Musical Anthology of the Orient, Unesco Collection Vol 3

"Music of the Edo Period 1603-1867"

Nōtomi Haruhiko
Baren Reiter Musicaphon - BM 30 L 2014

Track	Title	Kanji	Length	Artist
1	Echigojishi (nagauta)	越後獅子	18'48
	Naga-uta (literally "long song") is a form used principally to accompany Kabuki dances; such songs are however also frequently performed as concert pieces. The instruments used for Naga-uta are usually shamisen, flute, ko-tsuzumi, o-tsuzumi and taiko. The title "Echigojishi" refers to a lion-dance from the Echigo province in north-western Japan which at the beginning of the 19th century was known throughout the land. The piece is not held together by a single plot, but consists of a number of short texts in each of which either a reference is made to a particular folk-art of Echigo province, or else folk-songs are quoted. The formal structure of the music corresponds to that of the Kabuki dance. The individual sections differ in their scoring, tempi and character, as well as in their dramaturgical function. "Echigojishi" contains many instrumental interludes which are sometimes played on a solo shamisen, sometimes by a group of instruments. The sham is en is tuned to Sansagari. "Echigojishi" was performed in Edo for the first time in 1811. Originally created for the Kabuki stage, it is now usually performed as a concert piece.
2	Koto no Yurai		06'37
	The first appearance of the nigenkin about the year 1820 occurred at a time when the musical style of the Edo period had received a set form and had for the most part become standardized. It is not surprising then that the new instrument is not only closely modelled on the koto and its variants, well-known in Japan for centuries and especially highly esteemed during the Edo period, but also that the music written for it keeps within the familiar and popular style of the time. The l1igel1kil1 players however turned away completely from secular music and regarded their performance as a religious act belonging to the ordinances of Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan. The texts are often quotations from classical Japanese writings, or they deal with episodes from the earliest mythological period. This kind of music is an expression of the nationalist Shinto movement which considerably influenced the spirit of the late Edo period, and called for a radical break with Chinese ideas. It encouraged the study of the oldest Japanese literature, in order to lend substance to the idealized image of a self-reliant Japanese cultural development. The text of the piece recorded here describes the origin of the nigenkin in mythological terms, and also gives a short description of the instrument. A characteristic of the music is the relative independence of the writing for instrument and voice. The form is a simple one and follows the usual model of the time, that is: vocal section-instrumental solo - vocal section.
3	Yuki	雪	11'39	Koto: Tomiyama Seikin I Voice: Tomiyama Seikin I
	Ji-uta is the general term for songs or song-cycles accompanied on the shamisen which have no connection with the theatre. The meaning of the word Ji-uta (local songs) refers to their place of origin and main circulation, i.e. the Kyoto-Osaka district. The Ji-uta category includes the following forms: cycles made up of several short songs, extended songs with one continuous text, pieces in which the text occupies first place in importance, and those in which virtuosic instrumental interludes (tegoto) occur. "Yuki" (the word means snow) belongs to the group in which the emphasis is placed on the text. It was written by Minezaki Kengyo, a leading composer of the flourishing Tegotomono (tegoto pieces) School towards the end of the 18th century. Thus two shamisen soli are also found in "Yuki"; the initial motive of the second of these was used in the Edo period to portray the coldness of winter and snowfall, and was quoted in many other pieces to represent the mood of winter. The subject-matter is taken from the world of the courtesans. Soseki, a well-known Geisha, has resolved to renounce the world and become a nun. But her thoughts keep on returning to her former lover. These moments of tension provide the setting for the piece. The shamisen is tuned in Honchoshi.
4	Shika no Tône (Don't know which version)	鹿の遠音	07'55	Shakuhachi: Araki Kodō V Shakuhachi: Nōtomi Judō II Shakuhachi: Nōtomi Haruhiko
	During the Edo period the shakuhachi was the instrument exclusively used by a sect of mendicant Buddhist monks. The music which these monks played on their wanderings included-in addition to Buddhist sutra recitations-elements of folk-songs which the monks encountered, and also imitations of the sounds of nature. "Shika no tone" was composed at the beginning of the 18th century. The style of performance is noteworthy in its obvious dependence upon the literary context. The full title, "Yobikaeshi shika no tone", means "Deer calling to one another in the distance". The musically stylized call of two deer is represented by two shakuhachi answering one another.
5	Rokudan no Shirabe	六段の調	05'50	Koto: Nakanoshima Kin'ichi
	Sokyoku means "pieces for koto" (d. JAPAN I, SOKYOKU). In general, this term also includes vocal compositions accompanied on the koto or shamisen and koto. The so-called danmono (pieces in sections) are an exception, being purely instrumental exercises most of which were composed by Yatsuhashi Kengyo in the 17th century. The formal unit underlying these pieces is the dan (step, section). According to the number of dan the pieces are called "Rokudan no shirabe", or "Hachidan no shirabe", that is, pieces in six sections, pieces in eight sections, etc. Each dan is made up of 104 hyoshi, one hyoshi being the basic metrical unit. An extra four hyoshi, which constitute the initial motive of the first dan, are not counted in the 104. The tempo of a danmono is fixed. After a subdued beginning it is increased and reaches a climax which usually occurs towards the end of the last section, and then the piece is concluded quietly. The koto is tuned in Hirajoshi.