Appreciate
56th Gagaku Concert, Small Hall, National Theatre, Tokyo
Performers:
Mouthorgan shō: BUNNO Hideaki
Reedpipe hichiriki: TŌGI Kanehiko
[ Transverse flute ryūteki,: SHIBA Sukeyasu
Lute biwa: TŌGI Hiroaki
Zither sō: ABE Suemasa
Outline
There are various accounts of the origin of Shunnōden (‘Cry of the Spring Warbler’): one states that Emperor Gaozhong (628–83, r. 649–83) of the Tang dynasty heard the songs of bush warblers and commanded a musician to turn them into a piece of music; another attributes the piece to one He Guanqing (otherwise unknown), adding that when performed on the day of the investiture of a Crown Prince, it attracted a crowd of bush warblers who then sang together in celebration.
It is mentioned as a charming piece in Sei Shōnagon’s Makura no sōshi (‘Pillow Book’), and the hero of Murasaki Shikibu’s Genji monogatari (‘The Tale of Genji’) dances it spectacularly in the eighth chapter, ‘Hana no en’ (‘Under the Cherry Blossoms’). It is clear that it has been popular since ancient times.
Form of the piece
Shunnōden is a suite in the mode ichikotsuchō (on D), made up of six movements: Yūsei, Jo, Sattō, Juha, Tesshō, and Kisshō. More extensive than pieces with the usual three-movement jo-ha-kyū form, it is the only suite in the gagaku repertoire made up of six movements with different names.
As a suite, it mixes movements in free rhythm (jobuki) and fixed rhythm (gakubyōshi), and there are certain melodic figures used throughout that may reflect the warbler’s song.
The Sattō and Juha movements are most often performed, both in the original ichikotsuchō (on D) and transposed to sōjō (on G). Sattō has the metrical structure haya-yahyōshi hyōshi-jūroku (16 repetitions of a cycle of 8 measures of 4/4), while Juha is haya-muhyōshi hyōshi-jūroku (16 repetitions of a cycle of 6 measures of 4/4).
Points for appreciation
This piece, with its charming and felicitous melodies, is made up of carefully constructed movements, and we can say that it is a masterpiece that fulfils the promise of its classification as one of the ‘four great pieces’ (shika no taikyoku).
The melodies, said to imitate the cry of the bush warbler in spring, certainly bring a spring-like feeling to the suite as a whole.
