The hayashi of the Minamikannon-yama, the Gion festival of Kyooto
TAl Ryuuichi
This is based on a fieldwork survey undertaken in 2005-2006 on the hayashi music of the Minamikannon-yama festival float of Kyooto's Gion festival.The float today is a hoko type, a large, wheeled, shrine-like structure on which gong, drum, and flute players ride, the whole structure surmounted by a mast-like decorative pole, the hoko (formerly surmounted by a mountain-like decorative one, the yama).
The structure of this report as follows: a general overview of hayashi music; the bearers of the music tradition; the repertoire and its structure; the schedule of rehearsals and performances; the instruments, the performing ensemble, and the arrangement of the instruments on the float; performance practice (performance techniques; special body movements made by the drummers; kakegoe (signaling calls) and hayashi-kotoba which function as calls of encouragement, often with rhythmic and mnemonic significance; techniques for shifting from one piece to another and stopping the performance); kuchi-shooga (mnemonic solmization) and notation; the transmission process and training; recent changes in the hayashi music; the significance of participation in performance of the hayashi music; and the special characteristics of the hayashi music of the Minamikannon-yama.
Outstanding characteristic in the Minamikannon-yama is the management of players is systematic and unified and the hayashi music drifts naturally and is free of mannerisms.It is also interesting that the pieces of modori are consisted of jyuubanshuu and bangaishuu, the special parts which is inserted between pieces are minutely prescribed, and a gap between the pattern of gong and drum and that of flute is not outstanding rather than other hoko and yama.
The melody of flutes is the almost same as that of the Thuki-hoko of Kyooto's Gion festival.There are also many similarities to be observed in the Kanko-boko and Niwatori-boko (and also the Kitakannon-yama) such as the position of joint part in pieces, the existence of a pair of pieces, and the musical notation.Comparative study of the music of festival float of Kyooto's Gion festival will provide valuable insights into the transmission of this music.
Key Words: Gion-bayashi, festival music, festival floats
