What is nagauta music?

What is nagauta music?

nagauta, (Japanese: “long song”), basic lyric musical accompaniment of Japanese Kabuki and classical dances (buyō). The genre is found in the Kabuki plays by the mid-17th century, although the term itself is common in much earlier poetic forms.

How will you describe nagauta music in Kabuki performance?

Nagauta (長唄, literally “long song”) is a kind of traditional Japanese music played on the shamisen and used in kabuki theater, primarily to accompany dance and to provide reflective interludes.

What are the three styles of nagauta?

There are three main sizes of shamisen, designated according to the thickness of the neck (hosozao, or thin neck; chuuzao, or medium neck and futozao, or thick neck), and many different performance styles.

Who are the performers of Kabuki in Japan?

Famous kabuki actor lineages, such as:

  • Ichikawa Danjūrō
  • Ichikawa Ebizō
  • Matsumoto Kōshirō
  • Nakamura Kanzaburō

What is characteristics of Japanese theater?

Important characteristics of Kabuki theatre include its particular music, costumes, stage devices and props as well as specific plays, language and acting styles, such as the mie, in which the actor holds a characteristic pose to establish his character.

Is Kabuki still performed today?

At present, regular performances are held at the National Theatre in Tokyo. The city was also home to the Kabuki Theatre (Kabuki-za), which closed in 2010. An office tower—which includes the theatre—was opened on the site in 2013.

What is the history of nagauta?

Nagauta is a form of Japanese Classical Music used in Kabuki, a form of theatre oriented to dance-drama. The origins of Kabuki can be traced to the Tokugawa shogunate when the miko Izumi no Okuni performed a new kind of dramatic dance on the riverside of Kamo river in 1603.

What is nagauta ensemble?

Although the Nagauta ensemble is closely linked with Kabuki theatre, it also can be performed in buyō dances, yose performances, or common concerts and festivals. Loading… Classical music of Japan.

What is Nagauta in Japanese dance?

Nagauta, (Japanese: “long song”), basic lyric musical accompaniment of Japanese Kabuki and classical dances ( buyō ). The genre is found in the Kabuki plays by the mid-17th century, although the term itself is common in much earlier poetic forms.

Is nagauta shamisen music?

The first reference to nagauta as shamisen music appears in the second volume of Matsu no ha (1703). However, there is no musical notation in this collection, meaning that it is only possible to make observations about nagauta lyrics, which tend to be longer than other texts.