Kimigayo: the Imperial Anthem
Of the hundreds of Gagaku compositions since the Meiji Restoration, the most well-known is undoubtedly Kimigayo (The Reign of our Emperor), which remains the national anthem of modern-day Japan. Kimigayo is only eleven measures long in modern, western notation, making it one of the shortest national anthems. Yet, it is also one of the oldest in origin. The lyrics are from a waka poem in the tanka meter ("waka | Japanese poetry") that traces its origin to the Heian period and was most likely composed in the late 10th century (794-1185) ("Inside "Kimigayo"").
The words to Kimigayo are as follows:
Kimigayo wa (May your reign)
Chiyo ni yachiyo ni (Continue for a thousand, for eternity)
Sazare-ishi no (Until the pebbles)
Iwao to narite (Grow into boulders)
Koke no musu made. (Lush with moss.)
A more poetic English translation was rendered by Basil Hall Chamberlain in the 19th century:
Thousands of years of happy reign be thine;
Rule on, my lord, till what are pebbles now
By ages united to mighty rocks shall grow
Whose venerable sides the moss doth line ("Inside "Kimigayo"").
The lyrics themselves are rather simple—a single sentence. And they evoke much of the sentiment surrounding the emperor as a divine governor. They were most likely originally written in honor of one of the Heian emperors, and the text likely survived as it was sung by samurai to honor the shoguns from the 12th century until the Edo period and the Meiji Restoration (Koga). With the restoration of the Empire in 1868, Kimigayo was taken as the national anthem. Even after the Emperor was replaced with a democratically-elected parliament in the aftermath of World War II, Kimigayo remained the unofficial anthem of Japan. It was officially recognized as such by The Act on National Flag and Anthem in 1999.
The music of Kimigayo was first composed in 1870 according to the Gagaku style by Hayashi Hiromori (Garfias) ("Music of Japan"). It was rewritten in 1882 (still in the Gagaku style) Yoshiisa Ona and Akimori Hayashi in 1882. To assist in the rewrite, the Japanese government employed the assistance of German composer Franz von Eckert to harmonize the melody ("About "Kimigayo""). However, there remain a number of controversies as to the specific facts regarding the composition of Kimigayo ("Identity of 'Kimigayo' composer remains mystery | The Japan Times").
[This is a recording of the original Gagaku version of Kimigayo]
In its original Gagaku form, the first thing that one notices is the very brief netori, which is played by only the principle musicians and the kakko. This netori is used to establish the mode of the song to be performed ("Form and Timbre in kangen music").
This is the score of Kimigayo without the netori:
Like all Gagaku music, the melody follows the rhythm and meter of the poetry, and therefore bears little resemblance to any type of western music. There is no thematic repetition, and its brevity contributes to its overall effect as a somber, almost prayerful song.
This is a link to a video of Aya Matsuura singing the Kimigayo at a sporting event, which will demonstrate how a traditional Gagaku song may be performed without traditional instruments:
