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Etenraku: Music of Heaven

Background

• Etenraku, or Music of Heaven, is a work of Japanese gagaku
• Historical roots at the Imperial Court in Kyoto
• The Etenraku Imayō heard here is a genre of vocal music from the eleventh and twelfth centuries
  • a new style under the influence of gagaku imported from China and shōmyō (Buddhist chants)
• There are three instruments heard along with the vocal line:
  • ryuteki (flute-like)
  • hichiriki (oboe-like)
  • shō (mouth-organ-like, with 17 pitches), which provides a colorful harmonic palette.
• This performance is by the Music Department of the Imperial Household.
  

Scales

Two popular scales in Japanese music are the ritsu and ryo scales. These are both derived from shōmyō. The ritsu scale is transposable to E and B, while ryo is transposable to D and G, and uses auxiliary notes that are a half step lower.

Ritsu Scale on E

Ryo Scale on D

This song illustrates how these scales, notably the ryo, were gradually modified to fit the taste of Japanese musical culture. Specifically, the use of the third: two types of third could be used to imply the use of the yo scale. This scale is ubiquitous in shōmyō and uses an F natural as an auxiliary note.

Yo Scale on D

Skeletal Analysis

Transcribed score to Etenraku

Text

Text Painting:

The contour of this song is suggestive of hills/mountains, which is covered in the text:
Look around the hills
in all directions is coupled with a melodic ascent up to A3.


The next line descends down to F#2, which is suggestive in the text:
They will be covered with
flowers in full bloom

The next line ascends up to B3, the highest note in the song, on the word peaks:
And all the peaks appear
covered with white clouds!

Spectrograms

Peak Frequency Spectrograms:
Instrumental Version   Vocal Version (plain)   Vocal Version with Layers (formal plan)

• I broke the piece into two sections (by stanza), and four parts (by couplet).

Ryuteki Introduction:

Section 1A:

Haru no yayoi no, akebono ni,
Yomo no yamabe wo, miwatase ba,

Section 1B:

Hanazakari kamo, shirakumo no,
Kakaranu mine koso, nakari kere.

Section 2A:

Hana-tachibana mo, niou nari,
Nōki no ayame mo, kaoru nair,

Section 2B:

Yugure-sama no, samidare ni,
Yama-hototogisu, nanoru nari.

Some Conclusions…

• The text focuses on open back vowels, but occasionally uses front and/or closed vowels. These open back vowels heighten the spectral energy.
• The shō increases the spectral energy, and is clearly visible in both types of spectrograms.
• A comparison of the vocal and instrumental peak frequency spectrograms show that the instrumentalists adhered to the scale in the vocal version more than the instrumental version. This is heard especially in the Ryuteki introduction — a 250¢ interval is played in the instrumental version, but the Ryuteki introduction in the vocal version is purely pentatonic.
  
  Repo