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

Bugaku Kiyotoku

Court Dance and Music - Kiyotoku

Kitoku is a piece in the Komagaku repertoire, in the Ichikotsu mode, consisting of the middle piece (Chūkyoku), the breaking section (Ha), and the quick section (Kyū); as a new piece (shingaku), it also includes a dance (one dancer, hashirimai).

It is also written as Kitoku with the character for “return” (Kitōku).

Other names include Kitokukō and Kitokuseki.

The accompanying dance pattern (banmai) is Sante.

The performer wears ryōtō attire and uses two types of masks—jinmen (human face) and koiguchi—along with ryūkō (dragon armor), and dances holding a tachi (sword) and a hoko (halberd).

Bugaku ‘Rakuson’ at Asama Taisha

Bugaku 'Rakuson' at Asama Taisha

Rakuson is a piece in the Korean-style repertoire (Komagaku), in the Ichikotsu mode, classified as a short composition, with movements Ha and Kyū, and it is a shin-gaku (new composition).

It also has a dance (one dancer, sōbu/“running dance”).

Ha uses Yō-byōshi with 12 beats, and Kyū uses Tō-byōshi with 12 beats.

Its paired dance (banmai) is Ranryōō.

Rakuson is the name used when performing the bugaku dance Nasori—originally for two dancers—solo.

It is said to depict two playful dragons in dance; the performer holds silver drumsticks and wears ryōtō shōzoku (a type of court costume).

Heijo Mode Keiun Music Ryuteki SoloChō Bunshū

Auspicious Music

Keiunraku is a piece of Tang music in the hyōjō mode, classified as a medium-length piece in extended eight-beat time, with ten-beat measures, considered a new composition, and has no dance.

It is also written as Kei’unraku.

The original title was Ryōkiraku, but it is said to have been renamed Keiunraku because it was transmitted to Japan during the Keiun era.

According to the laws of the great nation, this piece was to be performed during meals.

Hyōjō Urahitogaku Ryūteki SoloRitoku’u

[Gagaku] Hyojo Mode - Utenraku - Ryuteki Solo

Katōraku is a piece of Tang-style court music (tōgaku) in the hyōjō mode, a medium-length piece in the extended eight-beat meter, with twelve measures of rhythm; it is a “new piece” and also has an associated dance performed by four dancers.

It is also written as Hadakarakuraku.

According to tradition, once every hundred years a massive swarm of bees would fly in from the land of Kinsha and wreak havoc on the people; when performers wrapped their heads in cotton gauze or silk twill and played this piece, the bees were said to have been completely wiped out.

In ancient Japan it was performed at the coronation rites of the Emperor and Crown Prince, but today it is rarely performed.

Butterfly Raku Express, thrice repeatedFujiwara Tadafusa

Gagaku “Kocho-raku, Kyū” Three Repetitions — A Reconstruction Based on Scores from the Late Heian and Kamakura Periods

Kochōraku is a piece in the Komagaku repertoire, in the Komagaku Ichikotsu mode, classified as a short piece, and it also has an associated dance (performed by four dancers, including child dancers).

Its companion dance is Karyōbin.

It is said that Fujiwara no Tadafusa, a government official and gagaku musician from the early to mid-Heian period, composed the music, and that Prince Atsuzane, the eighth son of Emperor Uda, who was versed in waka poetry and music, created the choreography.

Miyajima / Itsukushima Shrine Peach Blossom Festival Bugaku dance “Soriko”

Miyajima / Itsukushima Shrine Peach Blossom Festival Bugaku Dance: “Soriko”

There is a piece called “Soriko,” representative of bugaku.

Soriko belongs to Komagaku, is in the Koma ichikotsu mode, is a short piece, and is a new piece of the right repertoire; it also includes a dance (performed by four dancers, classified as a bunbu).

At Shitennō-ji, the number of dancers is five.

The set piece includes percussion such as ichiko.

In the prelude, the komabue and hichiriki lead with an ito-joshi phrase.

The dancers wear layered court robes, crowns with coiled tassel cords (makie) and an old-style pendant (ogake), don abstract “zatsumen” masks depicting human faces, and dance holding a short rod called a hakusō.

Today, it is also performed at places such as Miyajima in Hiroshima Prefecture, for example at the Momoka Festival of Itsukushima Shrine, where you can experience its atmosphere.

Hyojo Funan, solo ryuteki performance

[Gagaku] Hyojo: Etenraku – Ryuteki Solo.wmv

Funan is a Tang-era court music piece in hyōjō mode, a medium-length composition in fast eight-beat meter, with fourteen beats per measure, classified as a new piece, and it has no accompanying dance.

“Funan” is the Chinese name for an ancient state established by the Khmer people in the 1st–2nd centuries in the southern Indochina Peninsula, in the lower Mekong River region.

It engaged in maritime trade in the South Seas and, influenced by Indian culture, prospered for a time, but in the mid-7th century it declined and perished under pressure from Chenla.