// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Gagaku say to the music sheet? "You're off-beat, gag on that.

This article is about the Japanese court performing-art tradition. For the album, see Gagaku (album). For the Chinese ritual tradition, see Yayue. For the Asuka-period masked dance-drama, see Gigaku.

A gagaku performance at the Manyo Botanical Garden in Nara in 2019

Gagaku (雅楽, lit. "elegant music") is a traditional Japanese performing art comprising court music, song, and dance. Historically centered on the imperial court, it has also been transmitted at Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, and regional ceremonial centers. Its repertories combine indigenous Japanese ceremonial songs and dances with instrumental, vocal, and choreographic traditions introduced from the Korean Peninsula, China, and other parts of continental Asia and subsequently reorganized in Japan.

Gagaku encompasses several repertories differing in historical origin, ceremonial function, instrumentation, performance format, and line of transmission. These include the indigenous court songs and dances known as kuniburi no utamai (国風歌舞, "song and dance in the native manner"), the continental-derived repertories tōgaku and komagaku, and the vocal genres saibara and rōei. Its principal performance formats are kangen, instrumental ensemble music without dance; bugaku, dance with instrumental accompaniment; and vocal performance.

The principal organization of the continental-derived repertories took shape during the early Heian period, particularly during and around the reign of Emperor Ninmyō (833–850). The modern court repertory was further selected and standardized after the Meiji Restoration. Although gagaku is written with the same characters as Chinese yayue, much of its continental-derived repertory originated in court entertainment and banquet music rather than in the Confucian sacrificial tradition primarily denoted by yayue.

The gagaku tradition maintained by the Music Department of the Board of Ceremonies of the Imperial Household Agency was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japan in 1955, with its performers collectively recognized as holders of the tradition. It was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.

Terminology and scope

The word gagaku is the Japanese reading of Chinese yayue, a term originating in the Confucian ritual tradition and referring to ritually orthodox or "elegant" music appropriate to state ceremony. The meaning and repertorial scope of the term developed differently in Japan. Japanese gagaku is not a direct continuation of ancient Chinese sacrificial yayue, and much of its continental-derived repertory derives instead from entertainment, banquet music, and dance traditions transmitted through the courts of continental Asia.

The establishment of the Gagaku-ryō (雅楽寮) under the Taihō Code is conventionally dated to 701. The bureau formed part of the Jibushō (治部省), a ministry responsible for court music, diplomatic and Buddhist affairs, and the administration of imperial mausolea. It maintained officials, instructors, singers, dancers, instrumentalists, and students organized by repertory and function.

The scope of the term has varied over time. In its narrowest modern sense, gagaku denotes the court tradition maintained by the Imperial Household Agency's Music Department. More broadly, it may include related traditions preserved at shrines and temples, regional festival traditions, scholarly reconstructions of lost repertories, and newly composed music for gagaku instruments. These traditions differ in historical origin, institutional authority, and continuity of transmission and are not interchangeable.

The modern court tradition should not be treated as an unchanged survival of every genre administered in antiquity. Historical repertories underwent periods of loss, revival, selection, reorganization, and standardization, while temples and shrines as well as the imperial court served as centers of transmission.

History

Early transmission and the Nara period

Court musicians depicted in the Kasuga Gongen Genki E (1309)

The Nihon Shoki contains early accounts of foreign musicians at the Japanese court. It records that musicians from Silla were sent to Japan in 453 and that musicians from Baekje arrived in 554. In 612, the Baekje immigrant Mimashi, also romanized Mimaji, is said to have introduced gigaku, a masked processional and dramatic dance tradition.

Gigaku became closely associated with Buddhist ceremonies but did not remain part of the later transmitted gagaku repertory. Continental music and dance were increasingly incorporated into Buddhist ritual, and major temples maintained groups of performers for religious services.

The Gagaku-ryō established in 701 administered indigenous court songs and dances as well as music and dance associated with China, the Korean kingdoms, and other regions. It supplied performers for court ritual, banquets, diplomatic receptions, and other state occasions.

In 736, the monk Buttetsu, who was associated in Japanese tradition with Lâm Ấp or Champa, is credited with transmitting Rinyū-gaku. This repertory, understood in Japan as having South or Southeast Asian connections, was later incorporated into tōgaku. Japanese sources also historically classified some repertories believed to have Indian connections as Tenjiku-gaku; these categories reflect premodern Japanese understandings of the music's origins.

At the eye-opening ceremony of the Great Buddha of Tōdai-ji in 752, the Indian monk Bodhisena officiated as the consecrating priest. Indigenous Japanese songs and dances were performed alongside gigaku and music and dance associated with continental Asia.

Instruments and masks from this period survive in the Shōsōin repository. They include the five-stringed gogen biwa, the kugo harp, the haishō panpipes, and the u mouth organ, none of which remained in regular use in the later court ensemble.

Heian-period reorganization and court culture

The dance Kochō performed before the emperor, from J. M. W. Silver's Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs (1867)

Following the transfer of the capital to Heian-kyō in 794, the court music establishment moved to Kyoto. A major reorganization of the continental repertories took place during the first half of the ninth century, particularly during and around the reign of Emperor Ninmyō.

Music associated mainly with Tang China and regions to its south and west was grouped within the Left, while repertories associated with the Korean Peninsula and Balhae were grouped within the Right. The Left was centered on tōgaku, including repertories formerly identified as Rinyū-gaku and Tenjiku-gaku, while the Right was centered on komagaku.

The relationship between repertory and side was general rather than absolute. Several works classified as tōgaku, including Bairo, Genjōraku, and Batō, could be arranged as dances of the Right.

The reforms reduced the regular instrumental ensemble and organized the theory of tōgaku around six principal chōshi. Among the instruments removed from ordinary use during the reorganization were the genkan, five-stringed biwa, ancient shakuhachi, and large hichiriki.

This reorganization did not consist merely of preserving imported music. Pieces were transposed, shortened, rearranged, newly composed, or substantially recomposed in Japan, and their instrumentation and performance practice developed within the Japanese court.

Gagaku also became an accomplishment of the court aristocracy rather than remaining solely the domain of professional musicians. Private musical gatherings formed part of aristocratic social life, and musical performance appears frequently in Heian literature, including The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book.

The vocal genres saibara, in which Japanese song texts were set to instrumental accompaniment, and rōei, the chanting of passages from Chinese poetry and prose, developed within this courtly environment.

Medieval hereditary musicians and treatises

As the administrative institutions of the ritsuryō state weakened, the formal role of the Gagaku-ryō declined. Gagaku nevertheless continued through court performing organizations, Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, and hereditary musician families.

A court performing office known as a gakusho was established within the palace in 948. Major temples also maintained performing groups for Buddhist ceremonies.

As performance became hereditary, specialist musician families developed and transmitted repertories as family arts. The Koma family became associated particularly with dances of the Left and the Ō family with dances of the Right. The Toyohara family was associated especially with the shō, and the Abe family with the hichiriki.

The medieval and early modern periods produced important theoretical and practical writings. The Kyōkunshō (教訓抄) of Koma no Chikazane records traditions concerning the origins, performance practices, costumes, and choreography of dance repertories. The Taigenshō (体源抄) of Toyohara no Muneaki is an encyclopedic compilation of musical knowledge, while the Gakkaroku (楽家録) of Abe Suenao surveys repertory, instruments, masks, costumes, and ceremonial precedent.

The Sango yōroku (三五要録), for biwa, and Jinchi yōroku (仁智要録), for sō, are associated with Fujiwara no Moronaga. These notational collections have been important to modern attempts to reconstruct earlier forms of the repertory.

Performance in Kyoto was severely disrupted by the Ōnin War (1467–1477). The subsequent restoration of court repertories relied substantially on musicians from Nara and Shitennō-ji.

The three performing centers and Edo-period patronage

Kyoto, Nara, and Shitennō-ji developed as the three principal centers of transmission. Their hereditary musicians became collectively known as the Sanpō Gakuso (三方楽所), or three performing organizations.

The Kyoto organization served the imperial court, the Nara musicians were associated particularly with Kōfuku-ji and Kasuga-taisha, and the Tennōji musicians maintained the traditions of Shitennō-ji.

Under the Tokugawa shogunate, musicians from these organizations were summoned to Edo for ceremonies associated with the Tokugawa house. They performed at the Momijiyama precinct of Edo Castle, Nikkō Tōshō-gū, Kan'ei-ji, Zōjō-ji, and other ceremonial sites.

A resident group known as the Momijiyama gakunin (紅葉山楽人) developed in Edo. Its regular complement was organized around nine principal wind players: three hichiriki players, three flute players, and three shō players.

Early modern gagaku was therefore maintained through overlapping networks of imperial, temple, shrine, and shogunal patronage rather than by the imperial court alone.

Meiji reorganization and the modern court repertory

After the Meiji Restoration and the transfer of the imperial court to Tokyo, musicians from Kyoto, Nara, Tennōji, and the Edo tradition were assembled in the new capital. In 1870, a Bureau of Gagaku (雅楽局, Gagakukyoku) was established under the Daijō-kan.

The assembled musicians had inherited differing local traditions of notation, ornamentation, choreography, and repertory. The government therefore undertook a process of selection and standardization.

The resulting Meiji Selected Scores (明治撰定譜, Meiji senteifu) were compiled in 1876 and 1888. Works for which sufficiently complete notation, particularly for the three wind parts, could be established were generally prioritized. Approximately seventy transmitted tōgaku works and twenty-five komagaku works were selected for the standardized court repertory.

The same musicians were required to perform Western music for state ceremonies. Court musicians consequently became some of the earliest professional performers of Western orchestral instruments in modern Japan.

The court-music organization passed through several administrative forms before becoming the Music Department of the Board of Ceremonies of the Imperial Household Ministry and, after the Second World War, of the Imperial Household Agency.

Repertories

Kuniburi no utamai

Ninjō-mai, a dance associated with court kagura and the indigenous repertory

Kuniburi no utamai (国風歌舞, "song and dance in the native manner") comprises indigenous ceremonial songs and dances reorganized for use in court and shrine ritual. Surviving examples include kagura-uta, azuma-asobi, yamato-uta, kume-uta, and gosechi no mai.

Many of these repertories are connected with particular ceremonial occasions. Court mikagura is performed in connection with nocturnal rites of the imperial household, while gosechi no mai was historically associated with harvest and accession ceremonies.

Their instrumentation differs from that of tōgaku kangen. Court kagura, for example, uses the kagurabue, the six-stringed wagon, and shakubyōshi clappers.

Many genres formerly included among indigenous court songs and dances survive only by name, their melodies, choreography, or both having been lost.

Tōgaku and komagaku

Ringa, a dance of the Right

Tōgaku and komagaku are the two principal surviving categories of continental-derived gagaku. Tōgaku is associated primarily with music received through Tang China, together with repertories historically classified in Japan as Rinyū-gaku and Tenjiku-gaku. Komagaku derives primarily from music and dance received from the Korean Peninsula and other northeastern Asian traditions reorganized in Japan.

Tōgaku is generally associated with the Left and komagaku with the Right, but the correspondence is not absolute.

Tōgaku exists both as instrumental kangen and as dance accompaniment for bugaku. The surviving komagaku repertory is transmitted principally as dance music.

Tōgaku pieces are organized into six principal chōshi: ichikotsuchō, hyōjō, sōjō, ōshikichō, banshikichō, and taishikichō.

Komagaku has its own modal categories, including koma-ichikotsuchō, koma-hyōjō, and koma-sōjō. Their terminology reflects performance and fingering conventions and does not correspond directly to the six chōshi of tōgaku.

Etenraku is the best-known work in the modern repertory. Its melody has also been adapted to vocal and popular forms, including Etenraku imayō and the folk song Kuroda-bushi.

Utaimono: saibara and rōei

Saibara sets Japanese song texts, many of provincial or popular origin, to instrumental accompaniment. It is accompanied by shakubyōshi, biwa, sō, shō, hichiriki, and ryūteki. Its surviving pieces are conventionally divided into ryo and ritsu groups.

Rōei consists of passages from Chinese poetry or prose chanted to established melodic formulas. Its accompaniment uses wind instruments and shakubyōshi.

Both genres were closely associated with aristocratic private music-making during the Heian period.

Performance formats

Kangen

A kangen ensemble performing at the Kyoto Imperial Palace in 2013

Kangen is instrumental ensemble music without dance. The standard tōgaku kangen ensemble consists of three wind parts—the shō, hichiriki, and ryūteki—two string parts, the gakubiwa and gakusō, and three percussion parts, the kakko, taiko, and shōko.

The number of performers may be increased by doubling individual parts. The hichiriki presents the central melodic line, the ryūteki performs a more ornamented and wide-ranging form of the melody, and the shō sustains chordal formations. The string and percussion instruments articulate recurring patterns, phrase divisions, and rhythmic cycles.

A performance or group of pieces in a given mode may be preceded by a netori or another mode-establishing prelude. Kangen performance is generally slower and more elaborately ornamented than dance accompaniment.

Bugaku

Bugaku is dance accompanied by gagaku music. The string instruments used in tōgaku kangen are normally omitted, and larger percussion instruments are employed.

Dances of the Left use the shō, hichiriki, and ryūteki with the kakko, taiko, and shōko. Dances of the Right use the komabue and hichiriki with the san-no-tsuzumi, taiko, and shōko.

The same musical work may be performed differently in kangen and bugaku. Dance accompaniment generally requires clearer articulation of the rhythmic cycle and a stronger projection of the beat to support the dancers.

Vocal performance

A third broad performance format consists of vocal repertories, including kuniburi no utamai, saibara, and rōei. Their instrumental forces and ceremonial functions differ according to genre.

Bugaku dance, costume, and staging

Batō, a rapid masked dance

Dances of the Left and Right differ in musical accompaniment, costume, choreography, entrances, exits, and stage direction. Dancers of the Left generally wear costumes dominated by red tones, while dancers of the Right often wear green or blue-green.

Dances may be classified by the number of performers and by choreographic character. One common practical classification distinguishes hira-mai, also called bun-no-mai, as restrained and stately dances; bu-no-mai, martial dances performed with weapons; hashiri-mai, rapid and vigorous dances; and warawamai, dances traditionally performed by children.

Bugaku costumes include layered forms, tabard-like forms, and costumes designed for particular works. Kasane shōzoku are layered costumes whose components include the hō, shitagasane, and associated headgear and accessories.

Ryōtō shōzoku are distinguished by a sleeveless tabard-like garment worn over the robe and include gold-bordered and fur-bordered forms.

Some dances, including Taiheiraku, Ranryō-ō, and Seigaiha, use costumes and implements designed specifically for the individual work.

Masks are used in many rapid or dramatic dances. The mask of Ranryō-ō is among the best known. The gigaku masks preserved in the Shōsōin belong to an earlier and separate theatrical tradition.

Left and Right dances are frequently paired as tsugaimai (番舞), expressing the complementary organization of the two sides within a complete program.

Instruments

• 
  A tsuri daiko
• 
  A kakko
• 
  A ryūteki
• 
  A shō

Instruments of the transmitted repertory

The instruments of modern gagaku are conventionally classified as winds, strings, and percussion, traditionally described as fukimono, hikimono, and uchimono.

Wind instruments

• Hichiriki (篳篥) — a short double-reed pipe carrying the central melodic line in many repertories.
• Ryūteki (龍笛) — a transverse flute used principally in tōgaku.
• Shō (笙) — a free-reed mouth organ producing sustained chordal formations in tōgaku.
• Komabue (高麗笛) — a smaller transverse flute used principally in komagaku.
• Kagurabue (神楽笛) — a transverse flute used in court kagura and other indigenous repertories.

The flute employed depends on the repertory. Ryūteki is used in tōgaku, komabue in komagaku, and kagurabue in court kagura.

String instruments

• Gaku-biwa (楽琵琶) — a four-stringed lute played with a large plectrum.
• Gakusō (楽箏) — a thirteen-stringed zither.
• Yamatogoto (和琴; also wagon) — a six-stringed zither of Japanese origin used in indigenous repertories.

The gakubiwa and gakusō constitute the two string parts of tōgaku kangen. They are normally omitted from bugaku accompaniment. The wagon is associated particularly with indigenous court songs and dances.

Percussion instruments

• Kakko (鞨鼓) — a small drum struck with two sticks and used in tōgaku.
• Tsuri-daiko (釣太鼓) — a suspended drum used in kangen.
• Da-daiko (鼉太鼓) — a large standing drum used in bugaku.
• Shōko (鉦鼓) — a bronze gong used in kangen and bugaku.
• San-no-tsuzumi (三の鼓) — an hourglass drum used in komagaku.
• Shakubyōshi (笏拍子) — wooden clappers used in vocal and indigenous repertories.

In tōgaku kangen, the kakko, taiko, and shōko form the three percussion parts. In dances of the Right, the san-no-tsuzumi replaces the kakko.

Historical and reconstructed instruments

A broader range of instruments is documented in Nara-period collections and written sources than remained in the later transmitted ensemble. Some were removed during the ninth-century reorganization, while others disappeared at different stages of the tradition's development.

These include the haishō panpipes, the large mouth organ known as u, the large hichiriki, the five-stringed gogen biwa, the kugo harp, the round-bodied genkan, the hōkyō metallophone, and ancient forms of the shakuhachi.

Several historical instruments have been reconstructed for research, reconstructed repertory, and newly composed music. Such instruments are not part of the ordinary transmitted court ensemble.

Musical characteristics

Texture and instrumental functions

Tōgaku kangen is commonly described as heterophonic. The hichiriki and ryūteki present related versions of a melodic framework, but the other instruments do not simply duplicate the same melody. The shō supplies sustained chordal formations, the string instruments articulate recurring figures and phrase divisions, and the percussion instruments organize musical time.

The shō produces five- or six-note chordal formations known as aitake and can sound during both exhalation and inhalation.

The principal instrumental functions in tōgaku kangen may be summarized as follows:

• the hichiriki carries the central melodic line;
• the ryūteki performs a more ornamented and wide-ranging version of the melodic framework;
• the shō sustains chordal formations;
• the gakubiwa and gakusō articulate recurring patterns and phrase divisions;
• the kakko helps articulate rhythmic development and transitions;
• the taiko marks major structural accents; and
• the shōko supplies additional rhythmic articulation.

This organization applies specifically to tōgaku kangen. Komagaku, indigenous court songs and dances, vocal repertories, and bugaku accompaniment use different combinations of instruments.

The ensemble has no conductor in the Western orchestral sense. Coordination depends on established formulas, listening, breathing, visual awareness, and the specialized responsibilities of individual performers.

Pitch and mode

Gagaku theory employs a system of twelve named pitches, or jūniritsu (十二律): ichikotsu, tangin, hyōjō, shōzetsu, shimomu, sōjō, fushō, ōshiki, rankei, banshiki, shinsen, and kamimu.

Traditional theory also uses the five degree names kyū, shō, kaku, chi, and u. These concepts derive historically from Chinese theory but developed distinct applications in Japan.

Tōgaku pieces are assigned to the traditional categories ryo and ritsu. These are often described as scales or modal types, but they do not correspond directly to Western major and minor scales, and their practical realization may differ among instruments.

A chōshi denotes more than an absolute pitch level or scale type. It also encompasses characteristic melodic turns and an associated musical atmosphere.

Rhythm and form

The gagaku repertory includes both metrically organized and nonmetrical music. Nonmetrical performance follows established conventions and includes several types of prelude, introduction, and signal-like music.

Metrical pieces employ named rhythmic organizations such as nobebyōshi, hayabyōshi, tadabyōshi, and yatarabyōshi. The term byōshi may refer both to metrical organization and to recurring percussion patterns and therefore does not correspond exactly to Western meter.

The formal principle jo-ha-kyū, in which a performance begins gradually, develops, and moves toward a more rapid or concentrated conclusion, became influential throughout later Japanese performing arts.

Notation and oral transmission

Gagaku is transmitted through a combination of written notation, mnemonic vocalization, oral instruction, and practical training. Written scores preserve pitch names, rhythmic structures, fingerings, repetitions, and performance formulas, but do not fully encode ornamentation, articulation, breathing, ensemble interaction, and temporal flexibility.

Instrumental parts are learned through systems of mnemonic vocalization known collectively as 唱歌 (shōga). The syllables differ by instrument and may represent pitch direction, fingering, rhythm, articulation, or characteristic performance gestures.

The practical transmission of bugaku also includes posture, footwork, spatial orientation, choreography, the handling of costumes and implements, and knowledge of ceremonial procedure.

Studies by Robert Garfias and Laurence Picken comparing medieval notation with modern performance describe a substantial slowing of performance tempo over time. The extent and chronology of this change, and especially its implications for reconstructing earlier repertories, have remained subjects of scholarly discussion.

Transmission and performance institutions

A performance by the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency at an autumn gagaku concert

The Music Department of the Board of Ceremonies of the Imperial Household Agency is the principal institutional custodian of the modern court tradition. It performs for imperial and state ceremonies and presents public performances, including spring and autumn gagaku concerts in Tokyo.

Its musicians maintain tōgaku, komagaku, indigenous court songs and dances, saibara, and rōei, together with associated dance, ceremonial, and training practices. They are also required to perform Western orchestral music, a dual competence originating in the Meiji-period reorganization.

Independent traditions are maintained at temples, shrines, and regional ceremonial centers. Important centers include Kasuga-taisha and Kōfuku-ji in Nara, Shitennō-ji and Sumiyoshi-taisha in Osaka, and other institutions that preserve music and dance in ritual and festival contexts. These traditions may share repertory and technique with the court tradition while differing in institutional history, ceremonial procedure, performance space, and local social context.

The bugaku performed at Shitennō-ji's Shōryō-e and the ceremonial performing arts of the Kasuga Wakamiya On-Matsuri are separately designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties.

The Hayashike bugaku of Yamagata Prefecture is also designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

Private organizations, preservation societies, universities, and research institutions expanded their involvement in performance, teaching, research, reconstruction, and contemporary composition during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Gagaku is also taught and performed outside Japan. Programs at Columbia University and Stanford University have combined historical study, practical instruction, workshops, and public performance.

Scholarship and reconstruction

Modern research on gagaku draws on the living performance tradition, medieval and early modern treatises and notational collections, pictorial evidence, and material sources such as the instruments and masks preserved in the Shōsōin.

A major question concerns the relationship between the surviving tōgaku repertory and music of the Tang court. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, Laurence Picken and his collaborators argued that medieval Japanese tablatures preserved, beneath accumulated ornamentation and changes in tempo, melodic material substantially related to music performed at the Tang court. They undertook reconstructions published in the multivolume series Music from the Tang Court.

Later scholars, including Allan Marett, emphasized the extent to which repertories were rearranged, newly composed, or substantially recomposed in Japan, particularly in connection with the early Heian reorganization. From this perspective, Japanese gagaku cannot be treated simply as an unchanged repository of Tang music.

The extent to which early notation can be used to reconstruct Tang-period melody, rhythm, tempo, instrumentation, and performance practice remains a central question in gagaku scholarship.

Reconstruction of lost pieces, or fukkyoku, has been undertaken using old notation, musical treatises, pictorial evidence, temple records, and surviving instruments. Historical instruments from the Shōsōin have also been reconstructed. Such performances are scholarly reconstructions rather than products of uninterrupted oral transmission and are distinguished from the received court repertory.

Cultural-property status

The gagaku tradition transmitted by the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1955. Because it depends on coordinated performance by an ensemble rather than on the work of a single individual, its performers are recognized collectively as holders of the tradition.

In 2009, gagaku was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO describes it as a performing art combining instrumental music, vocal music, dance, costume, and ceremonial practice.

The designation applies specifically to the transmitted court tradition maintained by the Imperial Household Agency. Shrine and temple traditions, regional festival repertories, scholarly reconstructions, and newly composed works for gagaku instruments are historically and institutionally distinct, although some possess separate cultural-property designations.

Modern composition and international reception

New music for gagaku instruments

From the 1960s onward, composers increasingly wrote new works for gagaku ensembles and individual gagaku instruments.

Tōru Takemitsu's In an Autumn Garden is among the best-known modern works for gagaku ensemble.

The ensemble Reigakusha, founded in 1985 by Sukeyasu Shiba, performs the transmitted repertory, scholarly reconstructions, and newly composed works. It has also used reconstructed historical instruments in performance.

Modern composition for gagaku instruments is historically and institutionally distinct from the transmitted court repertory, even when it employs the same instruments or draws on traditional musical procedures.

Reception outside Japan

Knowledge of gagaku outside Japan expanded through international tours, recordings, ethnomusicological research, and practical teaching.

The court musician Masatarō Tōgi (東儀和太郎, 1910–1993) taught gagaku instruments to musicians and researchers including Alan Hovhaness, Richard Teitelbaum, and the ethnomusicologist Robert Garfias.

The American composer La Monte Young identified the sustained tones of gagaku, particularly those of the shō, as one influence on his musical thinking.

See also

• Aak
• Bugaku
• Etenraku
• Gigaku
• Jo-ha-kyū
• Kagura
• Komagaku
• Music of Japan
• Nhã nhạc
• Saibara
• Shōmyō
• Shōsōin
• Tōgaku
• Yayue

Works cited

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• Garfias, Robert (1960). "Gradual Modifications of the Gagaku Tradition". Ethnomusicology. 4 (1): 16–19. doi:10.2307/924748. JSTOR 924748.
• Garfias, Robert (1975). Music of a Thousand Autumns: The Tōgaku Style of Japanese Court Music. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-02177-8.
• Harich-Schneider, Eta (1973). A History of Japanese Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-316203-7.
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• Malm, William P. (2000). Traditional Japanese Music and Musical Instruments (New ed.). Kodansha International. ISBN 978-4-7700-2395-7.
• Marett, Allan (1985). "Tōgaku: Where Have the Tang Melodies Gone, and Where Have the New Melodies Come From?". Ethnomusicology. 29 (3): 409–431. doi:10.2307/851798. JSTOR 851798.
• Markham, Elizabeth (1983). Saibara: Japanese Court Songs of the Heian Period. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24307-0.
• Nelson, Steven G. (2008). "Court and Religious Music (1): History of Gagaku and Shōmyō". In Tokita, Alison McQueen; Hughes, David W. (eds.). The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music. Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-5699-9.
• Ono, Ryōya, ed. (1989). 雅楽事典 [Encyclopedia of Gagaku] (in Japanese). Ongaku no Tomo Sha. ISBN 4-276-00080-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Ortolani, Benito (1995). The Japanese Theatre: From Shamanistic Ritual to Contemporary Pluralism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-04333-3.
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• Imperial Household Agency Sannomaru Shōzōkan (2005). 雅楽――伝統とその意匠美 [Gagaku: Tradition and the Beauty of Its Design] (in Japanese). Imperial Household Agency.
• Terauchi, Naoko (2023). 紅葉山楽人東儀兼長家文書『家傳』と『家傳一覧記』 [The Kaden and Kaden Ichiranki documents of the Tōgi Kanenaga family of Momijiyama musicians]. Journal of Intercultural Studies (in Japanese) (59). Kobe University: 1–33. doi:10.24546/0100480918.
• Tōgi, Toshiharu; et al. (2008). 宮内庁楽部 雅楽の正統 [The Imperial Household Agency Music Department: The Orthodox Tradition of Gagaku] (in Japanese). Fusōsha. ISBN 978-4-594-05659-9.
• Torimoto, Yukiyo (2007). 雅楽――時空を超えた遥かな調べ [Gagaku: Music across Time and Space] (in Japanese). Shunjūsha. ISBN 978-4-393-93521-7.
• Tsukahara, Yasuko (2009). 明治国家と雅楽：伝統の近代化／国楽の創成 [The Meiji State and Gagaku: The Modernization of Tradition and the Creation of National Music] (in Japanese). Yūshisha. ISBN 978-4-903426-29-7.
• Yamada, Junpei (2024). 近世の楽人集団と雅楽文化 [Early Modern Musician Organizations and Gagaku Culture] (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kōbunkan. ISBN 978-4-642-04363-2.
• Zhao, Weiping (21 June 2010). 東アジアにおける雅楽の流れ [On the Formation and Transmission of Gagaku in East Asia] (Report). Nichibunken Forum (in Japanese). Kyoto: International Research Center for Japanese Studies. pp. 1–17. doi:10.15055/00005638.

Further reading

• Endō, Tōru. 平安朝の雅楽 [Gagaku of the Heian Court]. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 2005.
• Picken, Laurence, Rembrandt Wolpert, and Allan Marett. Music from the Tang Court, vols. 1–7. Oxford and Cambridge: Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press, 1981–2000.

External links

• Gagaku – Imperial Household Agency
• Gagaku – UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
• Gagaku – Japan Arts Council, Cultural Digital Library
• Introduction to Gagaku – Stanford University