Outline

Goshōraku (‘The Five Virtues’) takes its name from the five moral principles of Confucianism, namely benevolence, justice, propriety, knowledge, and honesty, which comprise one set within the Chinese theory of the Five Elements. These also correspond to the five tones, which the piece is said to balance well.

It is traditionally said to have been composed by or for the Chinese Emperor Taizong (598–649, r. 626–49), and has a number of alternative names. Goshōraku is one of the few pieces that retain the three jo-ha-kyū movements of the ‘ideal’ structure for a gagaku piece, and it is performed in this way as a dance suite. In kangen (‘pipes and strings’) instrumental performance, the final movement (Goshōraku no kyū) is favored. It has the metrical structure haya-yahyōshi hyōshi-hachi (8 repetitions of a cycle of 8 measures of 4/4).

In the past, this piece was often repeated multiple times in performance. A well-known anecdote tells us that it was performed 100 times at a kangen musical gathering held by Prince Sadayasu (870–924), who is known as a master of the transverse flute and the lute biwa. This was evidently enough to conjure up the spirit of the lute master Lian Chengwu, the Chinese musician who taught the lute player Fujiwara no Sadatoshi when he visited China in the 830s.

Form of the piece

When performed as a suite, this piece is a made up of 5 sections: Hyōjō no chōshi (modal prelude), Jo, Ei, Ha, and Kyū. The Jo movement is in free rhythm, in 8 sections with strong drum beats at their ends. The Ei originally had a Chinese text to be sung, which is now lost; it has the metrical structure nobe-yahyōshi hyōshi-san (3 repetitions of a cycle of 8 measures of 8/4). The Ha is nobe-yahyōshi hyōshi-jūroku (16 repetitions of a cycle of 8 measures of 8/4), and the Kyū is haya-yahyōshi hyōshi-hachi (8 repetitions of a cycle of 8 measures of 4/4). Interestingly, the Ha does not demonstrate the melodic syncopation typical of many other pieces in nobe meter; in other words, all of its melodic phrases begin on the first beat of the measure, instead of most of them beginning in the middle of the measure. This metrical style was formerly known as naka-yahyōshi, where the term naka (‘middle’) refers to an intermediate form, nobe but with the melodic characteristics of haya.

Points for appreciation

The Kyū movement of Goshōraku is often used, along with the popular hyōjō version of Etenraku, as an introductory piece for beginners. It includes many of the basic melodic formulas of gagaku.