Noh theatre - 3 - / On the stage...

Musical groups for Noh theatre consist of some singers who remain sitting beside the stage and are often in front of, 3 percussionists and 1 flutist called a Nohkan/能管.

Noh theatre starts often with music coming from behind the stage.

We hear the flute, which brings us somewhere unusual, (often the audience still talk between then during this music going on behind the stage) and then musicians enter to the stage in the silence.

No applause.

The performers already being at the entrance to the stage (and the exit from the stage) is a part of the performance.

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All the musicians walk onto the stage slowly and calmly sit down where they have to be. Of course, there are no chairs. The philosophy of Noh theatre is, like our life, "start from nothing and return to nothing." Which means in reality, before and after the performance, you cannot leave anything on the stage.

This philosophy sounds very nice but at the same time, because of this beautiful philosophy, they cannot have their chairs on the stage which is sometimes a big problem for musicians.

During the performance, they sit in a particular way called "seiza / 正座," which means "proper sitting."  To sit seiza-style, you have to be kneeling on the floor and then sit on your calves and feet. This is a traditional sitting style which is still used in many situations. 

Seiza-style

The problem of seiza-style is your legs fall asleep as time passes. They fall asleep and at the same time, you feel like you are being stung by several bees or you are receiving an electric shock. It is so hard that a Canadian who is famous for Japanese comic storytelling called this seiza-style "punishment." It's impossible to stay calm once it happens to you!

Japanese knows how she is feeling.... 

Normally, the musicians of Noh theatre have to leave the stage calmly without any expression on their faces as they have to show "nothing." 

But, it is very difficult to accomplish that task once they have legs that are asleep, being attacked by bees.

Generally, we don't have any problems once we get used to sitting seiza-style.

However, it happens sometimes whether we are used to it or not and there are funny stories like a musician having to leave the stage walking on all fours. It is funny when we hear it later but it is certainly not funny at all on the spot.

That is one of the famous problems for many traditional Japanese artists but this style never changes.

For Kabuki musicians, thanks to the stage curtain (like the opera), they don't have the seiza-style problem as they don't need to walk off the stage. In addition to that, they can have a small hidden chair with which it seems like they are sitting in seiza-style.

KANDA NOZOMI MUSIC WEB SITE 

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Discography 

Sky echo (shinobue, flute, koto, shamisen etc...)

Early 20th Century Jewels
  ( flute, viola - with cello, doublebase, harp /
 Debussy, Huybrechts, Roussel, Schulhoff) 

Tokyo Bruxelles Trio Albumflute - cello - piano
Kapustin, Pierné, Martinue


4tempi Album 
flutes, piccolo, altoflute, voice
Bozza, Piazzola .... 

The Noh thatre - 2 - / Creator and costumes

The Noh theatre at that time, the Sarugaku, was further developed by Kan-ami and completed by Ze-ami, the two were father and son.

"Ami" was the title for a Buddhist monk.

At that time, artists didn't have any social status and were often very poor.

Many of them lived like a medieval minstrel (bard) in Europe.

Kan-ami and Ze-ami were part of this group.

One day, the shogun (the head of the samuraï, like the prime minister) of the time, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, attended one of the performances given by Kan-ami and Ze-ami and he appreciated their act and decided to support them.

It is said also that Ze-ami (son) was a beautiful boy at that time and the shogun liked him in another sense too.

The Noh theatre is known for its spiritual music, the beautiful costumes and the beautiful masks. As this theatre could get support from important people and had been played between those people, they also could do a lot of work on theses beautiful costumes. 

No mask

Theses costumes are not depicted in the stories or the historical backdrop. Often the costumes for "Shite"(the principal role) are gorgeous even stories are about poor people. 

At the end of the Muromachi era (1336-1573), in 1549 Francisco Xavier, the missioner of The Society of Jesus arrived in the south of Japan. Since then many Spanish and Portugues missioners came to Japan. Maybe because they arrived at the south, there are still more Christians in the south than in the north (a part of Hokkaido) in Japan.


Nobunaga Oda who got the power after the Muromachi period has taken in many parts of foreign cultures and goods. 

Although that period is called "the war period", people had discovered a lot of European goods, music, pictures and textiles that were gorgeous and colourful for people at that time. And they took it in their life and also their arts. The costumes of the Noh theatre must have been influenced a lot by that new culture too.

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KANDA NOZOMI MUSIC WEB SITE 

Fallow KANDA NOZOMI MUSIC

      

Discography 

Sky echo (shinobue, flute, koto, shamisen etc...)

Early 20th Century Jewels
  ( flute, viola - with cello, doublebase, harp /
 Debussy, Huybrechts, Roussel, Schulhoff) 

Tokyo Bruxelles Trio Albumflute - cello - piano
Kapustin, Pierné, Martinue


4tempi Album 
flutes, piccolo, altoflute, voice
Bozza, Piazzola .... 

Noh Theatre -1 - The origine

The Noh theatre has a strong Japanese "Samurai" spirit and it's said to be the oldest theatre in the world.

The origin of the Noh theatre, called "Sangaku/散楽", came from China in the 8th Century.

This Sangaku was a popular entertainment with dance, music, acrobatics, mimic etc; more like a circus and used to play as entertainment at the yard of the local temple.

Sangaku

On the other hand Gagaku, another style of music with dance which came from China in the same period was used to play for the imperial events or pastime of the nobility.

Gagaku 

After the Heian era (794-1185) the political power shifted to the samurai clans from aristocrats until the Meiji era (1868-1912).

At that time (12th century), Sangaku/散楽, that is the origin of Noh, was called Sarugaku/猿楽 (it sounds similar, but Kanji meaning is different. San/散 means something like "scatter" and Saru/猿 is a monkey); the mimic part of Sangaku became Sarugaku."It is not clear why it is called monkey music. It is said maybe because they used monkeys or maybe because of "mimic" (in Japanese there is an expression "monkey imitation").

This Sarugaku is said to be the origin of the Noh theatre.

There is another traditional dance called Dengaku/田楽 which is the ritual to pray for a good harvest. This dance had existed since the Heian era and at the time of the Kamakura era, it became more like the theatre.

As has been said, Dengaku also played a role in the creation of Noh theatre. Actually, in the present time, this word is more famous for food "Dengaku miso".

If you ask the Japanese people what Dengaku is, I think 9 out of 10 people will answer that it is food.

Both "Sarugaku" and "Dengaku" were called "Sarugaku no Noh", " Dengaku no Noh" and there were professional troupes.

The name "Noh (能)" comes from those theatres, but until the Meiji era (1868-) this had been called just "Sarugaku (猿楽) "; I found it sounds cute though its themes are often heavy and dark.

One of the origins is called "monkey music" and the other one is now famous as food…As I now know it refers to the music and theatre, I'm glad that they changed the name.

KANDA NOZOMI MUSIC WEB SITE 

Fallow KANDA NOZOMI MUSIC

      

Discography 

Sky echo (shinobue, flute, koto, shamisen etc...)

Early 20th Century Jewels
  ( flute, viola - with cello, doublebase, harp /
 Debussy, Huybrechts, Roussel, Schulhoff) 

Tokyo Bruxelles Trio Albumflute - cello - piano
Kapustin, Pierné, Martinue


4tempi Album 
flutes, piccolo, altoflute, voice
Bozza, Piazzola ....