Biwa
The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime during the Nara period.
Typically to in length, the instrument is constructed of a water drop–shaped body with a short neck, typically with four strings.
In Japan, the is generally played with a instead of the fingers, and is often used to play. One of the 's most famous uses is for reciting The Tale of the, from the Kamakura period.
In previous centuries, the predominant musicians would have been blind monks, who used the as musical accompaniment when reading scriptural texts.
The 's Chinese predecessor was the , which arrived in Japan in two forms; following its introduction to Japan, varieties of the quadrupled. Guilds supporting players, particularly the, helped proliferate musical development for hundreds of years. performances overlapped with performances by other players many years before, and continues to this day. This overlap resulted in a rapid evolution of the and its usage and made it one of the most popular instruments in Japan.
In spite of its popularity, the Ōnin War and subsequent Warring States Period disrupted teaching and decreased the number of proficient users. With the abolition of in the Meiji period, players lost their patronage.
By the late 1940s, the, a thoroughly Japanese tradition, was nearly completely abandoned for Western instruments. However, thanks to collaborative efforts by Japanese musicians, interest in the is being revived. Japanese and foreign musicians alike have begun embracing traditional Japanese instruments, particularly the, in their compositions.
While blind singers no longer dominate the, many performers continue to use the instrument in traditional and modern ways.
History
The arrived in Japan in the 7th century, having evolved from the Chinese bent-neck , while the itself was derived from similar instruments in West Asia. This type of, known as the, was later used in ensembles and became the most commonly known type. However, another variant of the – known as the or the – also found its way to Japan, first appearing in the Kyushu region. Though its origins are unclear, this thinner variant of the was used in ceremonies and religious rites.The became known as an instrument commonly played at the Japanese Imperial court, where players, known as, found employment and patronage. However, following the collapse of the Ritsuryō state, employed at the court were faced with the court's reconstruction and sought asylum in Buddhist temples. There, they assumed the role of Buddhist monks and encountered the. Seeing its relative convenience and portability, the monks combined these features with their large and heavy to create the, which, as indicated by its namesake, was used primarily for recitations of The Tale of the.
Through the next several centuries, players of both traditions intersected frequently and developed new music styles and new instruments. By the Kamakura period, the had emerged as a more popular instrument, a cross between both the and, retaining the rounded shape of the and played with a large plectrum like the. The, smaller than the, was used for similar purposes.
While the modern and both originated from the, the was used for moral and mental training by samurai of the Satsuma Domain during the Warring States period, and later for general performances. The was used by Buddhist monks visiting private residences to perform memorial services, not only for Buddhist rites, but also to accompany the telling of stories and news.
Though formerly popular, little was written about the performance and practice of the from roughly the 16th century to the mid-19th century. What is known is that three main streams of practice emerged during this time: , , and . These styles emphasized – vocalisation with accompaniment – and formed the foundation for styles of playing, such as and.
From these styles also emerged the two principal survivors of the tradition: and. From roughly the Meiji period until the Pacific War, the and were popular across Japan, and, at the beginning of the Shōwa period, the was created and gained popularity. Of the remaining post-war traditions, only remains a style almost solely performed by blind persons. The is closely related to the and, similarly, relies on an oral narrative tradition focusing on wars and legends.
By the middle of the Meiji period, improvements had been made to the instruments and easily understandable songs were composed in quantity. In the beginning of the Taishō period, the was modified into the, which became popular among female players at the time. With this, the entered a period of popularity, with songs reflecting not just The Tale of the, but also the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, with songs such as, and Hill 203 gaining popularity.
However, the playing of the nearly became extinct during the Meiji period following the introduction of Western music and instruments, until players such as Tsuruta Kinshi and others revitalized the genre with modern playing styles and collaborations with Western composers.
Types
There are more than seven types of, characterised by number of strings, sounds it could produce, the type of plectrum, and their use. As the does not play in tempered tuning, pitches are approximated to the nearest note.Classic
The, a large and heavy with four strings and four frets, is used exclusively for. It produces distinctive and. Its plectrum is small and thin, often rounded, and made from a hard material such as boxwood or ivory. It is not used to accompany singing. Like the, it is played held on its side, similar to a guitar, with the player sitting cross-legged. In, it is known as the.The, a Tang variant of, can be seen in paintings of court orchestras and was used in the context of ; however, it was removed with the reforms and standardization made to the court orchestra during the late 10th century. It is assumed that the performance traditions died out by the 10th or 11th century. This instrument also disappeared in the Chinese court orchestras. Recently, this instrument, much like the harp, has been revived for historically informed performances and historical reconstructions. Not to be confused with the five-stringed variants of modern, such as.The, a with four strings, is used to play Buddhist mantras and songs. It is similar in shape to the, but with a much more narrow body. Its plectrum varies in both size and materials. The four fret type is tuned to E, B, E and A, and the five fret type is tuned to B, e, f and f. The six fret type is tuned to B, E, B and b.Middle and Edo
The, a with four strings and five frets, is used to play The Tale of the. Its plectrum is slightly larger than that of the, but the instrument itself is much smaller, comparable to a in size. It was originally used by traveling minstrels, and its small size lent it to indoor play and improved portability. Its tuning is A, c, e, a or A, c-sharp, e, a.The, a with four strings and four frets, was popularized during the Edo period in Satsuma Province by Shimazu Tadayoshi. Modern used for contemporary compositions often have five or more frets, and some have a doubled fourth string. The frets of the are raised from the neck allowing notes to be bent several steps higher, each one producing the instrument's characteristic, or buzzing drone. Its boxwood plectrum is much wider than others, often reaching widths of or more. Its size and construction influences the sound of the instrument as the curved body is often struck percussively with the plectrum during play.The is traditionally made from Japanese mulberry, although other hard woods such as Japanese zelkova are sometimes used in its construction. Due to the slow growth of the Japanese mulberry, the wood must be taken from a tree at least 120 years old and dried for 10 years before construction can begin.
The strings are made of wound silk. Its tuning is A, E, A, B, for traditional, G, G, c, g, or G, G, d, g for contemporary compositions, among other tunings, but these are only examples as the instrument is tuned to match the key of the player's voice. The first and second strings are generally tuned to the same note, with the 4th string is tuned one octave higher.
The most eminent 20th century performer was Tsuruta Kinshi, who developed her own version of the instrument, which she called the. This often has five strings and five or more frets, and the construction of the tuning head and frets vary slightly. Ueda Junko and Tanaka Yukio, two of Tsuruta's students, continue the tradition of the modern. Carlo Forlivesi's compositions Boethius and Nuove Musiche per Biwa were both written for performance on the designed by Tsuruta and Tanaka.
These works present a radical departure from the compositional languages usually employed for such an instrument. Also, thanks to the possibility of relying on a level of virtuosity never before attempted in this specific repertory, the composer has sought the renewal of the acoustic and aesthetic profile of the, bringing out the huge potential in the sound material: attacks and resonance, tempo, chords, balance and dialogue, dynamics and colour.