Gagaku

What it means

Gagaku is the classical court music of Japan, transmitted for more than a thousand years. It comprises several areas: instrumental ensemble music, music with dance, and singing. The instrumentation consists of wind instruments such as the mouth organ shō, the double-reed pipe hichiriki, and the transverse flute, plus string instruments and percussion instruments that articulate the course in time. The music is passed on within fixed traditions; repertoire and execution are strictly regulated.

Musical use

Characteristic are a very stretched tempo and a layering that differs from European conceptions: a melody is executed by different instruments in different shape at the same time, while the mouth organ contributes sustained sounds and percussion instruments mark the articulation. Coherence arises less from harmony in the European sense than from the relation of these layers to one another and from fixed cycles. The effect rests on calm, tone colour, and slow unfolding. Presentations in European sources are often abbreviated; terms and genre names should be checked against Japanese specialist literature.

Performance practice

The execution is bound to transmission and school and is passed on orally and through imitation; written sources do not suffice. Whoever performs or arranges music of this area should work with musicians of the tradition and refrain from arbitrary adaptations to European listening habits. In programme notes it is advisable to use genre and instrument names correctly and to refrain from generalizations.

Bear in mind that transcriptions of this music into European notation always mean losses: pitches, time relations, and manners of playing can be rendered only approximately. Use such editions as an aid and not as a basis. Whoever performs works by European composers that refer to this music should make the difference between inspiration and imitation clear. For a deeper understanding it is worth noting that gagaku is cared for to this day by the music department of the Japanese Imperial Household.

Check designations and information against Japanese specialist literature, because European accounts often carry on older abbreviations and pass over regional differences.

Also check whether a performance calls for instruments of the tradition or whether an arrangement is present, and state this in the programme.