Many pieces have been lost from the gagaku repertoire during its long history. Interest in bringing these back to life has led to stage performances of revivals and reconstructions.

Attempts at reviving pieces lost from the modern repertoire

The modern repertoire of gagaku has come down to us through a repeated process of review and reorganization over the centuries. Music notations were lost during periods of war, and certain pieces were excluded from the modern repertoire as it was fixed at the imperial Music Department in the 1870s to 1880s. Other pieces had already been lost, as had many traditional performing techniques.

In recent years, attempts have been made to bring this lost repertoire back to life. These attempts are based on interpreting music notations surviving in Japan and overseas in the light of evidence from historical accounts, iconographical sources, and surviving music instruments.

Revivals from ancient notations

Attempts to bring lost repertoire back to life include research on and revivals of ancient notations that survive in Japan and abroad. The National Theatre has staged performances of several pieces from Shinsen gakufu (‘Newly edited music notation’), a collection of notation for the transverse flute compiled by Minamoto no Hiromasa (Hakuga) in 966, which is more commonly known by the name Hakuga no fue-fu (‘Hakuga’s flute score’). Revivals of the pieces from this score, such as Banshiki sangun, Sōrō kodatsu, and Chōka manzairaku, have been made by Shiba Sukeyasu, a former musician of the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency. Shiba has also revived a number of pieces from the Dunhuang pipa-pu (‘Lute score of Dunhuang’), a scroll discovered in the Mogao caves near Dunhuang in western China, and now held by the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Deciphering ancient notation is a very difficult process, in which full use of a limited range of materials must be supplemented with knowledge of the structures of the instruments of the time and their performance practices. Revivals that overcome these difficulties and bring this ancient music back to life give us a glimpse of the rich sensibilities of people of ancient times.