description of Nō theatre
• Main stage
• Side stage for chorus
Description of Nō theatre
• Main stage
• Side stage for chorus
• Back stage for musicians
Description of Nō theatre
• Main stage
• Side stage for chorus
• Back stage for musicians
• Long passageway for entry and exit
Description of Nō theatre
Status of Nō
• From 16thC, Nō was transmitted as an amateur pastime
• Developed into a refined pursuit
• Formalized, upper-class art
• Serious, solemn, high-art feel
Music in Nō
• Music has a secondary role, behind the text
• Shite – principal actor
• Utai – sung text
• Hayashi – instrumental music, played by musicians also called hayashi
• Usually two acts, with an interlude; may last between one and two hours
Kyōgen
• Comic Nō scenes
• Often used as interludes, or performed separately
Utai (structure)
• Nō plays are built from dan, or scenes
• Each dan often has an introductory song; a speech, or sung narrative; then a song in one or two parts.
• The utai is divided further into shōdan, small structural units
• Jo-Ha-Kyu
Utai
• Kotoba – speech mode (stylized intonation)
• Yowagin – uses three tones, in tetrachords –female, emotional, beautiful
• Tsuyogin – centered on one tone, within range of min 3rd – male, martial, congratulatory
Jiutai
Melodic and Rhythmic Patterns
• Five- and seven-syllable text, in eight-beat metre
• Utai uses standard rhythmic and melodic patterns
• Hiranori – chunori – onori
Fue
• Seven finger holes
• Wide mouth-hole for embrouchure changes
• No absolute pitch – unmatched to the vocal
Kō-tsuzumi
• Shoulder drum
• Binding ropes used to control pitch
Ō-tsuzumi
• Second drum, held on the knee
Hayashi patterns
• Each instrument has its own patterns, repeated during a shōdan or dance
• Drummers match pauses to the correct utaisyllables – enabling them to follow the singer
Current day…
• Nō (and kyōgen) are still performed, though now a high classical art
• Little public interest?
• Intangible Cultural Heritage
• Around 200 extant plays
• Kagekiyo / Shidohogaku – Noh and KyogenPlays Live (Asch Records, 1969)
• Kyoto Nohgaku Kai, Japanese Noh Music(Lyrichord World, 1993)