"Shintoo Music"

Various
Baren Reiter Musicaphon - BM 30 L 2016
1957

トラック番号	タイトル	漢字	長さ	アーティスト
1	Azuma Asobi		29'55
	Some of the ancient song-dances, uta-mai, performed at Shinto festivals are called Azuma Asobi, or Azuma-mai. "Asobi" means musical entertainment; Azuma is the East. The song-dances in question came from the east of the ancient realm of Yamato. The aborigines of these eastern provinces had not yet been brought under complete subjection when the Azuma songs became popular among the Yamato people. The Azuma Asobi have the character of popular religious dances, rather like the Japanese summer dances bon-odori. The origin of these rustic songs is not known. According to the oldest written records Junnin-Tenno (reign 759-764) heard music from Azuma-kuni, the "Eastern country", in 763. The "Azuma-mai", "dances from the East", were also on the programme of the Todaiji festivals of 861. In 889, during the reign of Uda-Tenno, a great rinjisai, or extraordinary festival was held at the Kamo shrine near Kyoto, because the Kamo deities had been elected tutelary deities of the new capital. On this occasion Azuma Asobi were performed with song and dance and remained henceforth the main feature of the Kamo-matsuri, the highest festival of this very old and famous shrine. Under Shujaku-Tenno (reign 931-946) the Azuma Asobi were also performed at the Iwashimizu shrine on Otoko-yama ("Man-mountain"). Since that time both shrines held the privilege of performing Azuma Asobi. Gradually other shrines followed suit: Hirano shrine in Kyoto; Hiyoshi shrine on the Buddhist Mount Hiei, where even the Buddhist monks regularly revered the Shinto deity; the Kasuga shrine in Nara; the Gion (Yasaka) shrine in Kyoto and others. The Azuma Asobi remained strictly a part of Shinto service and were not performed for secular purposes. There was only one exception to this rule: the Imperial horse-races, keiba. The popularity of Azuma Asobi at the Kyoto court increased during the 10th and the 11th centuries. Fujiwara-no-Michinaga (prime minister 995-1025) in his diary mentions thirteen performances of Azuma Asobi. And in the Genjimonogatari we find: "More than the music from China and Korea the Azuma Asobi flatter the ear in an interesting and tender way. . ." In the course of time the Azuma Asobi tradition weakened. After the Meiji restoration of 1868 the dances were remodelled and incorporated into the official court music repertory. At the Imperial court they are performed three times a year before the koreiden, the Imperial ancestors' shrine. The performers wear ancient ceremonial court dress. The days of performances are: 1) the memorial festival for the founder of the Japanese empire Jimmu-Tenno, "Jimmu-Tenno-sai", on April 3rd; 2) the Shunki-korei-sai at the spring equinox, March 21st or 23rd; 3) the Shunki-korei-sai, feast of the autumnal equinox in honour of all deceased emperors, on September 21st or 23rd. The privileges of the shrines at Kamo *, Iwashimizu, Kasuga, Yasaka and Hino were confirmed anew; moreover, Emperor Meiji ordered one yearly performance of Azuma Asobi to be held on August 1st at the Hikawa shrine, Omiya. The oldest written scroll containing Azuma Asobi texts is said to have been dated 920 A. D. The oldest document which the writer was able to examine is the Shotoku-bon Koyoshu, a collection of the year 1099. The texts of the songs differ somehow from those used today. Neumes or pitch indications are lacking. The texts are annotated with red dots and strokes for musical punctuation and occasionally the marginal note do-on, "in the same tone as before", is inserted. Later traced copies are numerous. The Meiji partbooks are supplied with elegant florid neumes and pitch indications. Sequence of the songs: Ichi-no-uta - "First song" Ni-no-uta - "Second song" Suruga uta - "Song from Suruga" (the present Shizuoka district) Motomego uta - "The longed-for damosel" Obire - (unidentifiable place name **) Originally Azuma Asobi must have comprised at least two more songs. As they are preserved the "First" and "Second" songs are fragments incoherently put together. The first ends with a line from a poem contained in the Kojiki; the second with a line from an Azuma song contained in the Manyoshu, the famous first anthology of poems, of the year 750. Motomego is not an Azuma song, but a poem contained in the Kokinshu, an anthology completed in 922. The poet is Fujiwara-no-Toshiyuki. This poem may have been substituted for a lost original Azuma song. Obire, according to the authority of Professor Takano, bears no reference to the obsolete Japanese term obire, which means "in a dreamy way". "Obire mountain, Obire hill" must have been place names of unknown location in the Azuma provinces. Transmitted in ambiguous mediaeval syllabaries and transcribed by modern editors in several diverging Sino-Japanese readings, the texts do not allow of more than a tentative interpretation. First song O… Get ready your hands Prepare for the song "The peak of Sagamu" *** Second song O… At daybreak I heard the voice of my beloved. I will tune my stringed instrument, The seven-stringed, the eight-stringed zither "The woodpath on the mountain of Ashigara" **** Suruga song. Ah, in Udohama, Suruga country, In Udohama Where the waves beat the shore, My beloved, like fresh young grass! O joy, O delight! By the time when we meet again I will lie with you, My beloved, like fresh young grass, O joy, O delight! The longed-for damosel Alas! A myriad quick dance beats From the sanctuary of Kamo, Princess Komatsu! Alas! Princess Komatsu! A myriad years will go But desire will last. Alas! desire will last. ***** Obire Obire mountain, Obire hill! Would you were nearer! Come nearer, mountain, come! What joy if you were near! So far from my eye, so far! The usual number of performers is: One soloist and shakubyoshi player, four singers in chorus; One flutist; One hichiriki player; One wagon player; Usually ten dancers, sometimes only six. The mode is Koma-sojo, the scale A, B, C sharp, E, F sharp. The musical arrangement is as follows: 1) Koma-choshi, a prelude played on the flute and hichiriki with wagon accompaniment. 2) "Aware" (vocal). 3) Kowa-dashi, duet for flute and hichiriki 4) Ichi-no-uta, soloist with wagon and shakubyoshi accompaniment; later on the chorus singers and wind instruments enter. 5) Ni-no-uta. Same arrangement. 6) Suruga uta netori, prelude, duet for flute and hichiriki. 7) Suruga uta, ichi-dan, first part of the Suruga song. Same arrangement. 8) Suruga uta, ni-dan, mai ari; the same song, second stanza, with dance. The three first songs are all opened by the oburi, a four times repeated long drawn out: O…; probably a stylized "Summons of the god". 9) Kata oroshi netori, duet for flute and hichiriki, probably the accompaniment to a forgotten ceremony. 10) "Aware" (vocal). 11) Uta-dashi, duet for flute and hichiriki. 12) Motomego no uta, ichi-dan; mai ari; first stanza of Motomego, with dance. 13) Do, ni-dan; second stanza, as above, no. 12. 14) Obire netori; prelude for flute and hichiriki. 15) Obire uta, mai nashi; soloist with shakubyoshi and wagon accompaniment without dance. The writer recorded Azuma Asobi in Tokyo, Kamo and Kasuga and did not find any musical divergencies. Recorded on March 23, 1954, in Tokyo * The Aruma Asobi at the Shimo-Kamo shrine, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto ** v. Tatsuyuki Takano, Nihon Kayoshi p. 148 f. *** From the Kojiki. See Chamberlain's translation p. 257 f. Sagamu lies on the way which Yamato-takeru followed when he fought the Ainu. **** From the Manyoshu. See Kotenzenshu Edition; vol. 7, p. 40. Ashigara was a road between Sagami and Suruga; it is the road which Yamato-takeru followed in his expedition. ***** Only the first stanza is performed. The original text "sanctuary of Kama" is changed according to place and circumstances; for example at the memorial festival of Jimmu-Tenno the words are: "in the presence of this god"; at the Kasuga shrine: "from Kasuga, Mount Mikasa, the blue mountain", etc.
2	Keihitsu		01'43
	The Summons of the God, is an archetype of magic sound. In Shinto the chief shrine guardian, kannushi, opens the ceremony with a long, trailing call on the vowel O… , the voice ascending and increasing, descending and decreasing; so he compels the deity to appear and to remain present for the duration of the ceremony. Immediately after keihitsu the kannushi draws back the protecting curtain from the inner sanctuary. Recorded on May 30, 1955, in the Onoteruzaki-jinja, Tokyo
3	Norito		01'39
	"Divine Words", Shinto prayer. The intonation varies between a hard, clear declamation, and a soft delivery or a muted whisper. It has different mystical connotations. At the end of a phrase the voice is raised slightly in a peculiarly soft and singing manner. The text is contained in the Engishiki, a collection of ritual texts compiled between 901 and 923. It is a passage from the prayers recited at the great purification festival Obarai on July 30th and November 21st. The kannushi invokes "Isanagi no O-Kami", "the great creator-god Isanagi" and all the other gods to accept his humble offerings and to protect the country. Recorded on May 30, 1955, in the Onoteruzaki-jinja, Tokyo
4	Ake		04'43
	"The break of day". This percussion concert is performed before daybreak in rural districts "to awake the sun". The instruments are do-naga-daiko and shime-daiko. One drummer manipulates both instruments, using a very long and thin drumstick of kawa-tsubaki, camellia japonica. The flute is a recent addition. Recorded at the Susa-shrine on August 2, 1957
5	Yamato-uta no Netori		01'47
	A prelude to the "Dance of the Ancient Realm". The solemn performance of this dance is preceded by a prelude played by kagura-bue, hichiriki and wagon. In this recording, the hichiriki is played by Maestro Takashi Tsuji, one of Japan's foremost virtuosi and Director of the Music Department at the Great Ise Shrine. Recorded by Eta Harich-Schneider at the Inner Ise shrine on November 18, 1953
6	Irimoosu, shinshoku no de-iri		07'49
	IRIMOSU, shinshoku no de-iri, "Procession music during the arrival and departure of the higher clergy". The musicians follow the procession of the priests. Just as in Corpus Christi processions the music is interrupted from time to time. SHINNO, "Divine art", is played daily during the service, when branches of the sakaki-tree are offered to the god. There is no dance. SUZUKA, a sato-kagura or village folkdance performed by the villagers before the shrine, without participation of the clergy. The instruments used in these three performances are yoko-bue, kagura-bue, naga-daiko and shime-daiko. Recorded at the Great Izumo shrine on August 1, 1957
7	Miko-Kagura		02'10
	Shrine maidens exorcize evil spirits. The dance also purifies and protects the sanctuary. The instruments are suzu, naga-daiko and kagura-bue. The rhythm short-long, short-long is unusual in Japan, but frequent in Korea. Recorded by Eta Harich-Schneider in the Senge-kagura-den, Izumo, on August 1, 1957
8	Kiriake Shinji		04'00
	"Ritual of cutting the light". This is a ritual stamping dance performed by a group of men on August 15. It ends the summer season and is danced in the mountain village Susa (south of Izumo) before the sanctuary of the storm-god, Susa-no-Wo. Formerly each of the seven villages of the Susa district had to delegate seven men, so that a group of forty-nine dancers might form a circle before the sanctuary. The instruments are yoko-bue, kane, shime-daiko (in Susa called taiko) and tsuzumidaiko. The dancers wear very attractive blue-and-white kimono and wide-brimmed straw hats, known as suge-gasa. They gather up their kimono tightly and tuck them into their belts so that the kimono look rather like short trousers. The standard number of participants in Kiriake shinji is now: one flute, three kane, one taiko, and two tsuzumi-daiko. This recording was made with one flute, one kane, one taiko, and one tsuzumi-daiko. Recorded at the Susa-shrine on August 2, 1957
9	Yuu-Kagura		02'42
	"The Sun is ushered to bed", is a rural ceremony, which is performed daily. Two miko, or shrine maidens, dance slowly on both sides of the shrine and shake their small bell-trees or suzu with abrupt movements, always in a direction away from the sanctuary, to ward off evil spirits. A drummer beats alternately the do-naga-daiko and the tsuri-daiko. Only the protective (apotropaeic) maidens' dance and the percussion patterns have ancient traditions; the kagura-bue is a recent addition. Recorded in Miho-jinja, Shimane prefecture, on July 31, 1957