Linfamy: Hey guys, a different kind of video today. I’ll be doing some karaoke for you.

I will sing that

Mulan song that plays over their training montage. Here we g—

Shawn: Nooo!

<Shawn attacks>

Shawn: We’re not doing that.

Let’s talk about Gagaku music. 雅楽

Imagine the most beautiful haunting sounds, a flamboyant stage, a dance that lifts your consciousness.

Are you imagining it? Then you’re experiencing it exactly like a peasant in Heian Period Japan did. That

is to say, they didn’t.

The elegant music was not for dirty peasants, it was only for the eyes and ears of the Japanese court

nobles.

Welcome me back everyone. I have taken Linfamy hostage once more to tell you about the glorious

music of Gagaku. My name Is Shawn Renzoh Head. I am a licensed Shakuhachi instructor, performer,

and lecturer of Japanese aesthetics and music. Let’s jump right in. Listen to this.

<play a snippet of Gagaku music>

Gagaku dates back over 1200 years and is Japanese court music that is usually associated with the Heian

Period. The name Gagaku means “Elegant music” and it is a large ensemble with 20 or so wind, stringed,

and percussion instruments. Like many things in Japan, it has its origins in 2000 year old music from

china and korea. In ancient times, court musicians were expected to be accomplished gagaku

performers which means being able to dance, sing, and perform all of the instruments. Nobles were
expected to be familiar with an instrument, if they wanted any hope of seeing a woman’s inner sleeves.

If you wanted to study gagaku today as a professional, you would need to learn how to do every part of

the gagaku ensemble.

Gagaku is divided into 4 types. Kangen 管弦 (instrumental), Bugaku 舞楽) (music and dance), kayo

歌謡(songs and chanted poetry) and ceremonial music 神楽 (Kagura). Though it seems to be more

of a Western-style orchestra seeing that it has a stringed, wind and rhythm sections, gagaku music

places its emphasis on the winds. In addition, every note in gagaku is significant. A single tone can

present a color, season or a smell or a deeply complex aesthetic characteristic. Spring 春 modes are

more cheerful and warm while autumn 秋 modes are more sorrowful.

So, what does a performance look and sound like?

Gagaku is a slow…I mean slow… no seriously really slow, but enormously refined music. Before it

plays a note, the sheer look of a gagaku ensemble grabs your attention. The musicians sit cross-

legged in their red and green silk robes (gagaku is full of binaries but more on that later). The

instruments are as follows: Gongs 鉦鼓, Kakko 鞨鼓, Taiko 太鼓(large drum), So no Koto 箏, Biwa 楽

琵琶), Ryuteki 龍笛, Hichiriki 篳篥), Sho 笙. They dropped shakuhachi a long time ago. I’m still salty

about this…

Many works begin with a bamboo flute solo. The solo is very nuanced and is later joined by

encapsulating chords by the rest of the ensemble which locks you in to a fixated stare and your ears

filled with tonalities never before heard… truly. One of the instruments that really sticks out is the

Hichiriki, which has magical powers according to some stories.

<Hichiriki playing>

It’s a type of oboe that has a straightforward sound. A lady in waiting from the 11th century, Sei

Shonangon 清少納言, had this to say about it. “The horrible sound of the hichiriki is like the noisy

crickets of autumn.” I guess she didn’t play hichiriki in the ensemble. One of my favorite recordings

of hichiriki is actually of a gagaku musician playing Georgia On My Mind by Ray Charles.

Another peculiar instrument is the sho, which provides the harmonic landscape for gagaku. The

chords are dense, some may say thiccc with three “c’s.” For me, this is the element that locks your

ears in. But you will have to just hear it for yourself! Let’s move on to the layout.

In the olden days the orchestra was comprised of two sections. The Right section which dressed in

green, blue and yellow and played Korean music and the “left,” being dressed in red and played

Chinese, Indian and Japanese music. There for Gagaku is made up of three bodies of musical

pieces: togaku 唐樂, said to be in the style of the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618-907); komagaku 高麗

楽, said to have been transmitted from the Korean peninsula; and music of Japan, or music for the

Shinto religion. Also included in gagaku are a small number of regional Japanese folk songs, called

saibara 催馬楽. Some experts say that Saibara was written by Japanese horse breeders and the

nobles then cityfied them once they heard the tunes and others say it was brought from outside of

japan but that’s an argument for another day. An extensive collection of musical styles was

transmitted to Japan from the Asian continent during the Nara period (710-794). As a side note,

Gagaku was performed as often as the nobles could. There were informal “jam sessions” and formal

meet ups for concerts but there was no set number of events that would happen. The only set days

would be for Kagura, the ceremonial music.

So what about today?

The tradition still continues today and there are many groups who practice the old styles but there

are western composers like Stockhausen and Japanese composers like Takemitsu who also have

written for this ensemble. There are a lot of gagaku musicians who see no limitations for their

instruments and have expanding outward to pop, jazz, rock, and more. Also like I mentioned last

time in the shakuhachi video, the Video game sekiro also uses gagaku inspired music and in the

location called Fountain Head palace, they actually have a large taiko drum where the court music

would be played. Also, the music has been featured in lots of films, one of my personal favorites is

Dreams by Akira kurosawa in 1990 which is a wicked film. The second dream in the film has a huge

gagaku ensemble and dance which is captivating, it also features the peach boy (momotaro).

Long story short, Gagaku is awesome and if you ever have the chance to see it. I couldn’t

recommend it more. The experience is overwhelming, and it will make an everlasting impression.

Today Gagaku is played quite frequently and can be heard in performed live even in the states. So

do a quick google search and I bet you can find a Gagaku Orchestra. In Japan, there are special

events involving the imperial family, but don’t ask me how to get a ticket…