Gagaku 雅楽 - Medieval Japanese Court Music - Kunaichō Gakubu

Ensemble: Kunaichō Gakubu Album: Gagaku - Etenraku / Azumaasobi / Kishunraku / Seigaiha Video: Genji Monogatari, XII secolo • I’ve always had a huge fascination for Japan, especially its ancient culture, but I’ve always had difficulty finding a musical repertoire dating back to before the Edo period. Finally I came across this wonderful record from 1990 dedicated to the ancient Japanese music, and I discovered the existence of Gagaku: an extremely beautiful, meditative and interesting court music. The term gagaku nowadays refers to the traditional music and dance performed by the Music Department of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, as well as by ensembles associated with certain Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Originally, the term gagaku (va yueh in Chinese) referred to the Confucian ceremonial music of the Chinese court; by the time Japanese musicians came in contact with Chinese music in the seventh century AD, however the meaning