UMS Concert Program, October 29, 1971: Edo Festival Music And Pantomine --

Concert: First
Complete Series: 3738
Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The University Musical Society
of
The University of Michigan
Presents
EDO FESTIVAL MUSIC AND PANTOMINE
TANEO WAKAYAMA AND COMPANY
Taneo Wakayama Ichiro Hattori Yoshinari Hagiwara
Takashi Doki Kinmatsu Nukui Shiro Chiba
Kenjiro Maru Yoshinori Ishiyama
Friday, October 29, 1971, at 8:30 Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
EDO MATSURI BAYASHI (Edo Festival Music)
Edo Matsuri Bayashi is festival music from Edo, the name used for Tokyo in the Tokugawa period (16001867). Hayashi (euphonically changed to Bayashi in this case), stands for an ensemble combining drums, flute, and sometimes a gong. The music is characterized by syncopated rhythms and gay melodies. There are usually five movements. The form could be compared to the Baroque dance suites of Western music.
Fue (Flute).......Taneo Wakayama
Shimedaiko (Drum).....Kinmatsu Nukui
Shitnedaiko (Drum) .... Yoshinari Hagiwara
Odaiko (Large Drum).....Ichiro Hattori
Atarigane (Gong)......Kenjiro Maru
OROCHI TAIJI (The Destroying of an EightHeaded Giant Snake)
This is a popular story from Japanese mythology often performed at Shinto shrine ceremonies. It relates a tale about Prince Susano who kills an eightheaded giant snake and finds a sacred sword in its body. After this triumph, the Prince marries the Princess Kushinada. The eightheaded giant snake symbolizes evil and the Prince represents the good, so the basic theme of the pantomime reflects not only the stories of gods and goddesses who ruled ancient Japan according to mythology, but also emphasizes the victory over vice in the best religious theatrical tradition.
Princess Kushinada .... Yoshinori Ishiyama
Ashinazuchi......Yoshinari Hagiwara
Yamatanoorochi.......Shiro Chiba
Susanonomikoto......Takashi Doki
Koken (Assistant)......Ichiro Hattori
(over)
Music
Fuc (Flute)........Kenjiro Maru
Daibyoshi (Drum).....Kinmatsu Nukui
Odaiko (Large Drum) .... Taneo Wakayama
INTERMISSION
KOTOBUKI JISHI (The Felicitous Lion)
The mythical lion portrays many different moods from ferociousness to playfulness in this dance. All this action brings on fatigue and the lion falls asleep. A comic character, Toshi, now sneaks on stage and performs a dance. He uses two masks, one on his face and the other on the back of his head, which allows him to dance two characters alternately. The lion eventually wakes up and the dance ends in a lively finale.
Shishigashira........Shiro Chiba
Ryomen.......Yoshinori Ishiyama
Music
Fue (Flute)........Kenjiro Maru
Taiko (Drum)......Taneo Wakayama
Atarigane (Gong)......Kinmatsu Nukui
KEISHIN AIKOKU (Homage to the Gods and Love for the Homeland)
In this pantomime, Ebisu, the god of wealth, comes with his servants to visit Daikoku, the god of good luck. Ebisu, with his fishing rod, provides food for the party instead of his usual catch of money. During the comic antics which follow, someone hides a suzu, a small bell tree traditionally used for the more sacred Shinto dances. Things are righted eventually and Daikoku produces a proper happy ending by swinging his mallet from which, it is believed, good fortune is spread with every blow.
Ebisu........Yoshinori Ishiyama
Daikoku.......Yoshinari Hagiwara
Jusha (Servant).......Takashi Doki
Jusha (Servant).......Shiro Chiba
Koken (Assistant)......Ichiro Hattori
The Taneo Wakayama Company, an intangible cultural treasure from Tokyo, is making its debut in the United States under the auspices of the Performing Arts Program of the Asia Society. This wellknown Japanese troupe is carrying on the art of Shinto festival music and pantomime which has been handed down for generations from father to son. The tour of the Taneo Wakayama Company brings such music and drama out of its shrine locations and out of Japan for the first time since its creation.
EAST ASIAN SERIES
EDO FESTIVAL OF MUSIC AND PANTOMIME, from Japan Friday, October 29
P'ANSORI, music of legends from Korea.....Friday, February 25
SHANTUNG TRADITIONAL MUSIC, from China . . . Friday, April 7
First Concert East Asian Series Complete Programs 3738