The following YouTube video shows a very famous type of Japenese theater: noh theater. From the YouTube video, a drama criticism on Japanese noh theater, and our music textbook, we can deduce elements that embody this type of musical expression.
The first thing I noticed in the video was that there are only a few people on stage. In this particular video, there seems to be one principal actor, and a small group of musicians in the back. This setup of noh theater, is actually quite standardized. According to the textbook, there are generally “two or three principle actors, a small male chorus, and a small ensemble consisting of a single flute and two or three drums.”
As I delved deeper into the performance I noticed the type of music itself. The chorus sings in a very free style that is not constrained to a particular beat or meter. Within this very free style of music, there are many long pauses of silence. Occasionally the flute will play in these long measures of rest, but nevertheless the silence is still very important in the theater. The silence helps to create a feeling of timelessness through the performance.
The noh theater is not just a form of musical expression, but of an entire art form. As the article expresses, noh theater is a “highly aesthetic and ritualized stage performance”. In the video, the principle actor wears a very colorful costume, which helps to bring the specific character to life in the context of the story embodied in the performance. The elaborate outfits and pantomime actions of the character help to reflect the story being told, which is usually trying to portray a specific atmosphere or mood of an ancient Japenese narrative
The Japenese noh theater is such a rich artistic performance, that I was not able to come close to describing all of the elements, but nevertheless you now have a taste of what noh theater is like.
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