Music's importance in Japanese History - Essay Example

Number: Music in Japanese Music is a form of art that is associated with sound. It has elements such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. Japan and China are countries located in the large continent of Asia and are confused by many causes are like sister states because of their partially related culture. Music in Japan doesn’t have a clear prehistory which can be relied upon, but everything about it was evident in remains on ritual figures of musicians who were gathered by researchers. These remains are what gave evidence on the existence of music in the ancient Japan and its importance in the Japanese history. The ritual figures in the Yayoi period are marked by building of immense tombs and the many powerful clans which emerged and ended up dominating Yamato clan that is one of the clans in Japan. Japanese ancient music world was largely influenced by the musical practices and culture of China. This explains that enculturation that occurred between the two sister countries influenced music in Japan. The ritual figure remains which are experienced from the prehistoric period are presented by some songs that are recognized as influential. Also, some legends are still parts of the great prehistoric remains which are keeping are appreciated in the republic of Japan. Rituals recorded in different parts of Japan keeps the prehistoric motive moving up in the state. These records were made in ‘Kojiki’ and ‘Nihon Shoki’. The above explanation gives us an overview of music in the Republic of Japan, and it will help to give details on how it has positively impacted on the history. Music has a great significance in the Japanese history because has helped keep the historic moments about the state of Japan. The message in these songs is all about Japan and is considered to be informative and preservative as while (Varley 59). This is through various songs that are considered more important for their contents. These songs talk about how Japan came up, and they create attention of many when sang. The prehistoric songs impacted positively in the history of Japan because they are the first chronicles of the new state. These songs also became the tradition of imperial counts. Many musical and poetic verses and images have influenced the development of modern music and have been incorporated in the present music styles; this gives a reflection of the history of Japan (Varley 34). The musical and poetic verses and images keep the past about the state in details and recurrences in their use helps in transferring of the historic moments of the country from one generation to another. This helps in historical socialization of individuals who are born in Japan. Music helps express the past activities of the state of Japan. It was central in the prose work in the ancient Japan. This was through the dances that rose by the influence of music tones and rhythm. The dances of Gagaku, flute, koto and biwa lute run through the background of the classical novel which gave the story of Genji Monogatari which was based on a great lover in the imperial. This shows that music led to those dances that passed information in a different context. These dances by those past songs give an expression on the history of the state through the stories that are in their contents. Music plays a major role in the preservation of Japanese culture. Through songs the culture is displayed, and they assist in the transfer of different cultural activities from generations to generations. These songs by their help in transferring culture they also end up assisting in the preservation of the history of Japan. Also through the legends and records on rituals the past about the state is expressed (Hebert 208). The musical world of ancient Japan had a different kind of songs that included the use of musical instruments and verbal illustration, theater related and others are court related. These give us different types of traditional or earliest music that include instrumental, theatrical and court music. These songs played a major role in the society because they were very educative and at the same time informative hence preserving Japanese history in their content. Some music combined was both instrumental based and at the same time they were verbally illustrated. Examples of this type of music are: Noh, gagaku, kabuki, shomyo, joruri, nagauta, shakuhachi music and sokyoku (Hebert 203). Noh is a theatrical music which involved playing of instruments such as taiko, otsuzuma, koisuzunu and fue (Hughes 2008). Noh was also known as Nokagu, and it was based on some themes or leading purpose. These themes were based on praising of certain spirits; the theme may also be based on stories of given prominent warriors who existed in the society and it was well established for the purpose. Nokagu involved a lot of performance from men and women, and it gave important information to the people and praise to the spirit. Its origination was accelerated by the introduction of Gagaku in the Japanese world of music. Gagaku is the oldest traditional music in Japan. It includes songs, dances and a mixture of some Asian music. It is involves two styles in which the first is instrumental and is termed as kigaku, and the second one is vocal which is known as seikagu (Varley 30). The instrumental music which was involved in gagaku was kanyeu which was a Chinese form of music and bugaku which was accelerated by Tang Dynasty China and Balhae. The vocal type of music which was included in gagaku was kumeata, kagurauta, azumaasobi, saibara and roei. Both the instrumental and vocal part led to formulation and establishment of gagaku. Kabuki is a theatrical music which is divided into three parts. Initially, kabuki was a court music which was performed by women in the imperial counts. Later it was converted to theatrical music and it was received well in the world of music. This fashion of music was performed in Kabuki centers. These parts include the following: Gidayubushi, Shimoza Ongaku and Debayashi, which is also termed as degatari. Shomyo is a kind of a Buddhist song that is added some melody. It originated from India and rose in Japan in the Nara period. Its origin is also associated with China. It was received in Japan as a religious music which was mostly used and appreciated by various religious sects. It developed as a result of the introduction of gagaku in the Republic of Japan (Hebert 34). Gagaku is a commonly known and recognized music in both Japan and China. It was the first music in ancient Japan and is appreciated in the country. It was developed in China, and it ended Japan where it picked well. Gagaku involved Babaku which was a type of a dance and orchestral music commonly known as Kangengaku.The dance part of Gagaku was mostly copied from China that had developed it very well. This music led to rise and development of many songs in the Republic of Japan. It acted like parent music since it was adopted in the Japanese world (Mason and John 103). Japanese and Chinese songs are highly related because most of them had a common origin, or one party influenced origin of the other. Mostly China influenced the origination and development of music in Japan. All these relationships happened at the same time. They both have similarities and differences. The Komangu music which was literally music in ancient China became Japanese typical court music, derived from the three kingdoms of China and Northern China state of Balhae later classified as Komagaku. Shomyo is a song that had dominated in ancient Japan and had three styles that were used in China too.These styles included Bonsan, Kansan, and Wansan. Bonsan involved use of ancient Indian language which was termed as Sanskrit. Kansan style of Shomyo used Chinese while Wansan used Japanese (Gillan 208). This is a clear explanation that Shomyo was commonly used both in China and Japan. Shomyo was introduced in Japan during the Nara period. It was used by the elites and professionals. Both in Japan and China songs were developed on built based on instruments that were common on both states.Among the many instruments used to play music in traditional Japanese originated from China, for instance the Kudaragoto instruments which resembles the western hang had been introduced from Baekje to Japan along with Chinese music. Along another six hole traverse flute of China Origin, that was used in traditional Japanese music, to play the Komangu and Azuma asubi music. San-no-tsuzumi an hourglass shaped drum of China origin with two heads struck using a single stick it was used to play only Komagaku the Japanese court music (Watts, Jonathan Dec 28 2001).The Japanese sho mouth and the standard melodic instrument double reed-Hichiriki were used both in ancient China and Japanese.(Gillan 208). There are differences of typical Chinese and Japanese music, the traditional music in Japanese is not cheerful and is in a gloomy tone even when it describes happiness and fruitful moments. It is because it uses semitones while in Chinese ancient music semitones don’t exist (Tian men Xian article).Chinese and Japanese scale in music is different according to comparison of Chinese balled –Jasmine flower and Japanese Sakura-Cheng blossoms. This two take different scales in typical music sung in China and Japanese. Traditional Japanese music uses a 5-note scale of 1-6 while the traditional Japanese uses a different scale of 1-3 -4-6-7 totally. Different rhythms hence come up totally differentiating the two ancient music composites and musical styles such as gagaku whose origin is China and its the same called Tang music in Japan playing their music. They end up belonging up two different worlds in music despite the fact of sharing instruments such as flutes, drums and Kudaragoto typical music instrument of Chinese origin (Gillan 203). Conclusively ancient Chinese and Japanese music were related by the way they were developed and established. Both states shared songs and styles of dancing. Instrumentals used in both music worlds were the same. Most parts of music developed in China, and it was spread to Japan where it was well received and through the earliest music that is gagaku many music styles developed and emerged in Japan. Work Cited Varley, H P. Japanese Culture. Honolulu: Univ. of Hawaiʻi Press, 2003. Print. Galliano, Luciana, and Martin Mayes. Yogaku: Japanese Music in the 20th Century. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2002. Internet resource. Hebert, David G. Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools. Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media B.V, 2012. Internet resource. Mason, Richard, and John Caiger. A History of Japan: (revised Edition). New York: Tuttle Pub, 2011. Internet resource. Gillan, Matt. Songs from the Edge of Japan: Music-making in Yaeyama and Okinawa. Farnham: Ashgate, 2012. Internet resource. Epperson, Bruce D. More Important Than the Music: A History of Jazz Discography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013. Internet resource. Read More