Azuma Hakkei - Eight Views of Azuma

The title of a Nagauta piece. Commonly known as "Eight Views." Composed by Kineya Rokusaburo IV in 1829 (Bunsei 12). A representative Nagauta piece for concerts, it is an important work along with "Akino Irokusa." The lyrics simply describe the scenery of Edo, such as Nihonbashi, Gotenyama, Surugadai, Senso-ji Temple, Yoshiwara, and Ueno, one after another, but it is clear that the composition was intentionally made to have an instrumental quality as "listening Nagauta," with the ingenious use of aikata (combinations) here and there, such as "Tsukuda no aikata" (combinations of the tsukuda) to express the scene of a boat crossing the river, and "Kinuta no aikata" and "Gaku no aikata" (combinations of the kinuta) to intertwine the melody of the standing shamisen and the upper melody. It seems that at first, due to its novelty, it caused quite a stir. The tuning of the shamisen is Honchoshi → Niagari → Sanagari.

[Kiyoko Moteki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

長唄(ながうた)の曲名。通称「八景」。1829年（文政12）4世杵屋(きねや)六三郎作曲。演奏会用長唄の代表曲で、『秋色種(あきのいろくさ)』と並んで重要な作品。歌詞は、江戸の風物を日本橋、御殿山、駿河(するが)台、浅草寺(せんそうじ)、吉原、上野と次々に詠み込んだにすぎないが、ところどころに合方(あいかた)を入れて、「佃(つくだ)の合方」で川を渡る舟の情景を表したり、「砧(きぬた)の合方」や「楽(がく)の合方」では立(たて)三味線と上(うわ)調子の旋律の絡み合いにくふうを凝らして、「聞く長唄」としての器楽性を意図的に求めて作曲したことがわかる。当初はその新しさゆえ、だいぶ物議をかもしたようである。三味線の調弦は、本調子→二上り→三下り。

［茂手木潔子］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例