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{{Short description|Japanese music genre}}
{{for|the album|Gagaku (album){{!}}''Gagaku'' (album)}}
{{Italic title}}
{{for-multi|the Asuka-period genre of masked dance-drama|Gigaku{{!}}''Gigaku''|the style of {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} adopted from Tang-dynasty China|Tōgaku{{!}}''Tōgaku''}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Tsuridaiko.jpg|thumb|right|250px|An ornately painted ''tsuri-daiko'', used in ''gagaku'' music]] -->
{{nihongo3|lit. "elegant music"|雅楽|'''Gagaku'''}}<ref>''Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary'', Kenkyusha Limited, Tokyo 1991, {{ISBN|4-7674-2015-6}}</ref> is a type of [[Music of Japan|Japanese classical music]] that was historically used for imperial court music and dances. {{Transliteration|ja|Gagaku}} was developed as court music of the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace]], and its near-current form was established in the [[Heian period]] (794–1185) around the 10th century.<ref name = "gagakukai">[https://web.archive.org/web/20190903014505/http://www.nihongagakukai.gr.jp/about_gagaku/gagaku.html History of gagaku] Nihon gagakukai</ref><ref name = "council"/> Today, it is performed by the [[Board of Ceremonies]] in the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace]]. Gagaku is performed using wind, percussion, and string instruments. Each piece is based on a main melody which each instrument embellishes.<ref name=":1" />

Gagaku consists of three primary repertoires:<ref name = "gagakukai"/>
#Native [[Shinto music|Shinto religious music]] and imperial songs and dance, called {{nihongo||国風歌舞|Kuniburi no utamai}}
#Vocal music based on native [[folk music|folk]] poetry, called {{nihongo||謡物|Utaimono}}
#Songs and dance based on foreign-style music
##A [[China|Chinese]], [[Vietnam]]ese and [[India]]n form (specifically [[Tang dynasty]]), called {{nihongo||唐楽|[[togaku|Tōgaku]]}}
##A [[Korea]]n and [[Manchuria]]n form, called {{nihongo||高麗楽|[[komagaku]]}}

{{Transliteration|ja|Gagaku}}, like {{Transliteration|ja|[[shōmyō]]}}, employs the [[yo scale]], a [[pentatonic scale]] with ascending intervals of two, three, two, two, and three semitones between the five scale tones.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080313144427/http://www.uwgb.edu/ogradyt/world/japan.htm ''Japanese Music'', ''Cross-Cultural Communication: World Music'', University of Wisconsin – Green Bay]</ref> Artistically it differs from the music of the corresponding Chinese form {{Transliteration|zh|[[yayue]]}} ({{lang|zh|雅楽}}) which is a term reserved for ceremonial music.<ref name=ortolani>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ge8cWl8OT3gC&pg=PA40 |title= The Japanese Theatre: From Shamanistic Ritual to Contemporary Pluralism|first = Benito | last = Ortolani |pages=40–41 |publisher=Princeton University Press| date = 1995 | ref = BO95 | isbn=978-0691043333 }}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The term gagaku originated in Japan in the year 701 when the Gagaku-ryō, a government bureau which oversaw music education and performance in the Japanese Imperial Court, was established. The word Gagaku comes from the Chinese word yayue, originally meaning Confucian ritual music. Gagaku is the Japanese reading for yayue, but by the time the word was introduced in Japan, its meaning had changed to be Chinese popular music and foreign music. Because Gagaku was built on elements from foreign music, the Japanese application of the term gagaku to this repertoire aligned with how the word was being used in China at the time.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Ferranti, Hugh de, Shigeo Kishibe, David W. Hughes, W. Adriaansz, Robin Thompson, Charles Rowe, Donald P. Berger, W. Malm, W.P. Malm, David Waterhouse, Allan Marett, Richard Emmert, Fumio Koizumi, Kazuyuki Tanimoto, Masakata Kanazawa, Linda Fujie, and Elizabeth Falconer |date=2001 |title=Japan |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000043335 |access-date=September 12, 2025 |website=Grove Music Online}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Bugaku(Naiku) 01.JPG|thumb|right|290px|Jingu-Bugaku at [[Kotaijingu]] (Naiku), [[Ise, Mie|Ise city]], [[Mie Prefecture]]]]

The prototype of {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} was introduced into Japan with Buddhism from [[China]]. In 589, Japanese official diplomatic delegations were sent to China (during the [[Sui dynasty]]) to learn Chinese culture, including Chinese court music. By the 7th century, the {{Transliteration|ja|[[Koto (instrument)|koto]]}} (the 13-stringed [[zither]]) and the {{Transliteration|ja|[[biwa]]}} (a short-necked [[lute]]) had been introduced into Japan from China. Various instruments, including these two, were the earliest used to play {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}}.

Even though the Japanese use the same term, {{lang|ja|雅楽}} ({{Transliteration|cmn|yǎyuè}} in [[Mandarin Chinese]]), the form of music imported from China was primarily banquet music ({{Transliteration|ja|engaku}}) rather than the ceremonial music of the Chinese {{Transliteration|cmn|yǎyuè}}. The importation of music peaked during the [[Tang dynasty]], and these pieces are called {{Transliteration|ja|Tōgaku}} (Tang music). {{Transliteration|ja|Gagaku}} pieces that originated at a time earlier than the Tang dynasty are called {{Transliteration|ja|kogaku}} (ancient music), while those originating after the Tang dynasty are called {{Transliteration|ja|shingaku}} (new music). The term {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} itself was first recorded in 701, when the first imperial academy of music {{Transliteration|ja|Gagakuryō}} was established.<ref name=ortolani />

Music from the Korean kingdom of [[Goguryeo]] had been recorded as early as 453 AD, and {{Transliteration|ja|komagaku}} was eventually used as a term that covered all Korean pieces, the Goguryeo kingdom being referred to as Koma in Japanese. {{Transliteration|ja|Komagaku}} and {{Transliteration|ja|Tōgaku}} became established in southern Japan during the [[Nara period]] (710–794). In 736, music from India and Vietnam were also introduced, known as {{nihongo||天竺楽|Tenjikugaku}} and {{nihongo||林邑楽|Rinyūgaku}} respectively.

During the Nara period in the 8th century, {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} was performed at national events, such as the erection of the Great Buddha of [[Todai-ji]] Temple, by organizing {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} performance groups at large temples.

From the 9th century to the 10th century, during the [[Heian period]], traditional {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} was developed further, becoming distinctly Japanese in style through its fusion with musical styles indigenous to Japan, changing it greatly. The form of {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} was almost completed by the fusion of {{Transliteration|ja|Tōgaku}}, {{Transliteration|ja|Komagaku}}, {{Transliteration|ja|Tenjikugaku}} and {{Transliteration|ja|Rinyūgaku}} which were introduced from Asian countries, with {{Transliteration|ja|Kuniburi no utamai}}, traditional Japanese music, and {{Transliteration|ja|utaimono}}, songs born in the Heian period.<ref name = "gagakukai"/><ref name = "council">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160826124132/https://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/contents/learn/edc22/rekishi/re3.html The Indigenization and Accomplishment of Gagaku] Japan Arts Council</ref> During this period, many pieces of {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} music were created and foreign-style {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} music was rearranged and renewed. {{Transliteration|ja|Gagaku}} was also reorganized, and foreign-style {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} music was classified into categories called {{nihongo3|left side|左方|Sahō}} and {{nihongo3|right side|右方|Uhō}}. Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian style was classified as {{Transliteration|ja|Sahō}}, and Korean and Manchurian style was classified as {{Transliteration|ja|Uhō}}. {{Transliteration|ja|Tenjikugaku}} and {{Transliteration|ja|Rinyūgaku}} were also included in the category of {{Transliteration|ja|Tōgaku}}.<ref name = "gagakukai"/><ref name = "council"/><ref name="ortolani2">[[#BO95|Ortolani 1995]], pp. 42–43.</ref>

The popularity of {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} reached its peak between the 9th and 10th centuries, when court aristocracy began to hold private concerts, but declined in the [[Kamakura period]] (1185–1333) when the power of the court aristocracy became diminished while that of the samurai rose.<ref name="ortolani2"/> {{Transliteration|ja|Gagaku}} was played by musicians who belonged to hereditary guilds. During the [[Kamakura period]], military rule was imposed and {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} was rarely performed at court. At this time, there were three guilds, based in [[Osaka]], [[Nara, Nara|Nara]] and [[Kyoto]].

Due to the [[Ōnin War]], a civil war from 1467 to 1477 during the [[Muromachi period]], {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} ensembles ceased to perform in Kyoto for about 100 years. In the [[Edo period]], the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] revived and reorganized the court-style ensembles, the direct ancestors of the present {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} ensembles.

After the [[Meiji Restoration]] of 1868, musicians from all three guilds came to the capital and their descendants make up most of the current [[Tokyo Imperial Palace]] Music Department. By that time, the present ensemble composition had been established, consisting of three wind instruments – {{Transliteration|ja|[[hichiriki]]}}, {{Transliteration|ja|[[ryūteki]]}}, and {{Transliteration|ja|[[Shō (instrument)|shō]]}} (bamboo mouth organ used to provide harmony) – and three percussion instruments – {{Transliteration|ja|[[Kakko (instrument)|kakko]]}} (small drum), {{Transliteration|ja|[[Shōko (instrument)|shōko]]}} (metal percussion), and {{Transliteration|ja|[[taiko]]}} (drum) or {{Transliteration|ja|dadaiko}} (large drum), supplemented by two string instruments – {{Transliteration|ja|gakubiwa}} and {{Transliteration|ja|gakusō}}.

{{Transliteration|ja|Gagaku}} also accompanies classical dance performances called {{nihongo||舞楽|[[bugaku]]}}. It may be used in religious ceremonies in some Buddhist temples.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kyuhaku-db.jp/dazaifu/archives/25.html  |title= 正行寺の報恩講と雅楽 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071124150953/http://www.kyuhaku-db.jp/dazaifu/archives/25.html |archive-date=24 November 2007 |work= Kyushu National Museums}}</ref>

In 1955, the Japanese government recognized {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} and {{Transliteration|ja|bugaku}} as important [[National Treasure (Japan)|National Treasures]].

Today, {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} is performed in three ways:<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngo5Zs_Sg3w&t=330s "Enjoy gagaku. What kind of music is Gagaku?"] Doyusha Video</ref>
*as {{Transliteration|ja|[[kangen (music)|kangen]]}}, concert music for winds, strings and percussion,
*as {{Transliteration|ja|bugaku}}, or dance music, for which the stringed instruments are omitted.
*as kayō, singing and chanting poetry<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gagaku (Japanese Imperial Court Music and Dance) |url=https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-culture/gagaku.html |access-date=2025-09-12 |website=The Imperial Household Agency |language=en}}</ref> to the accompaniment of a musical instrument, classified into 10 categories.

{{Transliteration|ja|Komagaku}} survives only as {{Transliteration|ja|bugaku}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://aris.ss.uci.edu/rgarfias/gagaku/music.html |title=...overview, University of California site |access-date=2007-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819070626/http://aris.ss.uci.edu/rgarfias/gagaku/music.html |archive-date=2014-08-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Contemporary {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} ensembles, such as {{Nihongo|[[Reigakusha]]|伶楽舎}}, perform contemporary compositions for {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} instruments. This subgenre of contemporary works for {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} instruments, which began in the 1960s, is called {{Nihongo||伶楽|reigaku}}. 20th-century composers such as [[Tōru Takemitsu]] have composed works for {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} ensembles, as well as individual {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} instruments. In January 2015 the [[Reigakusha]] {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} Ensemble and [[Ensemble Modern]] performed together ''Music with silent aitake's'' by Belgian composer [[Frederic D'Haene]], making {{Transliteration|ja|gagaku}} and Western music co-exist.<ref>[http://www.ravellorecords.com/catalog/rr8008/index.html] Ravello Records released the CD in 2018.</ref>

== Forms of Performance ==
Two of the main ways that gagaku is performed are kangen (concert music) and bugaku (dance music). Kangen is performed using wind, string and percussion instruments while bugaku usually does not include strings.<ref name=":1" />

Gagaku can be classified into two categories. Tōgaku, or “music from the left” includes music brought over from China and Southeast Asia. Komagaku, or “music from the right” includes music brought over from Korea and Bohai. In tōgaku, pieces are further classified into categories based on size. Taikyoku, chūkyokū, and shōkyoku are large, medium, and small pieces respectively. All komogaku pieces are dance pieces and therefore do not include strings.<ref name=":1" />

==Instruments used==
Wind, string and percussion instruments are essential elements of gagaku music. Some instruments, such as Haishō, Gogen biwa, Kugo had been removed from the ensemble during Heian period and reconstructed based on the old documents and some remains of the instruments in the [[Shōsō-in]] during Showa Era.

===Wind===
*{{Nihongo|Azuma-asobi-bue|東遊笛}}, also called ''chukan''
*{{Nihongo|[[Paixiao|Haishō]]|排簫}}, panpipes
*{{Nihongo|[[Hichiriki]]|篳篥}}, oboe
*{{Nihongo|[[Kagurabue]]|神楽笛}}, transverse flute larger than ryūteki, used in kuniburi no utamai
*{{Nihongo|[[Komabue]]|高麗笛}}, transverse flute smaller than ryūteki, used in komagaku
*{{Nihongo|O-hichiriki|大篳篥}}
*{{Nihongo|[[Ryuteki|Ryūteki]]|龍笛}}, transverse flute used in tōgaku
*{{Nihongo|(Ancient) [[Shakuhachi]]|尺八}}
*{{Nihongo|[[Shō (instrument)|Shō]]|笙}}, mouth organ
*{{Nihongo|[[Yu (wind instrument)|U]]|竽}}, large mouth organ

===String===
*{{Nihongo|Gaku [[Biwa]]|楽琵琶}}, 4-stringed lute
*{{Nihongo|[[Koto (musical instrument)|Gakusō]]|楽箏}}, 13-string zither of Chinese origin
*{{Nihongo|[[Ruan (instrument)|Genkan]]|阮咸}}
*{{Nihongo|Gogen biwa|五絃琵琶}}, 5-stringed lute
*{{Nihongo|[[Konghou|Kugo]]|箜篌}}, angled harp used in ancient times and recently revived
*{{Nihongo|[[Yamatogoto]]|大和琴|extra=also called ''wa-gon''}}, zither of Japanese origin, with 6 or 7 strings

===Percussion===
*{{Nihongo|[[Da-daiko]]|鼉太鼓}}, large drums used at festivals
*{{Nihongo|[[Fangxiang|Hōkyō]]|方響}}
*{{Nihongo|[[Ikko (drum)|Ikko]]|一鼓}}, small, ornately decorated hourglass-shaped drum
*{{Nihongo|[[Kakko (instrument)|Kakko]]|鞨鼓/羯鼓}}, small hourglass-shaped drum struck with two wooden sticks
*{{Nihongo|[[San-no-tsuzumi]]|三の鼓}}, hourglass-shaped drum
*{{Nihongo|[[Shakubyoshi]]|笏拍子|extra=also called ''shaku''}}, clapper made from a pair of flat wooden sticks
*{{Nihongo|[[Shōko (instrument)|Shōko]]|鉦鼓}}, small gong, struck with two horn beaters
*{{Nihongo|[[Suzu (bell)|Suzu]]|鈴}}, a bell tree clapper, specific to [[Mikomai]] dance performed as Mi-[[kagura]] 
*{{Nihongo|[[Tsuri-daiko]]|釣太鼓}}, drum on a stand with ornately painted head, played with two padded sticks
*{{Nihongo|[[Tsuzumi]]|鼓}}, hourglass drum, specific to [[Shirabyōshi]] dance performed as Mi-kagura

== Form ==
The basis of a Gagaku piece is one melody which is interpreted by all members of the ensemble at the same time on their respective instruments. It is not played with sheet music but from memory, so it is not exact and it remains fluid as each musician remains perfectly in sync with one another. Each instrument adds its own touch, which makes Gagaku music sound unique. This melody is always the main focus, and one of the distinguishing features of Gagaku music is that each of the eight instruments plays a distinct version of the melody that is their own. These eight instruments may vary depending on the type of Gagaku, but having eight different parts is typical of Gagaku music. In some Gagaku ensembles, parts are doubled so there may be more than eight players, but there are always only eight distinct parts.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Garfias |first=Robert |title=Gagaku, the music and dances of the Japanese imperial household |publisher=Theatre Arts Books |year=1959 |location=New York City}}</ref>

The roles of each instrument within this form are as follows:<ref name=":0" />

* Three wind instruments play the main melody as the most prominent voices in the ensemble.
** Hichiriki (similar to an oboe with a larger reed) is the main melody voice and embellishes the melody with microtones made possible by the larger reed.
** Fue (horizontal flute) uses its higher range to play a variation on the melody.
** Sho (bamboo pipe mouth organ) plays simplified version of the main melody and colors it with five and six tone harmonies.
* Two string instruments play simplified versions of the main melody.
** Biwa (four strings) plays both single tones and four voice chords.
** Koto (thirteen strings) plays repetitive melodic patterns.
* Three percussion instruments provide an anchor point for the rhythm and emphasize the phrasing of the melody.
** Taiko (suspended drum) plays the primary accent in each phrase.
** Kakko (small braced drum) is the leader of the entire ensemble and controls tempo changes.
** Shoko (gong) provides rhythmic support.

==Influence on Western music==
Beginning in the 20th century, several western classical composers became interested in gagaku, and composed works based on gagaku. Most notable among these are [[Henry Cowell]] (''Ongaku'', 1957), [[La Monte Young]] (numerous works of [[drone music]],<ref>Zuckerman, Gabrielle (ed.), [https://web.archive.org/web/20061003051403/http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/interview_young.html "An Interview with La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela"] ([[Archive.org]] copy of 2006), American Public Media, July 2002, musicmavericks.publicradio.org: "So, this contribution of Indian Classical music is one of the biggest influences on me, but there are other influences on me too. [...] We have the effect of Japanese gagaku, which has sustained tones in it in the instruments such as the Sho."</ref> but especially ''[[Trio for Strings]]'', 1958), [[Alan Hovhaness]] (numerous works), [[Olivier Messiaen]] ([[Sept haï-kaïs|''Sept haïkaï'']], 1962), [[Lou Harrison]] (''Pacifika Rondo'', 1963), [[Benjamin Britten]] (''[[Curlew River]]'', 1964), [[Bengt Hambraeus]] (''Shogaku'', from ''Tre Pezzi per Organo'', 1967), [[:hu:Nagy Ákos|Ákos Nagy]] (Veiled wince flute quartet 2010), [[Jarosław Kapuściński]] (numerous works), [[Sarah Peebles]] (numerous works), [[Michiko Toyama]] (''Waka'', 1960), and [[Tim Hecker]] (''[[Konoyo]]'' and ''[[Anoyo]]'', 2018 and 2019 respectively).

One of the most important gagaku musicians of the 20th century, Masataro Togi (who served for many years as chief court musician), instructed American composers such as [[Alan Hovhaness]] and [[Richard Teitelbaum]] in the playing of gagaku instruments.

==Other cultural influence==
The American poet [[Steve Richmond (poet)|Steve Richmond]] developed a unique style based on the rhythms of gagaku. Richmond heard gagaku music on records at [[U.C.L.A.]]'s Department of Ethnomusicology in the early 1960s. In a 2009 interview with writer [[Ben Pleasants]], Richmond claimed he had written an estimated 8,000–9,000 gagaku poems.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pleasants|first=Ben|title=American Rimbaud: An interview with Steve Richmond|url=http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/american-rimbaud-an-interview-with-steve-richmond/}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Aak]]
*[[Etenraku]]
*[[Gigaku]]
*[[Kagura]]
*[[Nhã nhạc]]
*[[Yayue]]

==References==
<references/>
* Alves, William (2006). ''Music of the Peoples of the World''. Thomson Schirmer.
* Garfias, Robert (January 1960). "Gradual Modifications of the Gagaku Tradition". ''Ethnomusicology'', Vol. 4, No. 1. pp.&nbsp;16–19.
* Malm, William P. (1959). ''Japanese Music and Musical Instruments''. Japan: Charles E. Tuttle Co.
* Matsumiya, Suiho (1959). "Traditional Music in Japan To-Day: Its Stability and Evolution." ''Journal of the International Folk Music Council''. Vol. 11. pp.&nbsp;65–66. {{doi|10.2307/834861}}. {{JSTOR|834861}}.

==External links==
*[http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-culture/gagaku.html Gagaku (Japanese Imperial Court Music) – The Imperial Household Agency]
*[http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?pg=00011&RL=00265 Gagaku – UNESCO]
*[http://www.gagaku.net/index.ENG.html Gagaku Japanese Court Music & Dance]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070113172402/http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ANCJAPAN/MUSIC.HTM Ancient Japan: The Earliest Japanese Music]
*[http://ccrma.stanford.edu/groups/gagaku/ Gagaku music: Repertoire, Instruments and Orchestration]

{{Music of Japan}}
{{UNESCO Oral and Intangible music}}

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[[Category:Gagaku| ]]
[[Category:Japanese styles of music]]
[[Category:Classical and art music traditions]]
[[Category:Japanese traditional music]]
[[Category:Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity]]
[[Category:Japanese words and phrases]]