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The Kyoto Kabuki Orchestra
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
The Kyoto Kabuki Orchestra is the ensemble that performs the music for kabuki theatre. Little is known with certainty about the group itself, because the available source dealt with the director Tetsuji Takechi, who made influential experimental kabuki productions in the 1940s and 1950s. This text therefore mainly describes the music that can be heard in School of Rock.
Music and breakthrough
Kabuki is a Japanese theatre genre in which dance, acting and music come together. The music is played live by an ensemble with vocals and shamisen, a three-stringed lute struck with a large plectrum, sometimes supplemented by flute and percussion. The singers tell the story or describe the feelings of the dancers. The shamisen sets the rhythm and creates the atmosphere. The piece Kagamijishi is a dance piece in which a dancer portrays a lion. Dōjōji belongs to a story about a woman and a temple bell, and is played here by the shamisen alone.
Influence
The sound is sharp and rhythmic. The shamisen strikes hard, abrupt tones, and the voice sounds high and tense. In this way the orchestra shows how the music of kabuki carries the tension of the stage.
Listening
Dōjōji (shamisensolo) · The Kyoto Kabuki Orchestra- Kagamijishi · The Kyoto Kabuki Orchestra