- 著者
-
皆川 達夫
- 出版者
- 美学会
- 雑誌
- 美学 (ISSN:05200962)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.18, no.3, pp.68, 1967-12-30 (Released:2017-05-22)
The libretto of a Japanese Noh-Play is divided into many strictly formalized and fixed sections, which have not only their special dramatic character, but also their own musical style. In other words, Noh is not simply drama but is socalled Gesamtkunst. The vocal melodies of Noh are regulated by one of the two scale-like stylistic composites, called Tsuyo and Yowa. Yowa has a definite scale : the interval between the upper tone and the lower one is the seventh, which is the sum of two successive statements of the fourths, the favorite interval of the Japanese. Tsuyo is highly intoned recitation rather than music. Accent, dynamic stress, tone color, and a special vocal technique are mose important than melodic movement itself. The rhythm of Noh is quite fascinating. Noh music may sound to a Westerner like pure free-rhythm music with flexible changes of rhythm and tempo ; now there is a push forward, now a slowing down, now a breaking off. However, this flexibility should not be associated with either arbitrariness or improvisation. Each change of rhythm and tempo is weighd carefully according to the patterns of the drum-beats, the content of the text, the position of the verse, the section, etc. In many aspects, Noh music is contrary to the Western music, and it offers an interesting antithesis to the Westerners. For further details, my article Japanese Noh Music (Journal of the American Musicological Society Vol. X, No.3, 1957) should be read.