Kogo - Kogo

Noh piece. Fourth piece. Five-school contemporary piece. Written by Konparu Zenchiku. A lyrical contemporary Noh piece based on "Kogotsuji" from volume 6 of "The Tale of the Heike." Emperor Takakura is deeply saddened by the loss of Kogo's wife, who has gone into hiding out of fear of Taira no Kiyomori. The waki (imperial messenger) orders Danjo no Daihitsu Nakakuni (shite) to search for her. The scene shifts to Sagano, where Kogo (tsure) and her maid live alone. The innkeeper tells her that he is hosting a noble lady from the capital, and asks for a koto (Japanese harp) on a beautiful night of the full moon. Kogo laments her fate. The shite then appears on horseback. This piece, called "Koma no Dan," beautifully depicts the Sagano plain beneath the moonlight. Hearing the sound of the koto playing "Souburen," Nakakuni asks for guidance and conveys the Emperor's grief to Kogō, who refuses to reveal his identity, and hands him the Imperial Letter. Kogō's painful love is told through the tragic story of Xuanzong and Yang Guifei, and Nakakuni persuades Kogō to return to the Imperial Court. With a direct reply in hand, Nakakuni dances refreshingly at the farewell banquet.

A large piece of music in the Yamada school that was adapted from this work for the koto is "Kogo" composed by Yamada Kengyo. In addition, one of the new kabuki plays is "Setsugetsuka Sankei" (Three Scenes of Snow, Moon, and Flowers) (commonly known as "Nakakuni") by Fukuchi Ochi, and there is also a Nagauta piece called "Sagaaki", both of which were written in the Meiji period.

[Masuda Shozo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

能の曲目。四番目物。五流現行曲。金春禅竹(こんぱるぜんちく)作。『平家物語』巻6の「小督事」によった叙情的な現在能である。平清盛(きよもり)を恐れて身を隠した小督の局(つぼね)のことを深く嘆かれる高倉(たかくら)天皇。勅使（ワキ）は弾正大弼仲国(だんじょうのだいひつなかくに)（シテ）にその捜索を命ずる。場面は嵯峨野(さがの)に変わり、小督（ツレ）と侍女がわびしく住んでいる。宿の主が都の高貴な女性を泊めていることを語り、名月の夜とて琴を所望する。小督の身の上の嘆き。後シテは馬上の態で登場。「駒(こま)の段」とよばれ、月下の嵯峨野の描写が美しい。『想夫恋(そうぶれん)』の琴の音を聞きつけ、仲国は案内を請い、身分を明かそうとせぬ小督に天皇の嘆きを伝え、御書を渡す。玄宗と楊貴妃(ようきひ)の悲恋を引いて、つらい小督の恋心が語られ、仲国は小督に宮中へ帰られるよう説得する。直接の返事を手にした仲国は、別れの宴にさわやかに舞う。

　これを箏曲(そうきょく)に写した山田流の大曲に、山田検校(けんぎょう)作曲『小督』がある。また、新歌舞伎(かぶき)十八番に福地桜痴(おうち)作『雪月花三景(みつのながめ)』（通称「仲国」）があり、長唄(ながうた)にも『嵯峨秋』があるが、ともに明治期の作である。

［増田正造］

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