Basic song - Suutai

A type of informal Noh performance. It is a performance of just the utai, without the addition of kata or hayashi (music). It is also called ban-utai (singing with a chant). Unlike Noh, which has strict rhythmic restrictions, this is usually a style of singing that prioritizes the flavor of the utai melody. The roles of shite and waki are shared, but the waki and wakitsure roles are sung in the shite style, the ai-kyogen roles are omitted, and the dialogue parts with the ai-kyogen are not sung either. Since the townspeople class, who were excluded from performing, were free to practice soutai, teachers who specialized in soutai were born in the Edo period and became very popular, and a great number of utai-bon (singing books), which are textbooks for soutai, were published. Since it is relatively easy to learn with just a utai book and a fan, it is still popular in various places today, separate from the appreciation of Noh.

[Masuda Shozo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

能の略式演奏の一つ。型、囃子(はやし)を加えず、謡だけを演奏すること。番謡(ばんうたい)ともいう。リズムの規制のやかましい能の場合と異なり、謡の節の味わいを優先させた謡い方が普通。シテ・ワキなどの役を分担するが、ワキ・ワキツレの役はシテの流儀で謡い、間(あい)狂言の役は省略され、間狂言との対話の部分も謡われない。演能から疎外された町人階級も素謡の稽古(けいこ)は自由であったから、江戸時代から素謡専門の師匠が生まれ、大いに流行をみ、素謡用テキストである謡本(うたいぼん)の刊行はおびただしい数に上った。謡本と扇さえあれば比較的簡便に習得できるため、能の鑑賞とは別個の形で、今日も各地に盛んである。

［増田正造］

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