Tang Dynasty music: "Wu Chang Yue": Ji 《五常樂》· 急
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ก.ค. 2020
- The final movement from a Tang Dynasty yanyue (燕乐 / 宴乐, banquet music) piece: "Wu Chang Yue": Ji 《五常樂》· 急 (Japanese: Goshōraku-no-kyū / ごしょうらくのきゅう) ("Music of the Five Constant Virtues": Quick), performed in virtual ensemble fashion by an international ensemble featuring performers based in three different countries.
Although this piece almost certainly derives from Tang China around the 8th century, the score was lost in China, and the melodic instrument parts for this performance were reconstructed from multiple Sino-Japanese court music (Tōgaku, 唐楽) sources dating from the 11th through 19th centuries by Professor Steven G. Nelson (Hosei University, Tokyo), 2020.
Percussion arrangement by David Badagnani.
Performers:
● Steven G. Nelson (スティーヴン・G・ネルソン, Tokyo, Japan) - sō-no-koto (箏の琴, 13-string bridge zither)
● Kahoru Nakamura (中村かほる, Tokyo, Japan; a member of Reigakusha) - gaku-biwa (楽琵琶, pear-shaped lute)
● David Badagnani (Kent, Ohio, USA) - bili (筚篥, double-reed pipe) and sheng (笙, mouth organ)
● Colin Cheng (程舒嘯, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble member) - heng di (横笛, transverse bamboo flute)
● Kar Lun Alan Lau (劉嘉麟, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble member) - paiban (拍板, hardwood clapper)
● Rob Hassing (Kent, Ohio, USA) - jiegu (羯鼓, hourglass drum)
● Courtney Lambert (Kent, Ohio, USA) - dagu (大鼓, large drum)
Audio engineering and video editing by Hal Walker (Kent, Ohio, USA).
Filmed at the homes of the performers, July 2020; editing completed August 1, 2020.
Paiban built by Mr. Tom Lashuay (Munroe Falls, Ohio, USA).
The sō-no-koto and gaku-biwa used by Steven G. Nelson and Kahoru Nakamura have silk strings.
This piece's title is a reference to the Five Constant Virtues (Wu Chang, 五常) of Confucianism, which include rén (仁, benevolence), yì (義, righteousness), lǐ (禮, propriety), zhì (智, wisdom), and xìn (信, trustworthiness).
The full suite, which would originally have been performed in daqu (大曲; Japanese: taikyoku / たいきょく) format, a grand suite comprising multiple movements of varying tempo levels, often performed to accompany singing and/or dance, also comprises xu / jo (序, prelude/beginning) and po / ha (破, "broaching"/breaking/developing) movements prior to the final ji / kyū (急, quick/rushing to the end) movement, although in this performance only the ji / kyū movement is performed, nine times, with a progressively faster tempo and progressively greater use of ornamentation and melodic elaboration.
This video was premiered as part of the "Tradition in the Future: Balancing the Preservation and Transference of Traditional Chinese Music with Innovation in the 21st Century" (溫哥華中華樂團首屆網上論壇《傳統與未來》：如何平衡二十一世紀中華音樂之傳承與發展) online symposium, which was presented by the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on Saturday, August 1, 2020. Symposium organizer: Mr. Kar Lun Alan Lau (劉嘉麟, VCME Composer-in-Residence). Special thanks to the Vancouver Chinese Instrumental Music Society for its financial support, provided through the Canada Council for the Arts and the BC Arts Council, without which this project would not have been possible.
More information about the symposium:
www.vancouverchinesemusic.ca/2... - เพลง
Notes on "Goshōraku
":
The Tōgaku (唐楽) piece "Goshōraku" 「五常楽」 is said to have been composed by or for the
Tang Dynasty emperor Taizong (唐太宗, r. 626-649) during the Zhenguan (貞観, 626-649) era, and first performed in Japan in 702 or thereabouts. The title of the piece means "Music of the Five Virtues" and refers to the five principles of Confucianism, thus illustrating one aspect of the Chinese theory of the Five Elements. The significance of the title is explained in "Kyōkun-shō" 『教訓抄』, the first of the great gagaku treatises, compiled in 1233, during the Kamakura period, by Koma no Chikazane (狛近真), a musician of the Nara temple Kōfuku-ji (興福寺).
「仁義礼智信、謂之五常。常トハ人ノ可常行也。五常ハ即配五音。此曲能備五
音之和云々。
」
Benevolence, Justice, Propriety, Knowledge, and Honesty; these are the Five Virtues.
These are what people should always practice. The Five Virtues correspond to the Five Tones [of the Chinese pentatonic scale]. This piece fully possesses the harmony of the Five Tones ("Kyōkun-shō," Book 3).
In its original form, "Goshōraku" is made up of a number of movements, demonstrative of
the "ideal" structure for a gagaku piece: Jo (序), Ei (詠, originally with a sung Chinese text, the performance practice of which is now lost), Ha (破), and Kyū (急). The whole can be performed as a dance suite by four dancers, while the final two sections can also be performed in kangen (管絃, instrumental) style. Today, however, it is rare for any but the last movement, "Goshōraku no Kyū," to be performed.
In modern performance, the melody of "Goshōraku no Kyū" is almost a caricature of
gagaku. The first ten measures of the hichiriki (篳篥) part, for example, employ the range of not quite a minor third, but make full use of the techniques that are typical of the instrument-long, drawn-out tones, precise glissando figures, and tonal variation obtained by producing the same pitch with different fingerings. The melodic structure of the piece as a whole is extremely simple: AABB, each section sixteen measures in length. The metrical structure of the piece is described as haya-ya-hyōshi hyōshi-hachi
(早八拍子 拍子八), meaning that an eight-measure unit of 4/4 measures is repeated a total of eight times. In terms of modal usage, the piece is in the hyōjō (平調) mode, which can be described in terms of the Western church modes as a Dorian species on e (e-f#-g-a-b-c#-d-e). The string instruments and mouth-organ shō (笙) largely limit themselves to these tones (with the occasional g# in the aitake 合竹 chords played by the shō), but the ryūteki (竜笛) and hichiriki often lower the f#, c# and d by a semitone or more, so that semitone clashes are common on tones other than e, a, and b.
In "Kokon Chomon-jū" 『古今著聞集』, a collection of historical tales compiled in the late
13th century, this piece figures in two tales where magical properties are attributed to it when it is performed numerous times in succession. One of the tales, dating from the early 10th century, speaks of it being performed one hundred times; another from the late 11th or early 12th century describes what happens after it is performed 50 times. Although it is dangerous to assume from these tales that this was normal practice, it does say something about performance speeds. In modern performance practice, "Goshōraku no Kyū" takes approximately seven minutes to perform. If this (or even six minutes, to be generous) is multiplied by one hundred, you get an astonishing figure.
One final thing. At the Heian court from about the 11th century, particularly
elaborate Buddhist ceremonies developed, in which gagaku was seen as an earthly representation of the music of the Buddhist paradises. In one of these, the Junshi Ōjō Kōshiki (順次往生講式), simple sacred texts praising Amitābha Buddha, the Buddha of the Western Paradise, were added to a number of Tōgaku pieces, including "Goshōraku." That added to "Goshōraku no Kyū" ran as follows:
頼みをかくる
Tanomi o kakuru
Oh, Amida Buddha,
弥陀仏
mida hotoke
on whom we rely!
努々誓ひを
yume yume chikai o
Never, never
違ふなよ
tagō na yo
break your vow.
His vow was to enable all beings who called on him by invoking his name to be reborn
in his Western Paradise.
"Goshōraku no Kyū" in historical tales: two tales from "Kokon Chomon-jū
"
"Kokon Chomon-jū" is a collection of historical tales in 20 maki (巻, lit. "scrolls") and
30 sections, compiled by Tachibana no Narisue (橘成季, ?-?) in 1254. Each section deals with a particular theme, limiting itself to historical tales set out in basically chronological order, and often juxtaposing tales with similar thematic elements. Maki 6,
Section 7, "Kangen-kabu" (管絃歌舞), deals with music, song, and dance, and includes more than 50 tales and a preface.
Tale 231: "The ghost of Lian Chengwu appears when Prince Sadayasu has a musical
gathering at his mountain residence near the Katsura River"
(貞保親王，桂川の山庄にて放遊の時，廉承武が霊現はるる事
)
Once, Prince Sadayasu was having an informal musical gathering at his
mountain residence near the Katsura River. When the musicians were playing in the hyōjō mode, performing "Goshōraku no Kyū," the figure of a ghost wearing a royal crown could be seen clearly on the other side of the room, behind a lantern. The people in attendance were all extremely frightened, and it spoke, “I am the spirit of the Chinese musician Lian Chengwu. I always appear when 'Goshōraku no Kyū' is played one hundred times.” With that, it disappeared.
Notes: Prince Sadayasu 貞保親王 (870-924), fourth son of Emperor Seiwa (清和天皇, r. 858-876),
was active as a musician at the beginning of the tenth century. Renowned for his skill on the ryūteki, biwa (琵琶), sō (箏), and wagon (和琴). Compiled collections of notation for the ryūteki (now lost, except for its foreword and parts of the text quoted in later sources) and biwa; the latter appends an older collection of notation transmitted to Fujiwara no Sadatoshi (藤原貞敏, 807-867) in 838 by the Chinese pipa master Lian Chengwu (廉承武).
Tale 262: "During the reign of Emperor Horikawa, the non-musician Akimasa is
ridiculed at a gyoyū in the hyōjō mode"
(堀河院の御時，平調の御遊に非管絃者顕雅笑はるる事
)
As Suemichi said, people who lack sympathy for music are of no account.
When there was a gyoyū in the hyōjō mode during the reign of Emperor Horikawa, the music was so pleasing that they played on until daybreak approached. "They say that even plants begin to dance when 'Goshōraku no Kyū' is played one hundred times. Let’s try it." When they reached the fiftieth repetition dawn broke. Tokimoto, opening one of the screen doors, saw the trees in the garden moving, and said, "Look, the trees are dancing!" Those in attendance were impressed, saying, "What a wonderful sensibility his words show!" Lord Akimasa, who was still at that time a lowly ranking courtier and so lacking in musical talent that he certainly did not belong in such august company, said to the Emperor, “They are only moving in the wind.” Everyone present burst into laughter.
Notes: Emperor Horikawa (堀河天皇, 1079-1107) came to the throne in his eighth
year, and died while his father, Shirakawa (白河, 1073-1087), still held power as Retired Emperor. His energies were directed toward cultural matters, especially literature and music.
Numerous tales deal with his fondness for the ryūteki, shō, and the vocal genres of
gagaku, especially kagura (神楽). He was perhaps the Emperor most responsible for the increase in status of music during the Insei (院政) period (late 11th through 12th centuries). Toyohara no Tokimoto (豊原時元, 1045/58-1123), who taught the Emperor
the shō, was one of the earliest musicians of the professional family Toyohara (now Bunno, 豊). Minamoto no Akimasa (源顕雅, 1074-1136) does not seem to deserve the ridicule he incurs in this tale; although infamous for his lack of ability in music and
literature, he seems to have been a competent courtier, and, judging from accounts of his participation in performances of the folk performing art dengaku (田楽), apparently had a slightly less refined musical taste than most of his contemporaries.
--Steven G. Nelson
綺麗
Woww so beautiful😍😍
好正呀。
多謝您地。
NHK Newsline brought me here.
How nice to hear that. Can you please explain further what exactly you saw on NHK Newsline, and was it on the Internet or on TV?
Zhi ge shi tai hao le'!! Excellent job everyone!! :)
听着上头
Academically, it is indeed impossible to completely restore Tang music. Therefore, the current restoration ideas are "reverse pushes" through auxiliary materials such as musical instruments, music scores, and murals. In my current observations, you still pay attention to academic rigor. (This is very valuable in the academic circle, because there has been a serious dedication of the old and new generations in the study of Tang Music restoration)
If one spends time with the Tang-era score materials, it is my belief that the essence of the music speaks across the centuries, and, in most cases, the pieces make good sense. As noted by Medieval Japanese writers, the scores provide excellent detail across multiple parameters, making them quite easy to read and make sense of, and the accompanying textual materials provide rich context. Where there are gaps, they are filled in by the interpreter with their artistic discernment and knowledge of the idiom, as has always been the case, in all notated musics across time.
@@dbadagna I respectfully disagree, unless you somehow happen to have a time machine or have the ability to time travel, it is indeed impossible to restore the past. There is a lack of Tang Dynasty music scores that were complied in Tang China, not in Japan, besides the Dunhuang scores which are difficult to decipher and lacking in repertoire. Tradition is always changing, so it is not good trolley rely on Togaku resources. Japan is not the refrigerator for the Tang Dynasty. There can’t be a “revival of Tang Music”, there can only be a “revival of Tang Music recorded in Japanese sources”, we can only restore as early as when the first Japanese authors recorded the music.
@@jasonhuang6078 You just need better familiarity with the source material. There is good continuity between the versions of individual pieces as they are found in scores prepared between the 10th and 19th centuries (a period of nearly 1,000 years), and many dozens of pieces in the Sino-Japanese repertory are verified in Chinese historical and literary records.
美矣
ngo tsang nyak: kㄱoup.
五常樂: 急.
Where is 破(praa)?
Why not study the 《三鼓要录》for the percussion arrangement?
Because it's from Japan, compiled centuries after this music was transmitted to Japan from China. My arrangement was an attempt to capture a possible way the percussion may have been used in Tang China, with more flexibility and improvisational spirit, Japanese court music often being stiff and dogmatic, not to mention considerably slower in tempo. The paiban, an essential timekeeping instrument in Tang music, isn't even used in Japanese gagaku.
@@dbadagna Yes, but you can also increase the speed and try to integrate the paiban through the course of the melody.
@@jasonhuang6078 It's a timekeeping instrument, and I interpreted the "百" symbol which appears halfway through each measure in all the instrumental tablatures as indicating paiban strokes, "百" being pronounced "pak" in Middle Chinese. The instrument is still called "bak" in Korean.
@@dbadagna It would be ideal to arrange the Jiegu percussion under the techniques of正, 片来, and 诸来.
@@dbadagna Studying the percussion arrangement in the《三鼓要录》can be a good template, then innovate on your own principles of how you believe Tang music to be. Although the current bass drum system of gagaku has been far from China, Japan retains a large number of ancient bass drum scores, since there are no first-hand surviving percussion arrangements from the Tang Dynasty, it would be best to study, compare, and contrast different medieval Japanese percussion arrangements from different sources and eras.
How interesting ! a few player play with ornamentations. Is that from surviving music sheets ?
All five Tang melodic instruments for which tablatures survive have their own symbols for ornamentation of various types.
In this video, you can see two kinds of tone bending used by Steven Nelson in the koto part (which are notated in the tablatures, but no longer done in contemporary gagaku performance practice, which no longer uses any left-hand techniques).
In terms of the downward mordent, which is so common in Tang pieces (for example: G-F♯-G), I think the ryūteki and hichiriki can interpret these as Chinese folk singers often do: as a "dip" in pitch that looks like a curved "U"-shaped line rather than a Bach-style mordent consisting of three discrete pitches. Such pitch changes are not too difficult to do on the hichiriki using a combination of embouchure and breath control.
Yes, all the ornamentation you hear in this video comes directly from Medieval tablatures. I've mentioned the centuries the tablatures come from in the video description and comments below the video, though I didn't mention the names of the specific ones (although I could ask Professor Nelson for this information if you are interested).
@@dbadagna Yes, It's 由 in Flute's music sheet. I read each surviving music sheets except Sho.
I'm surprised with that Sho plays melody.
I'll read this piece, too.
@@YANAGITAtokinori It was Picken who first proposed that the shō originally played the main melody (harmonized in traditional Chinese manner, using fifths, fourths, and octaves) rather than aitake (合竹) clusters, and this is the interpretation most people working in the field of the reconstruction of Tang music take today. This traditional Chinese form of quintal (fifth-based) harmony functions as a kind of "glue" to connect the sounds of all the instruments together nicely.
@@YANAGITAtokinori Can you tell me how you were able to learn how to read these notation systems? The shō notation should be fairly easy to read, as its parts are the most simple (with less melodic elaboration and ornamentation) of the five.
what David Badagnani Which guanzi key does he use? Can it be used instead of hichiriki? I feel like Japanese hichiriki have been developed with more holes So I feel that Chinese and Korean pipes are more similar to duduk or dynasty pipes better
I am David Badagnani and I wasn't using a guanzi, which is a northern Chinese instrument made of hardwood and with a reed made of Arundo donax, but instead a Cantonese houguan, made of bamboo, with a softer reed made of Phragmites, which can't overblow the octave. It's closer, though not identical, to the bili used in the Tang Dynasty.
Supposedly the bili was originally transmitted to China from the Buddhist oasis state of Kucha (though the name may have come from Khotan). As you say, the Japanese hichiriki has an additional hole covered by the right thumb, but I'm not sure what it's used for.
@@dbadagna It seems that the small hole is not suitable for playing semitones like B I assume that in order to make it one tone lower, a small hole was added But I think it may have originally started out as a G rather than the current F (when all the holes are closed) It's just a conspiracy theory
*I thought you were Chinese for many decades hahaha
@@PurayutNgaomakmak Following the end of the Cultural Revolution, in the 1980s an increasing number of traditional Chinese musicians began to settle in North America, and some of them organized Chinese music ensembles at colleges and universities in the U.S. Being an American of European heritage, I was someone who benefited from this, joining the newly established Chinese music ensemble at Florida State University in 1989, as a first-year student. I remained with the ensemble for my four years there, then continued in the Chinese music ensemble of Kent State University in Ohio from 1993 through 2005. In 2008 I co-founded and directed the Cleveland Chinese Music Ensemble, a community ensemble in the Cleveland, Ohio area, playing with and writing all the arrangements for this group and continuing up to the start of the pandemic in 2020.
@@PurayutNgaomakmak I don't have such detailed knowledge of the sizes or keys of the bili used in Tang yanyue, but based on historical records and iconography the bili came in various sizes, both small and large.