1.
gagaku; traditional Japanese court music
An ancient genre of Japanese court music and dance, performed at the Imperial Court and certain shrines and temples for over a millennium. 雅楽 encompasses both purely instrumental music and accompanied dances (舞楽), and includes pieces of both Japanese origin and pieces transmitted from Tang-dynasty China and ancient Korea. It is one of the oldest continuously performed musical traditions in the world.
雅楽が好きだ。
I love gagaku.
宮内庁には雅楽を演奏する楽部がある。
The Imperial Household Agency has a music department that performs gagaku.
雅楽は千年以上の歴史を持つ日本の伝統音楽だ。
Gagaku is a traditional Japanese music with a history of over a thousand years.
雅楽は2009年にユネスコの無形文化遺産に登録された。
Gagaku was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2009.
雅楽 (literally "elegant music") is the formal music of the Japanese Imperial Court, with a continuous performance tradition stretching back to the Nara and Heian periods. The genre's name was borrowed from Chinese 雅楽, the ritual court music of imperial China, but in Japan 雅楽 developed its own distinctive repertory and instrumentation.
FORMATION:
- 雅 ("elegant, refined") + 楽 ("music") → 雅楽
MAIN SUBGENRES:
- 国風歌舞: native Japanese songs and dances of pre-Heian origin
- 唐楽: pieces transmitted from Tang-dynasty China (the largest body of repertory)
- 高麗楽: pieces transmitted from ancient Korea and northern Asia
- 舞楽: dances performed to 雅楽 accompaniment
- 管絃: instrumental ensemble pieces, performed without dance
KEY INSTRUMENTS:
- 笙: mouth organ (cluster chords)
- 篳篥: double-reed pipe (carries the melody)
- 龍笛: transverse bamboo flute
- 琵琶: short-necked lute
- 箏: thirteen-string zither (the 雅楽 version of the koto)
- 太鼓, 鞨鼓, 鉦鼓: percussion
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 雅楽を演奏する: to perform gagaku
- 雅楽の演奏会: a gagaku concert
- 雅楽師: a gagaku musician
- 雅楽の調べ: gagaku melodies / strains
SIMILAR / RELATED TERMS:
- 邦楽: traditional Japanese music (broadest term, encompassing many genres)
- 能楽: Noh theater and its music
- 琴 / 三味線: stringed instruments associated with later popular court and chamber music traditions
- 民謡: folk songs (a separate, popular tradition)
CULTURAL CONTEXT:
- 雅楽 is performed at imperial ceremonies, certain Shinto rites at major shrines, and Buddhist services at temples such as 四天王寺. It is also presented in concert form by groups such as the Imperial Household Agency Music Department and various civilian 雅楽 societies.
- The slow tempos, sustained 笙 chords, and microtonal ornamentation give 雅楽 a distinctive sound that many listeners associate with traditional shrine festivals and imperial ceremonies.