Orchestrating Time: The Changing Colors of Gagaku Music
Jaroslaw Kapuscinski, Stanford University
François Rose, Stanford University
Contemporary Tradition – Japanese Performance Genre Today: Session Three
François Rose: Orchestrating Time: The Changing Colors of Gagaku Music
Abstract (download PDF)
Traditional Japanese orchestral music is characterized by an emphasis on color and extreme slowness of time. This paper shows how the two are correlated. The concept of time in Gagaku music emphasizes the present. An investigation through the notions of Ma, Naru and Jo-Ha-Kyû demonstrates that it is dichotomous; static and dynamic. The same duality is found in Gagaku’s timbral organization, as revealed by an analysis of Etenraku and Ittokyô, two emblematic pieces. The analysis of rhythm, melody, harmony and orchestration shows how their attributes participate in establishing static and dynamic aspects of time.
Paper (download PDF)
1. Introduction
To listeners educated in Western classical tradition there are two features of Japanese traditional orchestra music that seem particularly striking: the foremost emphasis on timbre and extreme slowness of time. The goal of this article is to show how the two are correlated. The analyzed example comes from Etenraku and Ittokyo, two emblematic Gagaku pieces from the Kangen repertoire of purely instrumental music.
The first part of the article will describe the concept of time by contrasting it with its classical Western counterpart and by discussing specifically Japanese cultural and aesthetic notions that underlie it. The second part will focus on the analysis of orchestration techniques and acoustical characteristics of Gagaku instruments to show how different elements of timbre contribute to the creation of this distinctive time experience.
2. Time
2.1. Western concept of time
The traditional Western concept of time is linear [1]. It can be represented by a vector coming from the past aiming at the future, as shown in Figure 1.
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Classical Western concept of time
Figure 1
Western way of thinking about time frequently emphasizes the past and the future to the detriment of the present, whose notion is vague and relative. The present may consist of very specific events but each of them individually is of no great importance. What seems to matter is how it brings us from the past to the future. Such an approach to time involves constant movement between distinct positions through a succession of more or less ephemeral points. In music, whether it is in terms of harmonic or melodic development the listeners expect a dramatic and progressive motion forward or a constant cycle of implications and realizations [2].
2.2. Japanese concept of time
In contrast, Joji Yuasa describes the traditional Japanese concept of time as circular [3]. It is illustrated in Figure 2.
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Traditional Japanese concept of time
Figure 2
In such depiction the time vector is absent. The Japanese’s way of conceptualizing time emphasizes the present to the detriment of the past and the future. Through a focus on ‘now’ the listeners experience eternity. Every musical event is equally important, and in constant and gradual transformation but without leading to any destinations such as a climax. The end result is a steady continuum that gives the music an impression of staticity and slowness.
Among the cultural and aesthetic notions that define the Japanese concept of time three seem particularly important: ma, naru, and jo-ha-kyû. They will be described individually as each sheds light on a different aspect of time.
2.2.1. Ma (time or space interval)
Ma literally refers to the space between elements or time interval between events. It is a primary measure of artistic expression. On a fundamental level it governs the very central element of musical performance: the sense of timing. It is not a mathematically calculated interval, but rather a sensory and intuitive one. Ma implies also that the space between events is equally worth attention as the space within events themselves. As a consequence, in Japanese concept of time durations have also a dimension of depth as illustrated in Figure 3.
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Influence of Ma on the traditional Japanese concept of time
Figure 3
2.2.2. Naru (becoming)
The notion of Naru underlies the Japanese traditional cosmology. Akira Tamba [4] states that its most important aspect is the idea that things and beings are continuously and gradually becoming. There is no singular moment of creation or death. Everything incessantly evolves. As such, naru confirms that past and future are part of the Japanese-Time reality, but not as points of focus. It entails that the Japanese traditional culture perceives time as fluid; it is not divided into fixed, discrete, precisely calculable and predictable points. While for a Westerner this may lead to a feeling of general vagueness and staticity, naru does, in fact, add motion to the Japanese concept of time. According to it the ‘now’ is not an unchangeable or recurring moment, but rather a continuous succession of evolving moments of becoming. Hence the Japanese concept of time could be redrawn as in Figure 4.
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Influence of Naru on the traditional Japanese concept of time
Figure 4
2.2.3. Jo-Ha-Kyû (a succession of formal stages)
Jo-Ha-Kû is a primary and ubiquitous principle of formal construction in Japanese arts [5]. It frequently describes the musical development on all formal levels. It can govern the structure of a musical program, the form of a piece, the development of a section, musical phrase or even of an individual note. It can be roughly translated as: jo = slow introduction, ha = faster build-up and kyû = fast conclusion. It is traditionally understood as a constant but extremely gradual, sometimes almost imperceptible acceleration of the music. On a highest formal level the different sections maybe clearly delineated as representing one of the three but when applied at lower levels the principle becomes more vague and implies mostly the slow change of tempo and a constant transformation from relatively formless introduction through more defined development to a fast rushing into a breakup. Taken this into account the symbolic depiction of the Japanese concept of time should be redrawn further as in Figure 5.
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Influence of Jo-Ha-Kyû on the traditional Japanese concept of time
Figure 5
In conclusion, the Japanese concept of time can be seen as circular and focused on now. Its overall structure is relatively static and slow but the temporal fabric of each individual moment is dynamic and multi-dimensional.
3. Timbre
3.1. Timbre and Vertical Time
Jonathan Kramer labels the form of time that emphasizes the present as ‘vertical time’ [1]. Considering that vertical organization of pitches and instruments relates respectively to harmony and orchestration – two attributes of timbre, Kramer’s statement suggests that form of time focused on the present must favor a stronger sensibility toward timbre. This is confirmed by the importance of timbre in Japanese orchestral music. The following analysis will trace the parallels between the treatment of timbre in Gagaku music and the static and dynamic facets of Japanese concept of time.
3.2. Static timbral characteristics
At the large scale level, staticity and slowness of Gagaku music is strongly reflected in the approach to three primary aspects of timbre: the stability of orchestral function of the instruments, predictability of orchestration over time and the constant sound level.
The instruments of the Japanese Imperial Court orchestra can be divided into three choirs: woodwinds, plucked strings, and percussion. Each choir has a prescribed function that is never altered. The oboe (hichiriki) and the flute (ryûteki) from the woodwind choir present the melody. The percussion choir consisting of a small two-headed drum (kakko), a large hanging drum (taiko), and a small gong (shôko), collaborates together to create a single rhythmic pattern, which marks off time units. The last group creates a bridge between the woodwinds and percussion by coloring key unpitched percussive attacks with pitched motives and harmony related to the melody. This group consists of the two plucked string instruments: the zither (koto) and the lute (biwa), and the remaining woodwind instrument – the mouth organ (shô). To start appreciating this unique timbral characteristic of Gagaku music, one should imagine a symphony with all melodies played exclusively by the flute and oboe accompanied solely by the string instruments. The next step would be to transpose the same principle consistently to a large body of symphonies.
The orchestration of the beginning and ending sections of every Gagaku piece shows respectively gradual build-up and thinning making them highly predictable. The orchestration is utterly static for all the other sections. The form of Etenraku is based on three melodies (A, B, and C) each eight measures long. Materials A and B appear four times, while material C appears two times according to the following formal design: AABBCCAABB. Since there is no tradition of melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, or orchestral development in this music, the material and orchestration of the sections are simply repeated. The very first section of a piece serves as an introduction. It is in that section that the entrances of the first chairs of each woodwind and string instruments, follow a strictly preset order: the ryûteki enters first, followed by the percussion instruments, the shô, which enters quasi- simultaneously with the hichiriki and finally the biwa and the koto. After the performance of one phrase, peers join in with their chair. Once the full ensemble is playing, all instruments are present until the coda, which is performed exclusively by the first chairs and during which instrument disappear following another preset order. The percussion stops first, followed by the woodwinds, finishing with biwa and koto.
The staticity of Gagaku is found also in its approach to loudness. Disregarding the introductory and closing sections, the remaining sections are all played loudly in a constant dynamics.
To summarize, most of the time Gagaku music is played by the full ensemble, with the flute and oboe repeating the melodies over the static rhythmic patterns of the three percussion instruments, accompanied by a harmony played by the two string instruments and the mouth organ. Hence, the returns and even changes of sections do not create momentum or expectation of a climax, instead they create a sense of déjà-vu and an impression of motionlessness. The large-scale approach to timbre reinforces the feeling of circularity of time and illustrates well the constancy of eternity.
3.3. Dynamic timbral characteristics
Whereas the overall timbral surface of Japanese orchestral music may appear static, its inner life is dynamic. The textures are non-blending and complex and every moment seems to have depth. This is a result of destabilization of melody through heterophony, the stratified organization of instruments into
registers as well as the non-fusing acoustical properties of the instruments.
3.3.1. Heterophony
It has been demonstrated that the ability to hear separate parts is increased when they are not rhythmically synchronized [7], which is the case when instruments perform in heterophony. Example 1 shows a simplified version of the first phrase of Etenraku‘s section B. In measures 2-4 the two woodwind instruments present the same melody while using different rhythmic values. The two string instruments also differ: the biwa’s main rhythmic and melodic motion takes place on the downbeat of every measure, while the koto becomes more active on the second and third beat of every second measure.
Pitch analysis shows that the heterophonic technique leads to moments of consonance alternating with dissonance. The first measure is a moment of consonance. The arrows in the example point to instances of the tone ‘B’, which in almost all instruments arrives in rhythmic phase. Note that traditionally the lowest pitch of the shô and the highest on the biwa’s are considered their principal melodic tones. The koto is the sole instrument to play its melodic ‘B’ out-phased from the other instruments. On the other hand, the third beat of the second measure shows how the heterophonic technique adds color and texture to the melody. The ‘A’ in the hichiriki matched by the shô, ‘clashes’ with the F# and G of the ryûteki and biwa respectively, transforming the melody into a harmony. This kind of treatment of melody seems to enhance primarily the timbral quality of the music.
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Etenraku – Simplified score of the first phraseof Section B
(For a more precise and detailed versionplease refer to Shiba [6])
Example 1 (Etenraku-B)
3.3.2. Distribution of instruments through registers
Separating instrumental choirs through register prevents them from blending, hence creating a multilayered texture, that adds depth to the overall timbre. This is the case in Gagaku music where pitched instrumental families occupy different strata as shown in Example 1. The string instruments occupy the lower register; the koto one octave above the biwa. The woodwind instruments placed one octave higher than the koto occupy the higher register. The hichiriki and the ryûteki are voiced an octave apart, overlapped by the shô.
3.3.3. Acoustical Properties
The examination of the acoustical properties of Gagaku instruments suggests that an important reason for the ensemble’s non-blending quality is intrinsic to the instruments themselves. This will be shown through the analysis of two most important physical characteristics of sound used in the determination of timbre: the attack and the waveform of the steady part of the tone.
The types of attack of the eight Gagaku instruments vary widely, rendering sonic fusion more difficult. For example, one can observe that in Western orchestra, the uniformed sound of instruments of the string choir fuses better than that of the woodwind choir, whose dissociated sound has much to do with the fact its instruments involve three different types of embouchure. The eight Gagaku instruments, made of varying materials, produce their sound using eight different qualities of attack, by means of diverse types of embouchure plucking methods, and hitting strokes –
Woodwind instruments:
• hichiriki is a double-reed instrument with an embouchure similar to an oboe,
• ryûteki’s embouchure is similar to a Western transverse flute,
• shô’s embouchure is fully covered by the performer’s lips. The air blown by the musician through the embouchure activates an internal free reed.
String instruments:
• the plectrum used to pluck the biwa’s strings is large, triangular and made of wood; the performer holds it in his/her right hand and to pluck uses the pointed edge.
• the koto player attaches three small rounded shape plectra to his/her right hand’s thumb, first and second fingers; plectra used to be made of ivory, but today plastic is used instead.
Percussion instruments:
• the taiko is a membranophone played with a large rubber mallet,
• the kakko, also a membranophone is played with wooden sticks,
• the shoko, the sole idiophone is also played with wooden mallets
Another factor that weakens sound fusion is the acoustical property of the sustained parts of sound of the melodic instruments. Spectral analysis shows that the timbre of hichiriki and ryûteki is fairly unstable rendering their fusion more difficult. Figures 6 and 7 present the averaged harmonic spectra of the steady part of the tone of the two instruments with their Western counterparts. The duration of the analyzed sustained parts was of 1.5 seconds. Figure 6 shows the averaged harmonic spectra of a Western oboe and the hichiriki playing a D#5 mezzo-forte. A comparison between the two reveals that the hichiriki has a richer spectrum than the oboe. The hichiriki‘s thicker harmonic peaks indicate that the fundamental frequency fluctuate substantially. It should be noted that without changing fingering, a performer can alter the pitch of a tone by up to a major sixth simply by controlling reed motion in and out of his/her mouth.
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Averaged spectra of two instruments playing a D#5
Top: A Western oboe (obo-ds5-ord-mf)
Bottom: Japanese oboe (hichiriki) (hic-ds5-ord-mf)
Figure 6
Figure 7 is a comparison of the averaged harmonic spectra of ryûteki and the Western flute playing D#6 mezzo-forte. The instability of the ryûteki’s sound is of a different nature compared to the hichiriki‘s. Conversely to the Western flute, the ryûteki does not have an octave key or hole, instead the upper octave pitches are produced by increasing the airflow. For example, a ryûteki player must use the D#5 fingering with an increased air pressure to produce a D#6. The two arrows in Figure 7 show the distortion effect produced by this process. The two partials identified with the arrows correspond to the first and third partials of the D#5 that have permeated the sound of the D#6. Moreover, the disturbance between the second and third partials is most likely a mixture between the D#5 5th partial and breath noise.
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Averaged spectra of two instruments playing a D#6
Top: A Western flute (flu-ds6-ord-mf)
Bottom: Japanese flute (ryûteki) (Ryuteki-ds6-mf)
Figure 7
It has been demonstrated by Albert Bregman that two tones blend better when more of their partials coincide [7].
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Top: Averaged spectra of a Western oboe
playing a D#5 & a Western flute playing a D#6. (OboDs5FluDs6)
Bottom: Averaged spectra of the Japanese Oboe
playing a D#5 & Japanese flute playing a D#6. (HicDs5RyuDs6)
Figure 8
The top part of Figure 8 superposes averaged spectra of the Western oboe (D#5) with flute (D#6). Their well-aligned corresponding partials suggest that the two sounds will blend. The bottom part of Figure 8 superposes the hichiriki (D#5) with ryûteki (D#6). As anticipated, disturbances around the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th partials suggest that these two sounds will not blend as well.
The top part of Figure 8 superposes averaged spectra of the Western oboe (D#5) with flute (D#6). Their well-aligned corresponding partials suggest that the two sounds will blend. The bottom part of Figure 8 superposes the hichiriki (D#5) with ryûteki (D#6). As anticipated, disturbances around the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th partials suggest that these two sounds will not blend as well.
3.4. Timbre and the Focus on Now
Like its classical Western counterpart Japanese traditional orchestral music is composed of superposed layers of sound but while Western music layers usually blend, layers of Japanese orchestral music do not. The listener can at all times easily differentiate the sound of instruments across choirs as well as within each choir. An intricate and refined interaction between eight Gagaku instruments is clearly perceptible at every moment. This provides a complex and dynamic experience even if on a larger scale other elements appear slow or static. The richness of Japanese traditional orchestral music is not based on a high level dramatic progression but on the inner life of the ever-elusive moment. Emphasis on timbre and focus on the present seem to go hand in hand.
Like its classical Western counterpart Japanese traditional orchestral music is composed of superposed layers of sound but while Western music layers usually blend, layers of Japanese orchestral music do not. The listener can at all times easily differentiate the sound of instruments across choirs as well as within each choir. An intricate and refined interaction between eight Gagaku instruments is clearly perceptible at every moment. This provides a complex and dynamic experience even if on a larger scale other elements appear slow or static. The richness of Japanese traditional orchestral music is not based on a high-level dramatic progression but on the inner life of the ever-elusive moment. Emphasis on timbre and focus on the present seem to go hand in hand.
4. Time and Timbre
Gagaku music with it liminal overall structure offers little perceptible points of focus. In this context, emphasis switches to other transforming features such as the interaction between the instruments, a process that is clearly perceptible due to the fact that the sound of the instruments does not fuse. The subtle in- and out-phasing between the melodic and rhythmic elements is an example of such a process. It adds a dynamic quality to the Japanese’s Present and illustrates how the interaction between time and timbre can take shape.
The Gagaku melody usually divides the phrase structure into two relatively symmetric parts. The first half of the phrase is characterized by melodic motion followed at the phrase half-point by a sustainedtone whose beginning is rhythmically in-phase with the sole downbeat articulated by all three percussion instruments. Example 2 shows a simplified transcription of the last six melodic phrases of Ittokyô and how each one compares with the rhythmically articulated half-point, marked in the example with a black dot. Ittokyô’s phrase structure is composed of four measures of four beasts. Example 2 shows how a change in the phrase’s length from four to six measures affects the position of the subsequent phrases in relationship with the rhythmically accented, creating a Phrase 11 provides an example of a perfectly symmetric phrase with a melodically active first half followed by a sustained-tone whose beginning is synchronized with the rhythmic accent of the three percussion instruments on the downbeat of the third measure. Phrases 12 and 13 provide examples of out-phasing between the melodic and rhythmic elements, an outcome of the displacement of the sustained tone’s position in relationship with the rhythmically articulated half-point. In both cases, the beginning of the sustained-tone precedes the marking of the half-point by four and two beats, respectively. But it is with Phrase 14 that the synchronicity between melodic and rhythmic elements really breaks up, since the initial two measures of melodic motion are followed by another two measures of melodic motion, (marked in Example 2 with an arrow) before reaching the awaited sustained-tone, hence displacing the actual beginning of phrases 15 and 16 by two measures. Consequently, the typical phrase structure where the melodic first half is followed at mid-point by a rhythmically accented sustained-tone is reverse for the last two phrases, since it is the melodically active part of the phrase that is rhythmically accented.
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Simplified melody of the last six melodic phrases of Ittokyô
Example 2
5. Conclusion
The traditional concepts of time and timbre in Gagaku music are interrelated. The concept of time emphasizes the present, and as such shows a strong predilection towards timbre. We demonstrated that the approaches to time and timbre parallel each other in a matching dichotomy of static and dynamic elements. The analysis of Etenraku, the best known of Kangen pieces, demonstrated that on a large scale Gagaku music material is relatively static, which increases the degree of predictability and creates a feeling of slowness. As it lowers expectations for forward motion it allows the listeners to focus their attention on the present moment where the analysis has shown the material to be intensely dynamic, heterogeneous and multidimensional. Timbre plays a crucial role in this experience as even music’s most important material – the melody, via its heterophonic treatment becomes a timbral component. This is served well by the acoustical properties of instruments, which as the spectral analysis has shown, do not blend allowing this transformation of melody to be clearly perceptible.
Future psycho-acoustical research may confirm a link between slowness and an emphasis on timbre. If one is to accept the perception of slowness in several significant genres of Japanese traditional music it is intriguing to learn that two prominent figures, composer Toru Takemitsu [8] and musicologist Yoshihiko Tokumaru [9], both point to timbre as a vital element of Japanese music. According to Takemitsu “… The Japanese are a people who have been endowed with a keen receptivity towards timbre from ages past.”
6. References
[1] Kramer, J. The Time of Music. New York: Schirmer Books, 1988. pp. 23, pp. 54-57.
[2] Narmour, E. The Analysis and Cognition of Basic Melodic Structures. The Implication-Realization Model. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
[3] Yuasa, J. “Temporality and I: From the Composer’s Workshop”, in Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Summer, 1993), pp. 216-228.
[4] Tamba, A. La Théorie et l’esthétique musicale japonaises, PublicationsOrientales de France, 1988. pp. 332-6.
[5] idem. pp. 321-330.
[6] Shiba, S. Scores of Gagaku, Japanese Classical Court Music, Volume 1, Ryugin-shâ, Tokyo 1955, pp 9-12.
[7] Bregman, A. Auditory Scene Analysis: The Perceptual Organization of Sound, Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Press 1990. pp 245-248.
[8] Takemitsu, T. “My perception of time in traditional Japanese music”, in Contemporary Music Review, Vol.1 1987. pp.9-13.
[9] Tokumaru, Y. “Le timbre dans la musique japonaise”, in Le timbre métaphore pour la composition, Ed. Christian Bourgois, IRCAM, 1991. pp. 90-97.